never inhabited such clothes before.
The gold-sack stood on a little table at the front of the platform
where all the house could see it. The bulk of the house gazed at it
with a burning interest, a mouth-watering interest, a wistful and
pathetic interest; a minority of nineteen couples gazed at it
tenderly, lovingly, proprietarily, and the male half of this
minority kept saying over to themselves the moving little impromptu
speeches of thankfulness for the audience’s applause and
congratulations which they were presently going to get up and
deliver. Every now and then one of these got a piece of paper out
of his vest pocket and privately glanced at it to refresh his
memory.
Of course there was a buzz of conversation going on–there always
is; but at last, when the Rev. Mr. Burgess rose and laid his hand on
the sack, he could hear his microbes gnaw, the place was so still.
He related the curious history of the sack, then went on to speak in
warm terms of Hadleyburg’s old and well-earned reputation for
spotless honesty, and of the town’s just pride in this reputation.
He said that this reputation was a treasure of priceless value; that
under Providence its value had now become inestimably enhanced, for
the recent episode had spread this fame far and wide, and thus had
focussed the eyes of the American world upon this village, and made
its name for all time, as he hoped and believed, a synonym for
commercial incorruptibility. [Applause.] “And who is to be the
guardian of this noble fame–the community as a whole? No! The
responsibility is individual, not communal. From this day forth
each and every one of you is in his own person its special guardian,
and individually responsible that no harm shall come to it. Do you-
-does each of you–accept this great trust? [Tumultuous assent.]
Then all is well. Transmit it to your children and to your
children’s children. To-day your purity is beyond reproach–see to
it that it shall remain so. To-day there is not a person in your
community who could be beguiled to touch a penny not his own–see to
it that you abide in this grace. [“We will! we will!”] This is not
the place to make comparisons between ourselves and other
communities–some of them ungracious towards us; they have their
ways, we have ours; let us be content. [Applause.] I am done.
Under my hand, my friends, rests a stranger’s eloquent recognition
of what we are; through him the world will always henceforth know
what we are. We do not know who he is, but in your name I utter
your gratitude, and ask you to raise your voices in indorsement.”
The house rose in a body and made the walls quake with the thunders
of its thankfulness for the space of a long minute. Then it sat
down, and Mr. Burgess took an envelope out of his pocket. The house
held its breath while he slit the envelope open and took from it a
slip of paper. He read its contents–slowly and impressively–the
audience listening with tranced attention to this magic document,
each of whose words stood for an ingot of gold:
“‘The remark which I made to the distressed stranger was this: “You
are very far from being a bad man; go, and reform.”‘” Then he
continued:- “We shall know in a moment now whether the remark here
quoted corresponds with the one concealed in the sack; and if that
shall prove to be so–and it undoubtedly will–this sack of gold
belongs to a fellow-citizen who will henceforth stand before the
nation as the symbol of the special virtue which has made our town
famous throughout the land–Mr. Billson!”
The house had gotten itself all ready to burst into the proper
tornado of applause; but instead of doing it, it seemed stricken
with a paralysis; there was a deep hush for a moment or two, then a
wave of whispered murmurs swept the place–of about this tenor:
“BILLSON! oh, come, this is TOO thin! Twenty dollars to a stranger-
-or ANYBODY–BILLSON! Tell it to the marines!” And now at this
point the house caught its breath all of a sudden in a new access of