A RICH POOR MAN AND A POOR RICH ONE. 1 3 



out of lard, some eminently respectable people 

 I know will doubt my sanity. Take two men, 

 one of whom follows the life of my late re- 

 spected and rich neighbor, making existence 

 one long strain for money, and finally dying in 

 ignorance of every thing but the price of lard 

 in Chicago, Buenos Ayres, London, Paris, and 

 Timbuctoo ; on the other hand, take my poor 

 neighbor, who, when he comes to die, will not 

 even be mentioned by the newspapers, whose 

 name no bank director ever saw on the back of 

 a note, who knew nothing about the price of 

 lard except at the corner grocery, but who en- 

 joyed fifty years of sport, of gardening, of fish- 

 ing, and of out-door happiness. Which of these 

 two men got the most out of life ? Does the 

 knowledge of the price of lard, or an obituary 

 notice in the newspapers, or the esteem of 

 Tom, Dick, and Harry atone for the loss of all 

 sport ? Does the man who makes a fortune 

 accomplish so much for the world that his 

 own happiness or ease should not be allowed to 

 weigh in the balance ? Civilization tends to 

 the importance of the individual. The middle 

 ages saw thousands compelled to labor for one 

 lord and master ; to-day each man is considered 



