Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1888-01-07

SuoSCtIFtlOH Hst now nat no vol
say to putting our names down for E5(
Spieces"
There was a chorus of disapproval,
You misunderstood me-" continued
the baronet, 81 did not say give $50.
q | don't mean TO subscribe more than
Is myself, but ESQ viii ldok well in
{ tho papers al the top Of the list, don't
/. you sce?'
i, NJ think l follow you, Sir James,"
said Mr.. Fawning. There are eight
of us here. II we each put our names
down for ESQ. that win make a good
start towards Ei,O00. OF course, our
actual payments must be optional"
PRECISELY" replied the barpnet.
"And see that our verify friend, Mr..
Savile-Moss, Is not present; he is GER
tain to Contribute at least fl00. And
now, having arranged this, | think,
gentleman, we may adjourn, Mr..
Fawning will draw up some circulars
and see that the first subscription list
is advertised, Perhaps a systematic
canvass will be desirable; but we can
discuss that later
So the meeting broke up, and Mr..
F2wnlng proceeded to carry out his
instructions, The Mr.. Joseph Savilc-
Moss TO whom Sir James referred was
u gentleman who had recently bought
n big house and a fair-sizcd estate in
the ncighborhood of Marlborough. He
was of undoubtedly Hcbraic appear
ance, and not too refined in his manners,
but then he was a Tory. had plenty of
money, and did not mind spending a
certain amount gift, all of which things
did Il great deal to counterfeit the re-
ports which had somehow been cir
culated that his real name was Joseph
Samuel Moses, and his business that of
moncy-lcnding. In fact, Mr.. Savilc-
Moss had been such an energetic sup
porter of Lord Vcrjuice at the recent
election and had aided so materially in
providing the sinews of wal that the
local Tories felt compelled to ~patronizc
him socially, and even to have him
elected a councillor of the Marlborough
Habitation. Sir james had, therefore,
some reason for his confidence about
Mr.. Savile-MoSs' liberality in the
matterof the testimonial, and he lost no
time in calling upon that gentleman TO
ascertain how much he could be bled
for. But the occasion was trifle I'M
lucky. Mr.. Savile-Moss had been to
London, and rs fortune would have it,
he had met Lady Grewsum face to face
in the park. Her ladyship had cut him,
for it was one thing to tolerate the
worthy Jew in the country. but quite
another to bow to him in town, and
Mr.. Savile-Moss felt very much az
grievcd, Sir James was, in fact, COM
PEELED to ask him to dinner before he
could obtain a promise of a subScrip-
ton, and even then Mr.. Savile-Moss
would only undertake to give fl00 on
condition that the total sum raised BY
the knights and danes of the Null
borough Habitation amounted to at
least fj00.
This wa not very encouraging, but
MIR. Fawning and his colleagues deter
mined to leave not a stone unturned to
screw every possible copper out of the
farmers, laborers and artizans of the
district.
Six weeks were spent in this a~rluous
task; every cottage for miles round had
been personally visited by some men,
Der of the special committee. There
was not a travelling tinker or tramp of
any sort who had not been dunned for
n penny; there was not y household in
the neighborhood whose head did not
loathe the very name of Lady Grewsum,
and yet the result of all this hard
work was that, including e. apiece
from the councillors and deductinr
expenses of advertising and printing,
only Il sum of fl3l l3s. Sd, re-
manned to be devoted to the pur-
poses of the fund. A special meet
ing of the council was promptly called,
and this time Mr.. Savile-Moss put in
an appearance.
at is quite obvious" said Sir James
Shircutt, ''that we can not buy a thou
sand-guinea portrait for f131 lbs. sd.
and l should be glad, gentlemen, to
hear what you propose
"The apathy of the people is de-
plorable,' sighed DR.. Sopely.
at is worse said Mr.. Fawninc; it
is most damaging to the reputation of
the league"
Very true" said Mr.. Rodent, "but
you can't get blood from a stone"
Mr.. Savile-M,ss had, as yet. said
nothing, He seemed to be lost in
thought, though he occasionally sur
veyed the meeting with a cynical grin,
which showed that he was alive to the
proceedings.
Perhaps Mr.. Moss can suggest
something" said the chairman.
"Ycs, | think | have an idea," re-
piled that worthy, and all eyes were at
once turned upon him.
You see," he continued, .thincs
are precious bad with artists just now.
| suppose you think that many of them
get tl,OD for n portrait' Not they!
Half Of it goes in commissions and
what not. Now, there's Il friend of
mine, an r. A.. mind you, who would
be pleased to do the thing for E20O,
so long as we all kept it dark, and
swore we had paid him 1000"
"f~o'.-.Jn'j'o"y 81. lnterpOsed Sir
James.
II do, indeed" continued the worthy
Moss.
He is n good man, too. Why. when
II mean q friend Of minc-was in the
old-master line, he'd turn ont Van
Dyck's,' ~'Rcynoldses' and .Gainsbor-
by the dozen for ESQ apiece, and
I'm blest if l don't think they Were
better than IL the old chaps had actu,
ally painted 'em. Only there's one
difficulty, VIC must give him y check
for fl,000."
"Why" quericd Mr.. Doubleton.
''WhyP' echoed Mr.. Moss, with some
contempt, 'because thcre'n be n pub