But
work for nothing! That is for the Vincent de Pauls, the
Fenelons, all those whose souls have always been weaned and whose
hearts have been pure. The man enriched by gain will be a
municipal councillor, a member of the committee on charities, an
officer of the infant schools: he will perform all the honorary
functions, barring exactly that which would be efficacious, but
which is repugnant to his habits. Work without hope of profits!
That cannot be, for it would be self-destruction. He would
like to, perhaps; he has not the courage. Video meliora
proboque, deteriora sequor. The retired proprietor is really the
owl of the fable gathering beech-nuts for its mutilated mice
until it is ready to devour them. Is society also to be blamed
for these effects of a passion so long, so freely, so fully
gratified?
Who, then, will explain this mystery of a manifold and discordant
being, capable at once of the highest virtues and the most
frightful crimes? The dog licks his master who strikes him,
because the dog's nature is fidelity and this nature never leaves
him.
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