THE GOOD GODDESS OF POVERTY. 49 "Since the world existed, since men have been, she traverses the world, she dwells among men: she travels singing, and she sings working the goddess, the good Goddess of Poverty! "Some men assembled to curse her. They found her too beautiful, too gay, too nimble, and too strong. Pluck out her wings,' said they; 'chain her, bruise her with blows, that she may suffer, that she may perish-the Goddess of Poverty! 66 They have chained the good goddess, they have beaten and persecuted her; but they cannot disgrace her. She has taken refuge in the soul of poets, in the soul of peasants, in the soul of martyrs, in the soul of saints—the good goddess, the Goddess of Poverty! "She has walked more than the wandering Jew; she has travelled more than the swallow; she is older than the cathedral of Prague; she is younger than the egg of the wren; she has multiplied more upon the earth than strawberries in Bohemian forests--the goddess, the good Goddess of Poverty! "She has many children, and she teaches them the secret of God. She talked to the heart of Jesus, upon the mountains; to the eyes of the Queen of Libussa, when she became enamoured of a labourer; to the spirit of John and of Jerome, upon the funeral pile of Constance. She knows more than all the doctors and all the bishops-the good Goddess of Poverty! "She always makes the grandest and most beautiful that we see upon the earth; it is she who has cultivated the fields and pruned the trees; it is she who tends the flocks singing the most beautiful airs; it is she who sees the first peep of dawn, and receives the last smile of evening-the good Goddess of Poverty! "It is she who builds the cabin of the woodcutter with green boughs, and gives to the poacher the glance of the eagle; it is she who rears the most beautiful urchins, and makes the spade and the plough light in the hands of the old man—the good Goddess of Poverty! "It is she who inspires the poet, and makes the violin, the guitar, and the flute, eloquent under the fingers of the wandering artist; it is she who carries him on her light wing, from the source of the Moldan to that of the Danube; it is she who crowns his hair with pearls of dew, and makes the stars shine for him large and more clear—the goddess, the good Goddess of Poverty! THE GOOD GODDESS OF POVERTY. 51 "It is she who instructs the ingenious artizan who teaches him to hew stone, to carve marble, to fashion gold, silver, brass, and iron; it is she who renders the flax supple and fine as a hair, from the fingers of the old mother, or of the young girl-the good Goddess of Poverty! "It is she who sustains the cottage shaken by the storm; it is she who saves rosin for the torch, and oil for the lamp; it is she who kneads bread for the family, and weaves garments for summer and winter; it is she who feeds and maintains the world—the good Goddess of Poverty! "It is she who has built the grand churches and the old cathedrals; it is she who carries the sabre and the gun, who makes war and conquests. It is she who collects the dead, tends the wounded, and hides the conqueredthe good Goddess of Poverty! "Thou art all patience, all strength, and compassion, O, good goddess! It is thou who unitest all thy children in a holy love, and who givest to them faith, hope, charity-O, Goddess of Poverty! Thy children will cease one day to carry the world upon their shoulders; they will be recompensed for their trouble and toil. The time approaches when there will be neither rich nor poor; when all men shall consume the fruits of the earth, and equally enjoy the gifts of God; but thou wilt not be forgotten in their hymns-O, good Goddess of Poverty ! 66 They will remember that thou wert their fruitful mother, their robust nurse, and their church militant. They will pour balm upon your wounds, and they will make the rejuvenated and embalmed earth a bed where thou canst at last repose-O, good Goddess of Poverty? "Until the day of the Lord, torrents and forests, mountains and valleys, heaths swarming with little flowers and little birds, paths which have no masters, and sanded with gold -let pass the good goddess, the Goddess of Poverty!" Now Harris was poor, and poverty inspired in him activity and energy. He had to procure his livelihood, and he actively searched for an appointment; but being rejected everywhere, he stayed at home, and engaged himself in writing occasional petitions, letters, and bills, that he might procure his pittance of a rupee or two. Of course, in such an engagement, he could not POVERTY AT WORK ON HARRIS. 53 find occupation for more than a few hours, and these, too, not regular hours, nor every day; so that between the time he wrote one petition or letter and the second was forthcoming, he had leisure, which he could not spend in listlessness. He was naturally inclined to occupy every minute; and the nature of his avocation was itself an incentive to this inclination. He had to do extra work; he must, therefore, attract people, by some show or other, and persuade them to believe he was competent to do his task. He therefore sat just in public view, book in hand, poring over its contents-not affectedly, like the majority of our Native youths, who are so apt to show themselves more than they really are, but in right earnest, comprehending and digesting every word that glittered on the page. Were he to sit listless or playing, without any attention to his books, he should put his reputation at stake among the common people, who are so apt to measure learning by its pomp, and not its modest course. Even in our own island we see men, engaged in writing petitions or letters, placing on their tables some dusty volumesuseful, worthless, or perniciouspernicious-just for the look of the thing; and it is precisely the number |