if he had committed such a crime; though he was
evidently too reckless and devil-may-care to leave any dash of the
miser in his composition. But the inspector of highways effectually
knocked the clerical argument on the head, by saying, that had any
priest thought it necessary, for the good of Tchitchikof's soul, that
he should part with his money, he would have taken due care that,
instead of it being squandered in Nikolsk, it had all gone to swell
the revenues of Mother Church. The inspector of the hospital finally
settled it to the satisfaction of all parties, by shewing, from
attentive observation of Tchitchikof's conduct at the hospital, that
he must be a monomaniac, whose particular insanity took the form of
philanthropy; but that, believing that a gift debases the recipient,
he dexterously contrived to _give_ his assistance under the cloak of a
purchase. Although his companions could not see how any man could be
so insane as to fancy a serf could be debased, this opinion was
unanimously adopted, and the whole community set their wits to work to
make themselves objects of charity for the nonce, and so obtain a
share in the plunder.

Space will not permit, neither would the end of our story be advanced
by, a detail of the numerous and adroit dodges the Nikolskians
invented in order to work upon Tchitchikof's supposed philanthropy.
Suffice it to say, that they were not in the least degree successful.
It seemed as though you had only to appeal directly to Tchitchikof's
charity to close up his bowels of compassion, and render him at once
callous and niggardly. Perhaps, too, as some thought, he was as acute
as he was eccentric, and could distinguish between real and feigned
distress. However it might be, it was soon remarkably clear that
Tchitchikof, madman though he was, was not to be done; and the baffled
conspirators did not hesitate to say, that, after all, he was no such
remarkable friend of his species; that he kept a keen eye on the main
chance; and if it were his gratification to do good, he made a little
go as far as it could, and was singularly blind to meritorious
poverty. Accordingly, Tchitchikof having now been a fortnight in
Nikolsk, was fast ceasing to be an object of interest, when his
eccentricity broke out in a fresh place, and there seemed some
likelihood of the children of Nikolsk, in the end, spoiling that
Egyptian.

It so happened, that at that time the landowners, or rather
serf-owners, consti