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anydifferentfaceshaveialreadyseenpassalongthelanding…placebelongingtoourattics！howmanypanionsofafewdayshavedisappearedforever！somearelostinthatmedleyofthelivingwhichwhirlscontinuallyunderthescourgeofnecessity；andothersinthatresting…placeofthedead；whosleepunderthehandofgod！
peterthebookbinderisoneoftheselast。wrappedupinselfishness；helivedaloneandfriendless；andhediedashehadlived。hislosswasneithermournedbyanyone；nordisarrangedanythingintheworld；therewasmerelyaditchfilledupinthegraveyard；andanatticemptiedinourhouse。
itisthesamewhichmynewneighborhasinhabitedforthelastfewdays。
tosaytruly（nowthatiamquiteawake；andmyillhumorisgonewithmynightcap）鈥斺�攖osaytruly；thisnewneighbor；althoughrisingearlierthansuitsmyidleness；isnotthelessaverygoodman：hecarrieshismisfortunes；asfewknowhowtocarrytheirgoodfortunes；withcheerfulnessandmoderation。
butfatehascruellytriedhim。fatherchaufourisbutthewreckofaman。intheplaceofoneofhisarmshangsanemptysleeve；hisleftlegismadebytheturner；andhedragstherightalongwithdifficulty；butabovetheseruinsrisesacalmandhappyface。whilelookinguponhiscountenance；radiantwithasereneenergy；whilelisteningtohisvoice；thetoneofwhichhas；sotospeak；theaccentofgoodness；weseethatthesoulhasremainedentireinthehalf…destroyedcovering。thefortressisalittledamaged；asfatherchaufoursays；butthegarrisonisquitehearty。
decidedly；themoreithinkofthisexcellentman；themoreireproachmyselfforthesortofmaledictionibestowedonhimwheniawoke。
wearegenerallytooindulgentinoursecretwrongstowardourneighbor。
allill…willwhichdoesnotpasstheregionofthoughtseemsinnocenttous；and；withourclumsyjustice；weexcusewithoutexaminationthesinwhichdoesnotbetrayitselfbyaction！
butarewethenboundtoothersonlybytheenforcementoflaws？besidestheseexternalrelations；istherenotarealrelationoffeelingbetweenmen？dowenotowetoallthosewholiveunderthesameheavenasourselvestheaidnotonlyofouractsbutofourpurposes？oughtnoteveryhumanlifetobetouslikeavesselthatweacpanywithourprayersforahappyvoyage？itisnotenoughthatmendonotharmoneanother；theymustalsohelpandloveoneanother！thepapalbenediction；urbietorbi！shouldbetheconstantcryfromallhearts。
tocondemnhimwhodoesnotdeserveit；eveninthemind；evenbyapassingthought；istobreakthegreatlaw；thatwhichhasestablishedtheunionofsoulsherebelow；andtowhichchristhasgiventhesweetnameofcharity。
thesethoughtscameintomymindasifinisheddressing；andisaidtomyselfthatfatherchaufourhadarighttoreparationfromme。tomakeamendsforthefeelingofill…willihadagainsthimjustnow；iowedhimsomeexplicitproofofsympathy。iheardhimhummingatuneinhisroom；hewasatwork；andideterminedthatiwouldmakethefirstneighborlycall。
eightoclockp。m鈥斺�攊foundfatherchaufouratatablelightedbyalittlesmokylamp；withoutafire；althoughitisalreadycold；andmakinglargepasteboardboxes；hewashummingapopularsonginalowtone。ihadhardlyenteredtheroomwhenheutteredanexclamationofsurpriseandpleasure。
〃eh！isityou；neighbor？ein；then！ididnotthinkyougotupsoearly；soiputadamperonmymusic；iwasafraidofwakingyou。〃
excellentman！whileiwassendinghimtothedevilhewasputtinghimselfoutofhiswayforme！
thisthoughttouchedme；andipaidmyplimentsonhishavingbeemyneighborwithawarmthwhichopenedhisheart。
〃faith！youseemtometohavethelookofagoodchristian；〃saidheinavoiceofsoldierlikecordiality；andshakingmebythehand。〃idonotlikethosepeoplewholookonalanding…placeasafrontierline；andtreattheirneighborsasiftheywerecossacks。whenmensnuffthesameair；andspeakthesamelingo；theyarenotmeanttoturntheirbackstoeachother。sitdownthere；neighbor；idontmeantoorderyou；onlytakecareofthestool；ithasbutthreelegs；andwemustputgood…willinplaceofthefourth。〃
