The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1876-03-10

with perfect safety, as | am prepared to
demonstrate on the spot. Price 81 bot
| tie, $40 a dozen, or $62.50 hundred. VIII
| you have one or Dozen"
| informed this gentleman in q short
hand style of speech which | hold in re-
serve for special occasions, that l neither
wanted a dozen nor one, and bestowing on
old Kate an encouraging word to proceed
and an admonishing whack on Prince
| Williams hump with the butt end of my
now lashless whip, | got away from that
man good deal quicker than the priest
and the Levite passed by on the other side
And said to myself on regaining my COM
posure, the farmer is the pack animal OF
all mankind, he is the universal mule, but
would rather be a mule or any other
| beast of burden, and carry load all my
days, than to get my living boring people
| to death like that. would rather be the
humblest plodder among men, and toll
| until my back was bowed with age, than
| to stand erect and able bodied in the face
ofmy Maker and solicit my living like a
beggar as this man does, from door to
door. At the end of this conclusion my
spirits began to rise, and as | had by this
time got into the edge of the town, l
Strengthened myself back in my seat with
that dignity of bearing which should at
all times characterize the attitude of q
genuine country gentleman, and made q
ridiculous effort to crack my whip without
any lash. Disguised with the resulting
failure, looked around for observers and
heard the voice of one of those little one
horse lawyers so common in Western coun-
~, 30 "a, Nv IL,
higher law, too lazy to work and too proud
to beg, continue to exist by collecting bad
bills, shaving paper, and loaning other
peoples money on commission. lie was
holding conversation with troubled
looking individual about debt and this
is what he said:
Every well, the account is left in our
hands to collect; we shall sue you tomor-
row, and in the end it will cost you double
the amount"
Prince William secured another sudden
whack, and observed to myseltas | NOV
ed off:
This man wears good clothes, lives we'll,
is sleek and fat, and will probably getrich,
while | remain comparatively poor ; |
work great deal harder than he, frequent
ly go shabbily dressed, and often want for
the necessaries of life, but do no mans
dirty work, and don't think | want any
of that mans life in mine; excuse me, for
the present I'll stick to the farm. | met
the teacher walking jauntily along the
street, whiskers neatly trimmed, hair taste
fully dressed, coat tightly buttoned around
his trim figure, and was the very picture
of contentment and case, and | knew he
was expected to please everybody, includ-
ing the School Board, which it was morally
impossible to do, and had heard the clerk
say there were 40 applications for his place
last quarter. On the whole, said to my
self as he turned the corner, yOU can pass;
my success in business depends on no
mans good will or fair opinion, and for
all the advantage in your position think
that prefer the farm.
AS passed down the street | saw the
sign of the thrifty merchant setting forth
in large letters that he is selling goods for
less than cost; but | knew it to be one of
the hundred silly lies he felt compelled to
tell every day of his life. knew he was
badgcrcd and worried on every side by the
keen competition of trade; knew he was
engaged in struggle as for life between
sharp, INSCRIPTIONS men all trying to raise
themselves up by pulling one another
down; l knew he looked with nervous
dread and apprehension to every rise or
fall in the market; / knew he trembled in
every panic, lost his apprehension in every
dull day, and pored with sleepless eyes
over the ledger every night; and, finally,
knew, for the statistics show it, that 0G
per cent. of merchants fail at one time or
another in their careers; and when l saw
him cross the street with his arms full of
canned fruits and other delicacies farmer
seldom or never tastes, going home to his
family to dinner, sent after him mental
welcome to all the chances in his feverish
life.
Then / saw the banker just coming out
of his bank the man who came West with
a few thousand dollars, and let and relet it
at two per cent. a month until he has now
become wealthy man; holds trust deeds
on about third of the real estate of the
city; calls on some poor devil every day
or two to vacate his premises in his favor;
sells the property on notice, bids it in at
one third its real value, and at half the
face of the notes it is intended to secure
takes possession of the premises, sues the
delinquent, and gets judgment against
ruined man for the remainder, and thanks
God as he retires to bed at night that he
is not a poor shiitless man like so many of
his neighbors.
my friend" said to myself, as he ram.
bled along, with his shutting gait, there
is Difference universally paid to wealth,
in consideration of the power it yields, too
often considered by the possessor of riches
as a mark Of respect, or token ofpersonal
esteem. There never was greater mis-
take. You are welcome to the enormous
profits of your nefarious calling, your fine
horse and carriage, the elegant house in
which, you live. All the lands you own,
all the money in the vaults ofyour bank
canpot purchase you the love ofyour kind.
The law in its majesty protectsyou in your
eXtortions, but the law can never secure to
you the esteem due conscientious, hon
orable man. Get up, William go long,
Kate guess I'll stick to the farm"
Ipoured my wheat into the receiving
spout at the mill, and as the golden grain
streamed down into the hopper beneath,
never appeared the yellow kernels so plump
and fair, or the calling of the husbandman
so honorable. And when got back to
my house, gave my old hat fling into
the corner in that distracted manner pccu-
liar to me when laboring under intense
mental preoccupation, and said to my
| wife:
~ say, old woman, we're rich"
Scarcely, my DEAR" said she.
"Yes, we are, said /. "Thats what
said, and that's exactly what mean. We
| are rich we've got no money! it is true
live in rickety old house, to be sure; in
elegant, unfinished, and uncomfortable ;
and we lack hundreds of little things ne
ccssary for our comfort and ease but, my
dear, the little we have is ours by divine
right, we earned it in the sweat Of our
brows, and there is not in all the land a