He felt he could now go on
with his work, part of which was the task of distributing the money
his father had left him, among the poor of Paris. He considered that
to leave money to the poor after death is not half such a Christian
act as to give it while alive. Distributors, secretaries, lawyers,
and red-tapeism come in with the disposal of wealth after we are
gone;--but to give it to those in need with our own hands--to part
with it freely and to deny ourselves something in order to give it,-
-that is doing what Christ asked us to do. And whether we are
blessed or cursed by those whom we seek to benefit, none can take
away from us the sweet sense of peace and comfort which is ours to
enjoy, when we know that we have in some small measure tried to
serve our Divine Master, for the "full measure" of content, "pressed
down and running over" which He has promised to those who "freely
give," has never yet been known to fail.
And Cyrillon Vergniaud was given this happiness of the highest,
purest kind, as with the aid of the wondering and reluctant Monsieur
Andre Petitot, he gave poor families comfort for life, and rescued
the sick and the sorrowful,--and all he reserved to himself from his
father's large fortune was half a million francs.
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