Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1904-12-16

money, repose and life The part
which falls to these men is often
painful, and not without discourage
ments. Who among us has not heard
painful experiences, where the mar
rator regretted his past kindnesses,
the trouble he had taken only to gath
er disappointments? They generally
end their condolences by saying: Il
was stupid enough to do this or that"
Sometimes they have reason to Judge
thus because it is always wrong to
throw pearls before swine, but how
many lives there are whose sole really
beautiful acts are precisely those of
which they repent because of the in
gratitude of men! What we should
wish for humanity is that the number
of these stupid actions will continue
to grow.
have now come to the creed of the
mercenary spirit. It's quality is it's
briefness. For the mercenary man,
the law and the prophets are contain
ed in this one axiom: With money
one can procure anything" To look
at social life, specifically, nothing is
more evident "Sinews of war"
Sounding proofs" 1.-THE key that
opens all DOORS" King of the uni
verse" To gather all that is said re-
garding the glory and power of money
would make litany longer than that
sung in honor of the Virgin Mary.
One must have been without q cent,
if only for one day or two, and to have
tried to live in this world where we
are, to have an idea of that which
lacks to him whose purse is empty.
l ask those who enjoy contrasts and
| unexpected situations to try to live
without money one-half week only,
| far from their friends and acquant-
ances, and amid strange surroundings.
They will have more experience in
| forty-eight hours than an established
man will gain in a whole year Alas!
these experiences are made by some
against their will, and when absolute
ruin falls upon them; though they
may remain in their own country,
among their companions of their
youth, their old collaborators, and
even those who are under obligations
to them, they pretend not to know
them. With what bitterness do they
comment on the mercenary creed,
with money one can have every
thing; without money impossible to
have anything" You become a par
iah, leper, away from whom every
one turns. Flies alight on dead bod.
les; men go to money. AS soon as
money is gone the place becomes
empty 1t has caused many tears to
flow, this mercenary creed-bitter
tears, tears of blood wept by those
same ones, perhaps, who, before,
were among the worshippers of the
! golden calf
And yet this creed is false archl-
false. I shall not march to the at
tack with the old legends such as that
of the rich man. lost in the desert. who
could not purchase a drop OF water
with all his money, nor that of the
| decrepit millionaire, who would give
half of his possessions to a penniless
lad, to buy his twenty years and his
robust health. So many men among
those who have money. and above
all those who have none, smile at
this truth as one of the most stereo-
| typed ones known. But l call upon
|
all to touch this coarse lie which COW
ers an axiom that every one repeats
as he goes.
Garnish your purse the best you can
and let us go together to some
watering place, of which there are
many. l wish to say, one of those
places formerly unknown, filled with
simple people, respectful and kindly,
among whom one could live well and
without great expense. Renown, with
Its hundred trumpets, has drawn them
from the shadow, has taught them
what they could make of the situa-
ton, of their climate, and their per-
sons. You go on the faith of renown,
and you fiatter yourself that with your
money you can procure for yourself
a peaceful retreat, and that, far from
the fictitious and civilized world, you
can weave little poetry in the web
of your days. The first impression is
good; the natural frame, and certain
patriaTchal costumes, slow to dis
appear, strike you favorably at first.
But as the days go by the impression
Is spoiled, the underside appears. That
which you had considered authentic
age, like the furniture of ordinary
families, is but a trick to mystify
those who swallow it. There are
tickets on everything; everything is
for sale, from the ground to the in
habitants. These primitive men haze
become the most tricny of business
men. Given your money, they have
solved the problem of procuring it at
the least expense. These are but the
threads, traps, spread everywhere like
spider webs, and the fly that these
people are waiting for is you. That
is what twenty or thirty years of mer-
cenary reign has made of a popula-
ton that was once so simple and
honest, and contact with whom was
good for wornout city jewellers. Home
made bread has disappeared, and but
ter comes from factories. They pos