'TO' AND 'BY.'

Bruce Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 2463, 31 March 1893, Page 5

' TO ' AND ' BY.'

Were one desirous of desc ibing an excessively rich man in a very f e w words, could one do batter than state that he did not understand his bank-book 1 Probably, to all whose schol istic education has not been includ d the rudimentary principles of commercial book-keeping, the neatly-bound voluma which the obliging bank official presents together with, their first cheque-book is, for a time, at least, somewhat of a puzzle is in most cases too soon mastered, and the mysteries qf ; In account wi'h ' speedily cleared up by experience. Bufc conceive the delightful stite of mind of that man to whom the puzzle of ' To ' and ' By' was simply devoid of interest, and therefore n ver seriously grappled with. In his supreme confidence thafc, with all his efforts, his qutgoings could never surpass the total of his incomings, and that, supposing such a circumstance possible, his bankers, would consider his overdrawing, an amiable condescension or endearing trait, the pages of his pass book are only entertaining as the hieroglyphieus of a respectable science which he does not understand, and the banker's neatly-adjusted balance a useful contrivance, the working of which he has never troubled himself to acquire. Could all th . word-painting ol the most luxuriou. three volume novel bring before one the clearly-defined picture of wealth beyond tbe dreams of avarice so well as .ome such naive confessions of golden ignorance? In fiction we have been frequency introduced to the miserly millionaire poring over his bank-book and list of securities whenever disposed bo while away an hour or so in quiet reading. Bufc we suspect that the miser of real life is chiefly concerned in keeping his current accounb as low as be convenien'ly c in, in order to eurol all bis yellow battalious in the great battle _f investment It is the hardworkiug beads of growing families, or the youthful enthusiasts whose liv.s are one long race with that metaphorical c instable over whom victory is so temptingly easy, who alone can exhaust the ful) emotions which the right and left; pages of a bank-book are capable of producing. To ;hem, thia all-important tome is as the jonfessional to the modern devotee, or the scourge and hair shirt to the ancient mchorite. During the short period which the examination lasts, more sudden shrills of hope, sharp strokes of despair, md premonitory suggestions of final lisaster can be undergone than in all

;be twenty four hours of a crowded jxistence. In emotional expenditure, rom the time tbe awful piece of accountmcy begins, to the time the book is mapped to with a s'gh of relief or a jroan of anguish, t he unhappy auditor of lis own financial situation may be more jrofligate than i 1 a month's ordinary nental wear-arid. -tear. Very few men .erform this task in company. It ia in ;he silence of the inner chamber, with :losed doors aud drawn curtains with no lushed circe of anxious relations to note ,he terrible twitchings and tremblings .ass acres i the well-loved face, that the ■vise man undertakes h ; s self-communion. How simple it is, after al', to those who -.new the secret of it ! 4 The Universal in i Cosm >p ilitan Banking Association in account with Frederick Augustus Jones, Esquire.' Oeoters ro so much •md so much ; creditors by so much and so much. In other words, this left page bel.ngs fco us, and this right page is claimed by them, aud we are running fche two pages against e.ch otber in a Bpirit of friendly opposition. 4To' is our friend, and 'By ' is our deadly enemy. 'To ' goes off in grand style ; cutting a handsome figure, and pausing, as it were, for our applause. Those subsfcantcial and imposing entries were our quarterly dividends and a most respectable show they make. What does our enemy 4By ' reply to them ? H« opens the campaign with a number of modest items down to the b yttom of the page — club subscriptions and charitable ins'itutions ; household cheque* ; schoolfees for tho younger, allowances for the elder, children ; a few small tradesmen's bills ; but nothing alarming so far. And then we turn over the leaf. 'By ' pre sen's the same appearance all down the next page, and 4 To ' declines to use his bi^ artillery against so contemptible an assailant. Another page, the enemy pursuing the .am i ticfcic*», and our side discharging one of our h avy guns — our rents for fche half year — aud the double lines across b »th p.i^* j s denote tha referees's signal for ' cease firing.' There can be no doubt about the result of ' that engigemen", one could think — aud yet, wh *fc is this 1 By all that is wonderful and inexplicable, the hostile forces have beat n us ! Constant dripping has worn away the rockou which we were building r^ur cot.fidence ; our giant has succumbed to the stings of a swarm of was .is ; the cumu'ative force of the enemies we so sadly underrated has borne us down, a' d we shall have to face the comin j campaign burdened and crippled wi h debt. To some it must seeia that the event of that battle between 4T > ' and ' By ' which has raged throughout their chequered lives must always end by the same victory of the hostile side. In the dead, unhappy night, and when the rain is on the roof, a phantom bala- ce-sheet will ever hang before their rest'eas eyes, and wind them in a nightmare's web whe*. troubled sleep at last comes. To these, that right page of their bank-books has been the bottomless bucket which they have unceasingly laboured to fill since the struggle of manhood began ; the leak in their ship, wh'ch, though the pumps be ever at work, has never br en really mastered ; the gaping rent in the vessel's side, which, directly the winds of fate blow ever so litt'e stronger must infallibly sink her. In the roar of Ihe city's traffic and the silenc i of the countryside, walking and sitting, sleeping and walking, when once the ominous words begin to haunt one, ' To ' and ' By ' will be tbe whisper ever at ooe's ear. They are the writing on the wall to the unacknowledged bankrupt. In the midst of the banquet, when he rises, goblet in band, to drink prosperity to the great enterprise which he knows to be rotten at the core, tbey are there in flaming letters, though his well-tried cheek may not blanch, ond his practised hand still keeps the cup from falling : but be sure thafc he sees them — 4 To ' dwindled to a faint, star-like speck, and * By ' fiery, devouring, and immense. They are the burden of the death-song \yhich throbs in many a suicide's brain. They are the symbols qf huiqan existence. To so few entries of perfect happiness, by so many bitter trials and long sorrows; to hope, and by disappointment j to moments of joy, and by hours, days, months, and years of pain — which way would the beam fall ? And who, after mch a balance, would care to boast that the resu't is to hia credit I—World.1 — World.