Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-12-14
T'HELATEMR. LYMPET

There was only one thing on which we
Lympets did pride oursclyes-it was on
the family name. From our earliest child
hood we were taught to believe that
LympCt was apart from and superior to all
other men. As my dear father used to
say, there were working people, gentry,
nobility and Lympets The family held
the first place in our eStimations. We
were Lympcts first and Brtons afterward.
Not one of us but gloricd in his birth and
did his best to live up to our proud old
family motto, "Quod tango tcneo."
1 need hardly say that not one of them
ever so far forgot himself as to stoop to
trade. Their sense of what was due to
their name was too powerful to allow them
to sink so far. So strong indeed was this
feeling that the daughters of our house
often preferred to pass their lives in single
blcsscdness rather than change the dear
old name Of which they were so justly
proud. Few families can boast so many
old maids. The ribald have vcnturcd to
attribute this fact to the Lympct dowrics,
which are unfortunately small, and to the
Lympot mouth, which is undcniably large,
rather than to the Lympct pride. But how
can such rude clay sympathizc with the
What can thoy know of the glorious asso-
Citations which cndCar the grand old name
of Lympet to every member of that noble
house?
Unfortunately one cannot live upon
name-at least not forever. l lived on
mine as long rs it was possible but time
at last came when found that the Lynn
pet name, highly as we rated it, was of
L, ,.,1,v 81,
mercial peoplc-hard, practical men-look-
ed ut it askancc and requested the addi-
t.-hal security of some wretched Jones or
Smith, who could not trace his pedigree
beyond his grandfather. In short l was
becoming financially embarrassed, and,
what was worse, did not know how to OK
tricatc myself. l had no occupation, no
profession.
My father had designed me for the
church, for he was the patron Of a very
snug living on his Irish property; but, alasl
while l was still at school the man Glad
stone came along with his AK and Topped
the Irish church away like the diseased
limb of Hawardcn oak. Thus prevented
from serving the church, l would have
been very willing to serve the state, but
these are evil days for Lympcts-tho sys-
tenn OF competitive examination proved a
barrier / was unable to surmount, and
England lost a valuable servant. AS trade
was out of the question and the bar offered
no opening, decided to adopt the career
for which my talents best fitted me and
to do nothing at all. And l did it in cx-
cellcntstylc, too, rs q Lympct should The
honor Of our name suffered nothing at my
hands, | can assure you.
My allowance from my father, which
was small-f0r my sisters had to be pro-
vidcd for, and Cumborground, my elder
brother, was wickcdly cXtravagant-and u
small private fortune which 1 inherited
from my mother / employed mainly as
pocket money Almost everything else |
obtained on credit. And so, throwing an
occasional sop to Ccrbcrus in the shape of
n payment on account" to the more
pressing of my creditors and rcsorting to
an elaborate system of paper" when 1
was in want Of ready money, l contrivcd
to live in honorable case for a good many
years.
But time brings all things to perfection
and bills to maturity. Then they have
to he renewed, and u renewed bill is re.
doubled difficulty. Living on paper is like
skating on ice.
So long as it is strong enough to bear
you you can Lourish about cutting fig
urcs with the BEST but if you overweight
it it suddenly gives way beneath your feet,
and you vanish out of sight EARLY last
year certain unmistakable groans and
cracks warned me that my footing was
dangerous. Bill discounters who had al
ways smiled on me began to frown, every
post brought letters requesting payment