reply,  "Not  so,  nor  the  half  of  it."  At  the  time  of  hig  death,
it  was  generally  supposed  that  the  head  of  that  Medicean
house  could  have  bequeathed  each  one  of  a  dozen,  a  half-a-
dozen  millions,  and  left  them  all  far  removed  from  penury,
or  the  residuary  legatee  either.  The  incident  is  simply  men
tioned  to  illustrate  the  ease  of  acquisition  under  our  paternal
idea  of  protection,  when  once  the  foundation  is  laid  by  a  man
of  sense  and  long  outreach.  Heaven  help  the  herd,  the  special
breed  is  getting  to  be  a  fraction  a  little  over-prolific.  Whence
that  reverberant  call  for  fodder  just  ahead  ?

Another  little  incident  pertinent  to  the  same,  and  notwith
standing  his  countless  and  constantly  increasing  millions,
professing  contempt  for  superfluous  wealth.  One  afternoon
at  Saratoga,  Commodore  Vanderbilt  invited  me  to  take  a
drive  with  Mrs.  Vanderbilt  and  himself  out  to  athe  lake"  and
on  the  road  remarked  in  his  brusque,  off-hand  way :  "Before
you  fellows  down  south  played  the  fool,  and  tried  to  kick
out  of  harness,  you  ought  to  have  been  the  happiest  and  most
contented  people  in  the  world."  "And  so  we  were,  Com
modore,"  came  the  reply,  "until  you  fellows  up  north,  re
solved  to  kick  us  out."  "And  do  you  really  think,"  my  young
friend,  "that  we  are  to  blame  for  that  needless  shedding  of
blood  ?"  "If  I  did  not,"  was  the  reply,  "conscience  would
never  cease  to  reproach  me  for  having  shouldered  a  musket
in  support  of  what  was  professed,  an  undying  regret  at
having  to  lay  it  down  before  the  dream  was  dreamt  out."
"Yes,"  he  continued,  "you  lived  in  peace,  plenty,  and  con
tent,  like  rational  folks,  and  as  your  fathers  did  before  you,
without  breaking  your  necks,  like  a  pack  of  idiots,  by  striving
to  double  needless  possession."  Here  was  a  high  compliment,
and  a  sad  commentary  in  juxtaposition,  over  the  impending
and  inevitable  doom  of  Free  Government,  through  aggrega
tion  and  concentration  of  hoard,  by  him  whose  sum  total  of

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RECOLLECTIONS  AND  REFLECTIONS.
