Some men, like greedy monsters of the deep,
Still prey upon their kind; - their hungry maws
Engulph their victims like the rav'nous shark
That day and night untiring plies around
The foamy bubbling wake of some great ship;
And when the hapless mariner aloft
Hath lost his hold, and down he falls
Amidst the gurgling waters on her lee,
Then, quick as thought, the ruthless felon-jaws
Close on his form; - the sea is stain'd with blood -
One sharp wild shriek is heard - and all is still!
The lion, tiger, alligator, shark -
The wily fox, the bright enamelled snake -
All seek their prey by force or stratagem;
But when - their hunger sated - languor creeps
Around their frames, they quickly sink to rest.
Not so with man - HE never hath enough;
He feeds on all alike; and, wild or tame,
He's but a cannibal. He burns, destroys,
And scatters death to sate his morbid lust
For empty fame. But when the love of gain
Hath struck its roots in his vile, sordid heart, -
Each gen'rous impulse chill'd, - like vampire, now,
He sucks the life-blood of his friends or foes
Until he viler grows than savage beast.
And when, at length, stretch'd on his bed of death,
And powerless, friendless, o'er his clammy brow
The dark'ning shades descend, strong to the last
His avarice lives; and while he feebly plucks
His wretched coverlet, he gasps for breath,
And thinks he gathers gold!
J.W.D.M.
I had a letter of introduction to a gentleman of large property, at
C - -, who, knowing that I wished to purchase a farm, very kindly
drove me out to several lots of land in the immediate neighbourhood.
He showed me seven or eight very eligible lots of cleared land, some
of them with good houses and orchards; but somehow or other, on
inquiry, I found they all belonged to himself, and, moreover, the
prices were beyond my limited means. For one farm he asked 1000
pounds; for another, 1500 pounds, and so on. After inquiring in
other quarters, I saw I had no chance of getting a farm in that
neighbourhood for the price I could afford to pay down, which was
only about 300 pounds. After satisfying myself as to this fact, I
thought it the wiser course at once to undeceive my very obliging
friend, whose attentions were obviously nicely adjusted to the
estimate he had formed in his own mind of my pecuniary resources.
On communicating this discouraging fact, my friend's countenance
instantly assumed a cold and stony expression, and I almost expected
that he would have stopped his horses and set me down, to walk with
other poor men. As may well be supposed, I was never afterwards
honoured with a seat in his carriage. He saw just what I was worth,
and I saw what his friendship was worth; and thus our brief
acquaintance terminated.
Having thus let the cat out of the bag, when I might, according to
the usual way of the world, have sported for awhile in borrowed
plumage, and rejoiced in the reputation of being in more prosperous
circumstances without fear of detection, I determined to pursue the
same course, and make use of the little insight I had obtained into
the ways of the land-jobbers of Canada, to procure a cleared farm
on more reasonable terms.
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