The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-03-15
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stood up boldly among his fellow citi-
zens and said that the great enterprise
was speculative and that he could not
advise any one to put penny into it
unless he was perfectly willing to lose.
Moreover, he called attention to the
fact that investors, in addition to the
usual risk of loss, ran also the chance
of being assessed upon their shares in
case of failure This utterance checked
the run on the bank and was repeated
by Barlock people, and especially by
Sir Robert, after the great venture be-
gan to sink toward ruin.
Among those involved in the disaster
was Tyrrell, but he had not invested
very heavily. He would have escaped
utter wreck except for the assessments
which Sir Robert had mentioned, and
he was among the first to counsel re
sistance of payment upon the ground
that the whole transaction was fraudu-
lent.
At this point Sir Roberts rectitude
stood forth sublime. The enterprise
could not be fraudulent, because he
himself had lent it a measure OF sane
ton. 1t was speculative, because he
himself had said so. The victims
should pay their assessments, because
he had warned them Of the possibility
and because he paid his.
at is a matter of honorable business
Obligation said he. "a man must pay
his debts
Sir Robert paid the trihing sums de-
manded of him, and he did so with a
loud noise. TyrrelI protested and tried
to draw the others after him, but they
feared Sir Robert Tyrrell could not
fight alone nor join in time with the
dissatisfied in other cities. The upshot
Of it was that he went bankrupt. Sir
Robert lost E40O, which he could well
afford.
Tyrrell left Barlock in disgrace and
went to London, where, to his own
great surprise, he throve. About two
years later he returned to his native
town to pay the last Of bis debts there.
He came bearing honors which he had
won in the larger world and With a
heart full Of the hope Of high achieve
ment. But the hope died in an instant,
and the laurels already won turned to
dry leaves upon his brow, for the first
news. he heard in Barlock was that Syl-
Was hand was pledged to Sir Robert.
The wedding occurred within a few
days, and Tyrrell carried a broken
heart in his breast when he went back
to London.
Five years later, as the result, Of
steadily increasing and irreconcilable
differences, Sylvia left her husbands
home, never to return. She fed in Sc
cret, for thus only could she take her
son with her. The letter which she
wrote to Sir Robert has come into my
hands, and it is one Of my mOsSrtreas-
ured possessions. Therein she states
with precision the reasons for her act,
reasons which she had stated less calm
~ perhaps to his face long before.
You are a dishonest man." she
wrote. "You do not pay your debts.
Out of ten thousand kinds Of obIiga-
tieas jj';=+++5 due you pay but one kind.
You pay in money, and upon every 9th
er reckoning you are bankrupt.
81 was dependent upon you when I
was a child. Your father took me into
his house. If was not there by right
1 should not have been there at all. L
was not old enough to decide. He was
the judge. When you came into your
Inheritance you found me under your
roof You should have sent me away
or have done your duty by me. There
was no middle course.
''YOur dutt was to teach me honor
and honesty. You taught me dishonor
and fraud. You should have shown
Christ's world to me, where love and
kindness and sympathy are current
coin. You showed me only the temple
Of the money changers before the Mas
ter drove them out, and you taught me
by act and word that this was the true
holy of holies where all good men wor-
SHIPPED"
She then lays bare the sordid life she
led with him. For all the outpOuring
of her mind and heart he paid her only
in drOss. All his thoughts were Of
money; all his, moral judgments were
rendered in terms Of money. He could
talk Of nothing else, think Of nothing
else and hope for nothing higher.
When their son was born Sir Robert
was relieved Of a terrible mental strain.
He had feared the child might be a girl
and worthless for money making, and he
had never kept this anxiety secret from
her. His sole ambition for his son was
that he should follow in his fathers foot
steps and win the respect of banks. Sir
Robert detained business principles over
the child's cradle and undoubtedly drove
his wife into a species OF insanity by I'M
ceasing reiteration Of his low aims and
sordid plans for their child.
Her determination that the boy should
never give compromising ear to his
fathers instruction was undoubtedly the
leading motive for Sylvia's conduct It IS
true also that she had learned to UNDER
stand the fraud that had been practiced
upon her in regard to Arthur TyrrelI, as
the following passage In the letter proves:
You would not have forged a deed of
Arthur Tyrrelfs property and offered Il to
g. IL