An 'Attic' Philosopher

opy and

, Nine O'

overed by a dark fog. Nothing seems in its place; we see only misery, improvidence

. After a long walk in the faubourgs,

denly in the middle of those dreadful abodes where the poor are born, to languish and die. I looked at those decaying walls, which time has covered with a foul leprosy; those wi

t followers. There was not here even that last friend of the outcast - the dog, which a painter has introduced as the sole attendant at the pauper's burial! He whom they were prepa

if one of its members can thus disappea

Thus, beings like ourselves daily wait in destitution on our compassion till we give them leave to live! Whole troops of outcasts, in addition to the trials imposed on all God's childr

ther the wiser nor the happier for them? Which of us would not exchange his life of labor

es of the 'Foyer Breton' who, when dying of hunger and thirst,

arth spreads a continual feast before them! The tiny flies are their game, ripe grass their cornfields, and hips and haws their store of fruit. They

feast before him." What, then, has he gained by that selfish and imperfect association which forms a nation? Would it not

eze brings in the fragrance of the gardens below. Here I am again leaning on my elbows

ng, and sunlight, with the same pleasure; but to-day it stops a

vices, and, being fixed there by the rain, has formed a sort of aerial terrace, where some green grass has spru

m every part with the sound of a flail, and when the carts, loaded with golden sheaves, came in by all the roads. I still remember the songs of the maidens, the cheerfulness of the old men, the open-hearted merriment of the laborers. There was, at that time, something in their looks both of pride and feeling. The latter ca

order there is in

hant occupies himself in exchanging his products with those of distant countries; the men of science and of art add every day a few horses to this ideal team, which draws along the material world, as steam impels the gigantic trains of our iron roads! Thus all unite together, all help one another; the toil of each one benefits himself and all the world; the work has been apportioned among t

as many hindrances as helps. He must surmount these obstacles with the single strength that God has given him; he cannot reckon on any other aid than chance and opportunity. No one reaps, manuf

d by the sight of some vices in detail, I cursed t

to mistake feeling for evidence, and to judge

r more help or pity? That dead man, whose forsaken state I deplored, had he not found, by the cares of a hospital, a coffin and the humble grave where he was about to rest? Alone, and far from men, he would have died like the wild beast in his den, and would now be serving as food for vultures! These benefits of human s

sh the number of them; with new lights a better division will arise; the elements of society go on toward perfection, like everything

re covered by large sheets of lead, which run into the tiles; the successive action of cold and heat has made

my new neighbor spent her days in fluttering over the poplar in the garden, and in chirping along the gutters; a fine lady's life seemed the only one to suit her. Then all of a sudden, the necessity of preparing a shelter for her brood transformed our idler into a worker;

their foresight. While elsewhere man, warmed by an ever brilliant sun, and loaded with the bounties of the earth, was remaining poor, ignorant, and naked, in the midst of gifts he did not attempt to explore, here he was forced by necessity to wrest his food from the ground, to build habitations to defend him

e more acute since she had been occupied in work. At last the nest was finished; she se

than the others, was not able to clear the edge of the roof, and fell into the gutter. I caught him with some difficulty, and placed him again on the tile in front of his house, but the mother has not noticed him. Once freed from the cares of a family, she has resumed her wandering life among the trees and along the roofs. In vain I ha

peck it with his bill. I tried to catch him, but he escaped into the fors

est by his unworthy mother. I tried in vain to warm him again with my breath; I felt the last pulsations of life; his eyes were already closed, and his wings hung do

without doubt it is my old neighbor; his

ished me to read a letter from her son the

py it in my jour

he last time, except that last week I was nearly drowned with the boat, w

my duty, and, after diving three times, I brought him to the surface, which pleased him much; for when we were hoi

had a good character, and they have just told me that I am promoted to be a sailor of the first class! Directly I knew it, I cried out, 'My moth

if you wish to do me good; for nothing makes me f

om the bottom

CQU

r that the portre

who have brought you up. I need not tell you to take care of your life, because you know it is the same as my own, and that wi

dy. I even had some money over this year, and as my drawers shut very badly, I put it into the savings' bank, where I have opened an account in your name. S

ncs' remittance and said that you had sent it her; and the poor woman remembers you day and night in her prayers. S

o me often, and always remember

INE MI

oon does justice to such paradoxes. We find, on examination, that in the mixed good and evil of human nature, the good so far abounds that we are not in the habit of noticing it, while the evil strikes us precisely on account of it

which insure the preservation of her kind; but she obeyed an instinct, and not a rational choice. When she had accomplished the mission appointed her by Providence, she cast off the duty as we get rid of a burden, and she returned again to her selfish libert

t of creation. Thanks to them, we enjoy a sort of terrestrial immortality; and i