"What have I always told you ?" he asked, with his sourest solemnity of look and manner.
"A great deal more than I could ever keep in my head," answered Mr.
Vanstone.
"In your presence and out of it," continued Mr.Clare, "I have always maintained that the one important phenomenon presented by modern society is--the enormous prosperity of Fools.

Show me an individual Fool, and I will show you an aggregate Society which gives that highly-favored personage nine chances out of ten--and grudges the tenth to the wisest man in existence.

Look where you will, in every high place there sits an Ass, settled beyond the reach of all the greatest intellects in this world to pull him down.

Over our whole social system, complacent Imbecility rules supreme--snuffs out the searching light of Intelligence with total impunity--and hoots, owl-like, in answer to every form of protest, See how well we all do in the dark! One of these days that audacious assertion will be practically contradicted, and the whole rotten system of modern society will come down with a crash." "God forbid!" cried Mr.Vanstone, looking about him as if the crash was coming already.
"With a crash!" repeated Mr.Clare.

"There is my theory, in few words.
Now for the remarkable application of it which this letter suggests.
Here is my lout of a boy--" "You don't mean that Frank has got another chance ?" exclaimed Mr.
Vanstone.
"Here is this perfectly hopeless booby, Frank," pursued the philosopher.
"He has never done anything in his life to help himself, and, as a necessary consequence, Society is in a conspiracy to carry him to the top of the tree.