it was always with the utmost caution to avoid the cat.




XLVIII

THE ARBITER, THE HOSPITALLER, AND THE HERMIT

(BOOK XII.--No. 28)


Three saints, all equally zealous and anxious for their salvation, had
the same ideal, although the means by which they strove towards it were
different. But as all roads lead to Rome, these three were each content
to choose their own path.

One, touched by the cares, the tediousness, and the reverses which seem
to be inevitably attached to lawsuits, offered, without any reward, to
judge and settle all causes submitted to him. To make a fortune on this
earth was not an end he had in view.

Ever since there have been laws, man, for his sins, has condemned
himself to litigation half his lifetime. Half? three-quarters, I should
say, and sometimes the whole. This good conciliator imagined he could
cure the silly and detestable craze for going to law.

The second saint chose the hospitals as his field of labour. I admire
him. Kindly care taken to alleviate the sufferings of mankind is a
charity I prefer before all others.