Such enthusiastic and long-continued applause followed the count’s address, that he came forward again, and said:
“This time, my friends, I will forgive you for taking more notice of me than I deserve, since it reminds me of a duty I owe to you. I wish to say to the thousands here present, and especially to the capitalists who may hereafter engage in the building of Social Palaces, that their task will be an easier one than they suppose; because men and women will work for their establishment with the same single-hearted devotion with which they have worked for this. I have been often pained to see the sacrifices that these noble workers have made. I doubt if one-half of them have taken the allotted hour at noon for their lunch; and I have seen carpenters, cabinetmakers, and decorators, seize a spade and dig in the trenches, rather than be a moment idle, when their own special work was interrupted by any accident; and be it said to the honor of labor, that the men who have done the most skilled labor on this palace, have never failed in equal respect toward those who have done the most mechanical and unskilled portions. A spirit of fraternal good-fellowship and unity of purpose has, so far as I know, characterized these men throughout every hour of the work from its commencement. This spirit is based on the sentiment of equality, the recognition of human rights everywhere, and is most significant, for it is full of promise for the future success of our great effort. And here I will mention one thing, not out of malice, but simply as a lesson. I am accused of advocating the ‘leveling’ principle. ‘Frauenstein, you are a leveler,’ said a friend to me to-day. Well, there is some truth in that: I would bring all the races and individuals on the globe up to the highest level; but I should be very sorry to do anything toward bringing my artisan friends down to the physical, intellectual, or moral level of certain aristocrats whom I know. [Laughter and applause.] It is undeniably the fact, that to-day the soundest views on education, on politics, on finance, on social organization, are supported, not by those who hold themselves above their kind—the drones of the community, who feed on the mechanic’s labor—but by those who have an honest right to everything they own, and much more. The more I associate with laborers, even those who have had little advantage from schools, the more I am struck with the saving virtue that is in them. I confess I am almost disgusted with the very word aristocracy, for it has been vilely degraded, until it is applied only to those who would be ashamed to do an honest day’s work of any kind. And what is this aristocracy? What are these parvenues of two hundred years, who would cry down the nobler aristocracy of labor, which is as old as civilization itself?”
CHAPTER XLIV.
THE BIRTH OF THE HEIR.
After the count’s speech, there was a quartette performed by pupils of the school, and a solo by Leila, Linnie playing the accompaniment. Her cold, correct soprano voice was heard very distinctly throughout the great auditorium. She pretended to be very indifferent to the applause that followed, but secretly was much flattered. Mr. Stevens followed with a very neat practical speech on the subject of what he called penny-wise and pound-foolish investments of capital, and several times “brought down the house” by his quaint way of turning sentences. The audience were in a joyous humor when he ended, and called loudly for their great pet at public meetings, Dr. Forest. He said:
“My friends, I thank you for calling me, though I was intending to come without any invitation [laughter], for I have two announcements to make to you. During the latter part of the eloquent address of my son-in-law—That is pure vanity on my part. If he were not so distinguished a man, I should probably say, During the latter part of the address of Mr. Frauenstein.—[Great laughter and applause, during which the doctor tried to continue.] I was going to say, and would say, if you would only stop your noise and listen [more uproarious laughter], that three rich and honorable gentlemen in the audience sent me a note for the Count Frauenstein, asking for an appointment to-morrow morning. It is a profound secret, and so I will make no scruple in telling you that they propose a joint-stock company for the building of another Social Palace, in a neighboring town. [Applause.] I tell of this to please you, and then to make them feel somewhat committed to the enterprise, so that they can’t back out so easily. [Laughter.] That, you see, is killing two birds with one stone, as the physician said who had two patients in the same street. [Laughter and applause.]
“Now, some of you being strangers may not understand, seeing the familiarity with which my fellow-citizens treat me, that I am a very grave and dignified person——”
The roars of laughter that greeted this quite prevented the doctor from continuing, and Mr. Kendrick, liking well to see the audience amused, rose and begged permission to corroborate the doctor’s statement by an anecdote. “Some years ago,” he said, “being seized by a sudden and severe illness, I sent for my friend Dr. Forest. He came, examined my pulse and my tongue, asked the ordinary impertinent questions, and seemed to study the case very seriously. Then he said, ‘Kendrick, I don’t see what the devil is the matter with you, but I’ll give you an emetic on a venture.’”
As soon as the noise subsided a little, the doctor adjusted his spectacles and said:
“Allow me to say, my friends, in defence of my professional skill, that I was not wholly without a certain spiritual insight into my friend’s case at that time. Knowing that his phrenological bump of Alimentiveness was seven plus, and considering that lobsters had just appeared——”
The doctor could not go on for the uproarious merriment, which was increased by the fact that Kendrick was a thin little man, with no appetite to speak of, and so the sentence was never finished. When he resumed his address, he went on in a far more serious strain: