Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1852-02-05
From Household Words.
The / ashionable Forger,

am an attorney and bill discounter. AS
i. ig my vocu,ion 10 lend money 4 tgA interest
to extravaganza people, my conuecton principal
ly lies among ioOls," sometimes among rogues
" of quality"
Mine is pursuit which prejudiced world
either holds in sovereign contempt, or visits with
envy, hatred, and all uncharitabeness but, to
my mind, there are many calIings, with finer
names, that are no better. 1t gives Inc two
things that love--money and power; but
cannot deny that 1t brings with it a bad name.
The case lies between character and money,
and involves a matter of taste. Some people
like character prefer money If am hated
and desplsed, chuckle over the "per CONTRA
find it pleasant for the members of poud ar
lstocracy to condescend from their high estate
to fawn, felgn, fl later; to affect even mirlhul
familiarity, in order 10 gain my goodwill. AIN
no Shvlock. No client can accuse me of dpslr.
ing either his flesh or his blood. Sentimental
vengeance is no item in my stock IN trade
Gud and bank notes satisfy my "Iage;" or, if
need be, good mortgage. Far from seeking
revenge, the worst detaulter ever hat dealings
with cannot deny that am always willing to ac.
cept good postobt
say again, am daily brought into contact
with all ranks ofsocely, rom he poverry-strlck
ed pa;entee to the peer; aud am no more sur
prsed at rece wing an apph alton from ducll-
ess than IRON pet opera dances
In my ante-IOOm, wat at this momen., u
crowd OF borrowers.
Among the men, bcardless folly and mus
tachoed craft are most prominent there Is
handsome young fellow, with ,n elaborate cane
anu wonderfully vacant counIeuance, who is an
llcipating, in feeble Goes, an estate that has
been IN the possession Of his ancestors since the
reign of lenry the Eighth. There is mry,
high. nosed, broken down nondescript. in appear
ance. something between horse. dealer and Il
pugllist. lie is an old Etonlnn. Five years
ago he drove his tuur.in hand : la is now wait.
ing to beg sovereign, having j'ist been discIar
ged from the lnsOvent Courl, for the second
time.
Among the women, a pretty actress, who, O
lew years srce, looked forward to supper o
STEAK aud onions, with bottled stout on Satur
day night, as great treat now finds a hundred
pounds month insufficient to pay her wine
, merchant and her :onlecirner. am oblicee
to deal wAh each case accordingn to its peculi
aritis. Genuine, undeserved Ruin seldom
knocks at my door Mine is perpetual bottl,
with people who inbibe lrckery at the same rat,
a US they dissolve their fortunes.
am hard man, Of course. should M, h,
}, fit for my pursuit, if | were not but when h
: remote chance, honest misfortune povs ma
i visit, as Rotlschilds amused himself at ,ines h
i giving beggar guinea, so Iuccasionolv ,roo
: myself to the luxury of doing kind act;or
d; My favorite subjects for this unnatural Oenero.
= iIy, are the very young, or the poor. innoceu,
h helpless people, who are unfit for the war of ie
y Many among my clients especially those tenn
pe'ed in the ice book" of fashion and high n
e polished and passlonless) would be- too mn,
Is for me, if had not made the face the eve. m
A. accent, as much my study as the more legal an
! financial points of discount. To show what
mean, will relate what happened to me n,
IN long since
$. One day., a middle-aged man, in the usu,
4 costume of West End shopman, who had ser
os u his name as Mr.. Administer, was show
III into my private room. After little hesitatiO
he said: