He was a very
respectable-looking man; and I remember to have seen him last summer, in
the steamer, returning from the Isle of Man, where he had been staying at
Castle Mona. What a strange and ugly predicament it would be for a
person of quiet habits to be suddenly smitten with lunacy at noonday in a
crowded street, and to walk along through a dim maze of extravagances,--
partly conscious of then, but unable to resist the impulse to give way to
them! A long-suppressed nature might be represented as bursting out in
this way, for want of any other safety-valve.
In America, people seem to consider the government merely as a political
administration; and they care nothing for the credit of it, unless it be
the administration of their own political party. In England, all people,
of whatever party, are anxious for the credit of their rulers. Our
government, as a knot of persons, changes so entirely every four years,
that the institution has come to be considered a temporary thing.
Looking at the moon the other evening, little R----- said, "It blooms out
in the morning!" taking the moon to be the bud of the sun.
The English are a most intolerant people. Nobody is permitted, nowadays,
to have any opinion but the prevalent one. There seems to be very little
difference between their educated and ignorant classes in this respect;
if any, it is to the credit of the latter, who do not show tokens of such
extreme interest in the war.
Pages:
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166