〃itseemsthatthatisatreasurewhichthereisnowantofhere；〃iobserved。
〃good…will！〃repeatedchaufour；〃thatisallmymotherleftme；anditakeitnosonhasreceivedabetterinheritance。thereforetheyusedtocallmemonsieurcontentinthebatteries。〃
〃youareasoldier；then？〃
〃iservedinthethirdartilleryundertherepublic；andafterwardintheguard；throughallthemotions。iwasatjemappesandatwaterloo；soiwasatthechristeningandattheburialofourglory；asonemaysay！〃
ilookedathimwithastonishment。
〃andhowoldwereyouthen；atjemappes？〃askedi。
〃somewhereaboutfifteen；〃saidhe。
〃howcameyoutothinkofbeingasoldiersoearly？〃
〃ididnotreallythinkaboutit。ithenworkedattoy…making；andneverdreamedthatfrancewouldaskmeforanythingelsethantomakeherdraught…boards；shuttlecocks；andcupsandballs。butihadanolduncleatvincenneswhomiwenttoseefromtimetotime鈥斺�攁fontenoyveteraninthesamerankoflifeasmyself；butwithabilityenoughtohaverisentothatofamarshal。unluckily；inthosedaystherewasnowayformonpeopletogeton。myuncle；whoseserviceswouldhavegothimmadeaprinceundertheother；hadthenretiredwiththemererankofsub…lieutenant。butyoushouldhaveseenhiminhisuniform；hiscrossofst。louis；hiswoodenleg；hiswhitemoustaches；andhisnoblecountenance。youwouldhavesaidhewasaportraitofoneofthoseoldheroesinpowderedhairwhichareatversailles！
〃everytimeivisitedhim；hesaidsomethingwhichremainedfixedinmymemory。butonedayifoundhimquitegrave。
〃jerome；saidhe；doyouknowwhatisgoingononthefrontier？
〃no；lieutenant；repliedi。
〃well；resumedhe；ourcountryisindanger！
〃ididnotwellunderstandhim；andyetitseemedsomethingtome。
〃perhapsyouhaveneverthoughtwhatyourcountrymeans；continuedhe；placinghishandonmyshoulder；‘itisallthatsurroundsyou；allthathasbroughtyouupandfedyou；allthatyouhaveloved！thisgroundthatyousee；thesehouses；thesetrees；thosegirlswhogoalongtherelaughing鈥斺�攖hisisyourcountry！thelawswhichprotectyou；thebreadwhichpaysforyourwork；thewordsyouinterchangewithothers；thejoyandgriefwhichetoyoufromthemenandthingsamongwhichyoulive鈥斺�攖hisisyourcountry！thelittleroomwhereyouusedtoseeyourmother；theremembrancesshehasleftyou；theearthwheresherests鈥斺�攖hisisyourcountry！youseeit；youbreatheit；everywhere！thinktoyourself；myson；ofyourrightsandyourduties；youraffectionsandyourwants；yourpastandyourpresentblessings；writethemallunderasinglename鈥斺�攁ndthatnamewillbeyourcountry！
〃iwastremblingwithemotion；andgreattearswereinmyeyes。
〃ah！iunderstand；criedi；itisourhomeinlarge；itisthatpartoftheworldwheregodhasplacedourbodyandoursoul。
〃youareright；jerome；continuedtheoldsoldier；soyouprehendalsowhatweoweit。
〃truly；resumedi；weoweitallthatweare；itisaquestionoflove。
〃andofhonesty；myson；concludedhe。thememberofafamilywhodoesnotcontributehisshareofworkandofhappinessfailsinhisduty；andisabadkinsman；thememberofapartnershipwhodoesnotenrichitwithallhismight；withallhiscourage；andwithallhisheart；defraudsitofwhatbelongstoit；andisadishonestman。itisthesamewithhimwhoenjoystheadvantagesofhavingacountry；anddoesnotaccepttheburdensofit；heforfeitshishonor；andisabadcitizen！
〃andwhatmustonedo；lieutenant；tobeagoodcitizen？askedi。
〃doforyourcountrywhatyouwoulddoforyourfatherandmother；saidhe。
〃ididnotansweratthemoment；myheartwasswelling；andthebloodboilinginmyveins；butonreturningalongtheroad；myuncleswordswere；sotospeak；writtenupbeforemyeyes。irepeated；doforyourcountrywhatyouwoulddoforyourfatherandmother。andmycountryisindanger；anenemyattacksit；whilei鈥斺�攊turncupsandballs！
〃thisthoughttormentedmesomuchallnightthatthenextdayireturnedtovincennestoannouncetothelieutenantthatihadjustenlisted；andwasgoingofftothefro