It has really come to such a pitch
that I thought it was a duty to speak to you about it. Well, it is a
new experience to me. I have often had to reprove my parishioners for
not being charitable enough, but it is very strange to find one who is
too charitable. It is a noble error."
"I thank you very much for letting me know about it," answered Raffles
Haw, as he shook the good old clergyman's hand. "I shall certainly
reconsider my conduct in that respect."
He kept a rigid and unmoved face until his visitor had gone, and then
retiring to his own little room, he threw himself upon the bed and burst
out sobbing with his face buried in the pillow. Of all men in England,
this, the richest, was on that day the most miserable. How could he
use this great power which he held? Every blessing which he tried to
give turned itself into a curse. His intentions were so good, and yet
the results were so terrible. It was as if he had some foul leprosy of
the mind which all caught who were exposed to his influence.
His charity, so well meant, so carefully bestowed, had yet poisoned the
whole countryside. And if in small things his results were so evil, how
could he tell that they would be better in the larger plans which he had
formed? If he could not pay the debts of a simple yokel without
disturbing the great laws of cause and effect which lie at the base of
all things, what could he hope for when he came to fill the treasury of
nations, to interfere with the complex conditions of trade, or to
provide for great masses of the population? He drew back with horror as
he dimly saw that vast problems faced him in which he might make errors
which all his money could not repair.
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