Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1866-02-06

Practitioners in this line of business ought to be
really eminent before they venture on button
holing charitable public, and first rate beggar
ought to be above going about with dog, ac-
costing well-dressed people IN the the Queens
highway. But it is not TO the principle in itself
that the policemen consistently object A
profession which is respected in private life by
Cabinet Ministers, and Bishops, and Judges, and
the Lord Chancellor. and the Commander-in.
Chief, cannot really be discreditable, worthy
of the contempt of reflective constable par
ish officer. Ragged persons have contracted a
gross clumsy way OF doing 1t but IN itself beg.
ging is notle profession, and may even be con-
sidered as fine art late distinguished aca-
demical dignitary used to be in the habit of rec
ommendiug the study Of the Greek language to
his poorer undergraduates, on the ground that
knowledge of Greek frequently led in this world
to places of great emolument. In this respect.
Begging and knowledge Of the Greek language
may Be deemed to stand upon almost an equal
footing. Events teach US all that both are usual
ly lucrative and successful, and, if We were 10
choose between them, many bishops might find It
difficult, from their personal experience, to pre-
nounce that the advantage lay on the side of
knowledge OF the Greek language. The pro-
gress q modern society may indeed be eaid to be
In favor Of the institution. 1t is very often
stated, as proof Of the superiority of the man
uer in which American wealth Is distributed
among the masses, that not beggar is to be seen
in the streets OF New York. ANYTHING tha, adds
TO tie comfort of honest m enl;cty and protects
It against the inclemency of the weather, is SO
much social gaia and is a pleasure to know that
while some OF the beggars OF the Old World have
TO live chiefly in the streets, American beggars
are, a rule, TO be found cheeriiy congregated in
the ante-chsmbers of the President and his Of
fcaI advisers. Nobody supposes, not even an
American, that the great prn iple of asking for
u. has nnf ff fas .L,o
other side Of the Atlantic, though i. is something
60 De atle to feel sure that those who spend their
time and efforts in asking are, upon the whole,
well-ed and tolerably dressed. More they would
rot, perhaps, themselves desire-at any rate If
they knew their best interests. If they ceased to
be poor, they might reasonably feel ike the
Ephesisn folk Of whom read, that their staple
means 81 livelihood gone. l. is an estab-
lsael truth mat reggar with hungry wife and
fam; is IL reality better off than single man.
and the coasequ quecce is, that babies have always
been 2 premium n the London market. The
superiority Of America consists, not in ths fact
th4t poverty has ceased, but that paupers look
% CHER than they do il other countries and are
provided with a roof to stand under and chairs 10
-t upln while they are il the act Of begging
l. is by no means easy to draw an exact line of
q -narcatOn between gentlemen beggars and beg
S4rs who are snobs. One might have been
tempted to believe that the distinction ley be-
tween tho,e whose claims were based solely on
tue pIe- Of poverty, and those who based them on
other grounds. But, matter Of fact this dis
tioeIan will never hold water. The gentleman
bessar. no wants larger living, or place in /
-as Post Olhce or q County Court Judgeship, or
4 C-t~u.shjp - IiEblctoo L. slwsys d deserving
ms1; pu-. ne l. wise be is aise q wno
would b- thankful for the addition 70 his slender
means. II does not pcs; up outside MS door, /
n sq nauy rds hat ha l. starving but h. /
gives kind C,r-i.An beuefactors, and charitable /
Bishops, and Home or Colonial Secretaris TO IN /
derstand that lis iLcOme Is rhaky. and his family
steadily on the increlse. One difference between
the gentleman and the Sagrant is that the |
gentleman gets hi friends 10 help him. His /
cousins aud his wIes cousin are all animated with /
genuine enihus asm on his behalf, and chalk up /
Is, pi.4ble condition for him under the very nose
of ali who cursed with the misfortune of hav-
ing patronage to give away. 1t is pity that
feminine talent Is excluded by cruel convention
4lities from its natural sphere-,he pulpit; for |
nobody can compare with women in their power |
Of dwelling on the deserts and the poverty of
heir many friends woo are in the public mendic-
ity business They take round the plate at din /
ners and evening partles with uniform grace and |
1ntuing asiduty, and they generally finish by
obtaining what they want. One broad difference
therefore, between the gentleman and the vagrant
; that the gentleman has a staff OF unpaid female
lis own efforts The result Of this is that gentls-
mani mendicity is very catching. When Peter the
Hermit took to preaching up Crusades, his (
ample converted whole mutitudes who heard
nto f4naticai and furious missionaries q the cause
Every one went about maintaining that Jeru-
aleu was the right place to go to, and what ev-
.rybody says always ends IN being accepted as the
ruth. As soon as the gentleman begins to ask,
nd - set his feminine acquantances in motion,
,aEr 1r-.r- of hae
lrger zsd IN his favor. The eDthusiasm runs like
yildire snd is as contagious as the cattle disease
)eop.e he never heard OF and never saw and
whom he never perhaps will hear of again until he
lies, are rushing about ali over Downing street
nakiay MS sacred cause their own, and before he
.noWs where he !s, his name has become sort OF
gatchword among party OF the most determined
dvoe..ss | The does not end by becoming the
eseut4tiye Of Her M4jesty at Iinbuctoo after
i this, be is a very unlucky person. On the
If t occasion, he IS very likely distanced by some
der gentlem4nly begger, but when the claims Of
,clo. inporlunity have been satated the chances
re that he viii have bis turn. Nor is this the
ole vantage ground that raises him over his
,rother professional mendicants, whom society
cry properly leaves at the mercy Of the police.
}ein5 q man of educated and refined mind, he
as thousand little indirect ways of representing
lis needness, which escape ioferor and vulgar
atures Every occupation has its peculiar and
ecoguized methods of begging, he has only to
elect the best and most polite of these. Perhaps
lothing is better, if he happens to be in orders,
han to entreat the Bishop of his Diocese to
tand godfather to his infant children, A bishop
must be a very proud and naughty potentate to
efuse so modest an application, and when bis
oIdship has amply provided FOR the necessities of
is clerical sons, and his clerical sons-in-law, he
atuaily turns his eye on the humble parson who
as shown such proper anxiety about the spon-
orial welfare of his progeny. The fashion OF
sking Judges to stand godfathers to the infants
# bTieiess harrsters has never yet come into
lshion partly owing. perhaps, to the want
f spiritual tone and religious feeling on the
bench Nature, however, has given the briefiess
,arrister his own of defending himself
gainst want and he takes the first opportunity
II using them. The legal mendicant is suddenly
eiz-d With violent determination to go out as
Attorney General to the South Sea Islands, and
le at applies to the great men Of his profes-
ion for testimonials. As lawyer must be in-
Iced melancholy creature who is not qualified
o be Attorney General at Otaheite, the testimo-
lials are not likely to be refused. Circumstances
prevent the applicant from following up his ap
,lication, but it is humane nature to feel kindly