[She and I, Volume 2 by John Conroy Hutcheson]@TWC D-Link bookShe and I, Volume 2 CHAPTER NINE 7/9
He has _his_ opinions, he says; and will stick to them, right or wrong-- notwithstanding the home truths that may lie in those of others opposed to him.
Dogged, certainly:--liberal, no! Do you doubt what I say ?--Let us go to particulars then. Your candid disestablishers, for instance,--will they meet your outspoken churchmen, who stand up for the old faith in the constitution, on an open platform; and discuss the question of a national church on a common footing, where both its opponents and its supporters can be heard? Will your would--be--republican, foregathering at some Hole-in-the-Wall meeting, allow a conservative speaker to say a word in opposition to his progressive puerilities? Your teetotal-alliancer, in a quorum of water- drinkers, will he _let_ a licensed victualler utter a protest against his scheme for universal abstinence? No. Each and all of these several cliques are, in common with all cliques, narrow-minded and intolerant.
They prefer being kings of their respective small companies and enjoying the mutual admiration of a packed assembly, to coming out boldly like men and letting the pros and cons of their schemes be ventilated in free discussion at genuine meetings, composed of diverse elements .-- Do you want any further proof? I confess, I don't like republics or republicans.
Once upon a time, before seeing how they worked, I undoubtedly had a leaning towards the "liberalism," as I thought it, of this school; but a thorough exposure of the "institution" and the character of its partisans in America and in France have completely opened my eyes to their real nature. Were I asked, now, to define a republic, I should say that it was a general scramble for power and perquisites, by a lot of ragged rascals with empty pockets, who have everything to gain by success, and nothing to lose by failure .-- A sort of "rough and tumble" fight, in which those with the easiest consciences, the loudest tongues and the wildest promises, come to the fore, letting "the devil take the hindmost!" It is a so-called commonwealth, wherein the welfare of the mass is subordinated to party spirit; and in which each aspirant for place and power, well knowing that his chief ambition is to "feather his own nest" without any afterthought of patriotism, kicks down his struggling brother--likewise on the lookout for the loaves and fishes of office-- ostracising him, if he doesn't put up with the treatment quietly! I may be wrong, certainly, and I'm open to argument on the point, but I like our old system best.
I infinitely prefer a gentleman with a reputation, to a snob with none; and a clean shirt to a dirty one! and if you allow that I possess the right of selecting my future rulers, I would much rather have those whom birth and education have taught at least toleration, than a parcel of grubby-nailed democrats, innocent of soap-and-water, who wish to choke their one-sided creed, willy-nilly, down my throat, in defiance of my inclinations and better judgment; and whose sole interest in "their fellow man" is centred in the problem--how to line their own pockets at his cost, in the neatest way! "Sans culottes" and the "Bonnet Rouge" for those who like them; but, as a matter of choice, I prefer a pair of decent "inexpressibles" and a Lincoln and Bennett "chapeau!" As the elder Capulet's first scullion sagely remarked to his fellow-servant-- "When good manners shall lie all in one or two men's hands, and they unwashed too, 'tis a foul thing!" There are men calling themselves "politicians"-- save the mark! that would have us pull down the old constitutional machine, (lumbering it may be,) which has served our purpose for generations, and whose working and capabilities we have tested some odd thousand years; to replace it with the newfangled gimcrack model which is continually getting out of gear across the Atlantic; and I have no patience with them.
<<Back Index Next>> D-Link book Top TWC mobile books
|