Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-08-24
providence and Improve
dence.

IhIS ID buUJ0Is WhASN
too oten touched upon. BetWeen
extravaganza and meanness, recA,s"
waste and "the good old genie.
manly vice. OF avarice, lies sns.
middle terms, 90 difficult 70 ni'
with precision, and 70 valuable
when hit. Indeed providence 10 ons
of the essentials Of self respec'' ju.'
ar no man who is improvident-nusn
with money to-day, run dry to.mo,-
row; now "treating" all his 1ion
like Fortunatus playing at genera
hospitality, now borrowing from the
poorest. with no difference in rean'y
between him and roadside beggaI
can understand the meaning OF sne
term. or know In the smailess ue
gree wherein true self-respecs con.
sists. among the impossibilities OF
human action IL that Of doing any
substantial good to the improvement
No amount OF money short OF q per
netuaI shower of gold niterins
through all the pores of their expen-
diture would keep them well proviu'
3D. Set them on their legs a. oi'en
as one may, they are sure TO 1opp'o
! over again into muddy misery
whence they have been placed anu
all their bebts discharged III 'ne
spring have repeated themselves
NAV be with additions, by the au-
tumn. No lesson of hard expefience
! makes any impression on them. -
| the way by which they travei nas ,o'. .
them twenty times into the heaf' O
a morass, or to the bring OF . pleci.
pice. they, nevertheless, go along IL
with eyes willfully blinded ana
minds OF false tranquility for the
twenty.6rst. The rule Of life ny
which they have their beingis that
Of acknowledgment, and whether IL
brings them to ruin or not they per-
sist in following it. Small wondef,
then, as human nature is constitatea
but to be deplored all the same that
their friends grow tired OF thir per-
petual help which never aids, OF THIS
| incessant rescue which never saves.
| It is trying to ladle out the ocean WIN
a spoon, they say, to fill up quacA-
| ing morass with barrowfuls OF gardeh
| mould, to extinguish raging nre
with sheets of brown paper. Inc
improvident grumble Justly. Help
ed more than any one else they nave
more complaints to make against tne
coldness of friends and the cruelty
ofthe world than any one else; ana
when they have exhausted the pa
thence and means OF those who have
put themselves to all sorts OF trouble
| and denied themselves all sorts OF
qualification to assist them, they Of
| fer themselves as objects OF uni
yersal commisseration on the plea Of
their pressing need and the selfish
indifference Of society.
| fall this Is true Of the IMPROVE
dent, the exact converse may be said
of the provideht. No mans fortune
Is so safe from harm that he may mol
at times BIO reduced to the lowest ebb
and that by no fault or folly OF his
own. The battle of life must needs
bring temporary disaster to all the
fighters, however strong. To those
who are secure there is no better al
all. Out In the press and the strug'
| gle, even the bravest, the most wary
may be brought to their knees. Sick
ness, with loss of actual funds in
hand and of the potential by loss oil
work misfortune Of that irrespon.
sible kind against which no dill
gence can provide, and no astutenesi
can foresee-the unexpected ruin OF
agents necessarily trusted, as ones
lawyer, ones trustee, ones banker,
and the like--all these are the hard
crest, the boldest, and overwhelm
them 90 that there shall be no recov-
cry without help; but with help
their entire reinstatement, on q firm
or and higher basis than before.
This help brings with it no sense
of humiliation, because it is only
help, not almsgiving. Seeing that
they must of necessity refund this
loan, give this aid ifthey would still
respect themselves and claim respect
from others, tho provident are self
denying, careful, Industrious; and so
by grace of conscience, greatness of
selE2ontrol, justify their friends
trust In them, and make that tenn
poary aid on permanent loss to the
alder and Of permanent good to