Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 March 1877 — Anecdotes of Misers. [ARTICLE]

Anecdotes of Misers.

The true miser loves to look at his gold, in which he finds more beauty than elsewhere exists in the universe; consequently, when Sir William Smith, a wealthy English miser, was at seventy years of age, deprived of his sight, He felt it to be a terrible affliction. Ho was persuaded by Taylor, the celebrated oculist, to be couched; who was, by agreement, to have Bixty guineas if he restored his patient to any degree of sight. Taylor succeeded iu his operation,' and Sir William was enabled to read and write without the aid of spectacles during the rest of his life. But no sooner was his sight restored than the Baronet began to regret that his agreement had been for so large a sum; he felt no joy as others would have felt, but grieved and sighed over the loss of his sixty guineas. His thoughts were now how to cheat the oculist; he pretended that he had only a glimmering, and could see nothing distinctly; for which reason the bandage on his eyes was continued a month longer than the usual time. Taylor was deceived by these misrepresentations, and agreed to compound the bargain, and accept twenty Sineas instead of sixty. Tet Sir Willn was an old bachelor, and had no one to care or provide for. At the time Taylor attended him, he bad a large estate, an immense sum of money in stocks, and SBO,OOO in the house. When theGovemmentdesired to borrow a large sum of money from the immensely wealthy miser, Foscue, he refused the loan on the plea of poverty. Fearing, however, that some of his neighbors, among whom he was very unpopular, would report his immense wealth to the Government, he applied his ingenuity to discover some effectual way of hiding his gold, should they institute a search to ascertain the truth or falsehood of his plea. With great care and secrecy he dug a deep cave in his cellar; to this receptacle for his treasure he descended by a ladder, and to the trap door he attached a spring lock, so that, on shutting, it would fasten of itself. By and by the miser disappeared : inquiries were made; the house searched; woods explored, and the ponds were dragged, but no Foscue could they find; and gossips began to conclude that the miser had fled with his gold to some Eart where, by living incognito , he could e free from the hands of the Government. Some time passed on; the house in which he had lived was sold, and workmen were busily engaged in its repair. In the progress of their work they met with the door of the secret cave, with the key in the lock outside. They drew back .the door, and descended with a light. The first object upon which the lamp reflected was the ghastly body of Foscue, the miser, and scattered about him were heavy bags of gold and ponderous chests of untold treasure; a candlestick lay beside him on the floor. The worshiper of mammon had gone into his cave to pay his devoirs to liis golden god, and became a sacrifice to his devotion.—A. T. Mercantile Journal.