Basile was not only useful, but agreeable; without any mean arts,
or servile adulation, he pleased by simply showing the desire to oblige
and the ability to serve.
"Diable!" exclaimed the general one day, as he looked at Basile's plan of
a town which the army was besieging. "How comes it that you are able to
do all these things? But you have a genius for this sort of work,
apparently."
"No, sir," said Basile, "these things were taught to me when I was a
child by a good friend."
"A good friend he was, indeed! he did more for you than if he had given
you a fortune; for, in these times, that might have been soon taken from
you; but now you have the means of making a fortune for yourself."
This observation of the general's, obvious as it may seem, is deserving
of the serious consideration of those who have children of their own to
educate, or who have the disposal of money for public charities. In
these times no sensible person will venture to pronounce that a change of
fortune and station may not await the highest and the lowest; whether we
rise or fall in the scale of society, personal qualities and knowledge
will be valuable. Those who fall cannot be destitute, and those who rise
cannot be ridiculous or contemptible, if they have been prepared for
their fortune by proper education. In shipwreck those who carry their
all in their minds are the most secure.
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