Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-11-03
M1istellameuns& &eadiug.
CONVERSATIONS OF POVERTY.

CONVERSATIONS OF POVERTY.
Over against "the pinchings of poverty''
may be set many compensations. Some
of them, it is true, seem to be rather neg
ative in character, and appear only by
contrast with certain conceded disadvan-
tages of the rich. One of the latter is
the uncertain tenure by which riches are
held. The truth of the proverb that "rich-
es suddenly take to themselves wings and
fly away" is illustrated by the fact that
as many fortunes are lost as made, and
lost much more quickly than they are
made. The burdens and anxieties endured
by the rich in the effort to keep their
wealth and for fear of losing it, are scarce
ly less than are involved in gaining it.
The wise man says: "The abundance OF
the rich will not suffer him to Sleep"
The banks where his treasure is boarded
may break; his barns, elevators, and fac
tories may burn down and the insurance
companies may fail; his railroad stock
may depreciate; and then there is the
standing and awful menace to wealth from
the hatred of the poor; from labor riots,
dynamite and bomb-these will not let
him sleep; she heapeth up riches and
knoWeth not who shall gather them."
The poor man escapes all these troubles,
for he who has nothing has no worry about
it, and suffers no hatred on account of it.
So the same wise man says: "The sleep
of the laboring man is sweet whether he
eat little or much )" but he puts it rather
strong in that last clause, for the laboring
poor dosometimes lie awake from hunger.
But if he has enough to eat, his plain food
tastes better than the viands Of the rich,
and his fatigue makes rest and sleep a
luxury which many of the pampered chill
dren of fortune know nothing about. His
daughters are not besieged by fortune
hunters; his sons escape many tempta-
tiOns to vice to which wealth would eX-
pose them.
We do not, however, need to depreciate
worldly advantages in order to find COM
pensations for the lack of them. Wealth
and the position and influence it gives are
not evils in themselves, but "real goods"
which, if rightly used, may he blessings
to their possessor and his fellow-men.
The pretence of despising them is usually
insincere and always foolish. Nor should
we seek comfort for our lack of these
things in the notion that all who have
them are thriftily wicked and destined,
like those the Psalmist envied, to be "cast
down to destruction and utterly consumed
with terrors." The road to wealth is beset
with great temptations to which many
succulnb, but all do not. We leave it to
anarchists to regard great wealth as prima
facie evidence of corruption.
One of the positive compensations for
poverty is that it makes exertion necessa
ry. This is deplored by many as mis-
fortune; but it is really a blessing, because
it is Indispensable to the best self-devel-
opment. Somebody has said that all men
are constitutonally lazy, and require the
constant spur of necessity to stimulate
them to do their best. Those who are
reared in wealth do not have this incen-
tive, and, hence, very few of them achieve
distinction. Riches promote idleness, and
idleness is enervating and Injurious. Pow
erty necessitates industry and sobriety,
which are conditions of success in every
department of human activity. This is the
simple explanation of the fact, that with
but few exceptions, the greatest and best
men either are, or have been, poor. Pow
erty has great compensation in the fact
the children of the poor are bred to useful
callings, and taught to make their own
way in the world. The discipline of want
in which they are reared is a perpetual
admonition to eXertion and self reliance,
which is more effectual than any other
lesson can be. 1t prepares them to meet
with fortitude and cheerfulness the re-
verses of life, which are usually over
whelming to the children of the rich, who
have never acquired the ability to support
themselves. Happy is the poor mans son
who by the hard tuition of want, has be-
come able to defy "the slings and arrows
of outrageous fortune" conscious that he
has already seen the worst, and knows
how to sustain himself in the lowest con-
dition. But most pitiable is the helpless
ness of those who have been reared in
luxury and idleness, and are suddenly left
penniless, without ability to provide for
themselves and those dependent on them,
and with no schooling in the endurance of
hardship.
The poor mans keen enjoyment of the
common blessings of life is one of the
greatest compensations of poverty. 10
him who has learned to moderate his de-
sires by his needs, the necessaries of life
are luxuries. Toll to supply his wants is
the hest of appetisers, and the bread he
earned it. The happiest children at
comparatively meagre, while the children
of the rich, who have had surfeit of toys
all the year are exceedingly hard to please.
1t should be ever borne in mind that rich
es cannot give happiness. "a mans life
consisteth not in the abundance of the
things he possesseth." Who are the hap
piest men we know? If not the poorest,
they are certainly not the richest. Indeed,
we often observe and hear the remark
that the richest men in town seem care
worn and unhappy. The chief barriers to
happiness are not in poor circumstances,
but in ourselves. The simple lines in an
old school reader hit the mark exactly:
IF happiness have not it's seat
And centre in the breast,
We may be wise, or rich, or great,
But never can be blest."
The essential condition of felicity is vir-
tue, and virtue does not depend upon good
or bad fortune. With good conscience
and disposition to make the most OF the
temporal blessings we have, we can find
happiness in any condition.
A strong consolation for the poor, if not
compensation for poverty, is the fact
that Christ was poor man. 1t makes
him seem nearer and dearer to the devout
poor, that, while he did not neglect the
rich, he associated, for the most part, with
people of the humblest circumstances,
chose his disciples from their number,
made them his intimate friends and COM
panions. Another comfort is the assu-
rance that God cares for the poor. His
word is full of fexceeding great and precious
promises that he will provide for those
who trust and serve him. "Your heaven
ly Father knoweth that he have need of
all these things" If God feeds the birds
and clothes with beauty the lilies of the
field, shall he not much more feed and
clothe you? "Trust in the Lord and do
good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and
Verify thou shalt be fed. ."-Laterior.
INTELLIGENCE OF THE APES.