And you, too, gentlemen, who have so zealously co-operated with the first man of our community, we would beg to accept some trifling mementos. This silver goblet we tender to you, Mr. Rummel. You have many a time, amid the ring of wine-cups, done battle in eloquent words for the civic interests of our community; may you often find worthy opportunities to lift and drain this goblet.—To you, Mr. Sandstad, I hand this album, with photographs of your fellow citizens. Your well-known and much-appreciated philanthropy has placed you in the happy position of counting among your friends members of all sections of the community.—And to you, Mr. Vigeland, I have to offer, for the decoration of your domestic sanctum, this book of family devotion, on vellum, and luxuriously bound. Under the ripening influence of years, you have come to view life from a serious standpoint; your activity in the daily affairs of this world has long been purified and ennobled by thoughts of things higher and holier. [_Turns towards the Crowd._] And now, my friends, long live Consul Bernick and his fellow workers! Hurrah for the Pillars of Society! THE WHOLE CROWD. Long live Consul Bernick! Long live the Pillars of Society! Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! LONA. I congratulate you, brother-in-law! [_An expectant silence intervenes._ BERNICK. [_Begins earnestly and slowly._] My fellow citizens,—your spokesman has said that we stand this evening on the threshold of a new era; and there, I hope, he was right. But in order that it may be so, we must bring home to ourselves the truth—the truth which has, until this evening, been utterly and in all things banished from our community. [_Astonishment among the audience._ BERNICK. I must begin by repudiating the panegyric with which you, Dr. Rörlund, according to use and wont on such occasions, have overwhelmed me. I do not deserve it; for until to-day I have not been disinterested in my dealings. If I have not always striven for pecuniary profit, at least I am now conscious that a desire, a craving, for power, influence, and respect has been the motive of most of my actions. RUMMEL. [_Half aloud._] What next? BERNICK. Before my fellow citizens I do not reproach myself for this; for I still believe that I may claim a place among the foremost of our men of practical usefulness. MANY VOICES. Yes, yes, yes! BERNICK. What I do blame myself for is my weakness in constantly adopting indirect courses, because I knew and feared the tendency of our society to suspect impure motives behind everything a man undertakes. And now I come to a case in point. RUMMEL. [_Anxiously._] H’m—h’m!