Madeleine
“Before Father Madeleine’s arrival, everything had languished in the country; now everything lived with a healthy life of toil. A strong circulation warmed everything and penetrated everywhere. Slack seasons and wretchedness were unknown. There was no pocket so obscure that it had not a little money in it; no dwelling so lowly that there was not some little joy within it.”
Madeleine raises enough money through his invention to build a factory and offer a job to any honest man or woman who wants one.
People mistake Madeleine’s generosity for ambition, which resulted in the deputy trying to outdo him.
A rumor starts to circulate that Madeleine is going to be named mayor. Madeleine refuses. He is offered a chevalier of the Legion of Honor, and he refuses that, too.
“When they saw him making money, they said, “He is a man of business.” When they saw him scattering his money about, they said, “He is an ambitious man.” When he was seen to decline honors, they said, “He is an adventurer.” When they saw him repulse society, they said, “He is a brute.””
He is again appointed mayor, and he tries to refuse again, but the people insist that he would be able to do more good a mayor, so he accepts.