and
distrustful habits of my father appeared to me to be but poorly requited
by the joyless ownership of its millions. I would have given largely
to be directed in such a way as while escaping the wastefulness of the
shoals of Scylla I might in my own case steer clear of the miserly rocks
of Charybdis.

When I drove from between the smoky lines of the London houses into the
green fields and amid the blossoming hedges, this earth looked beautiful
and as if it were made to be loved. I saw in it the workmanship of a
divine and beneficent Creator, and it was not difficult to persuade
myself that he who dwelt in the confusion of a town in order to transfer
gold from the pocket of his neighbor to his own had mistaken the objects
of his being. My poor ancestor who had never quitted London stood before
me with his dying regrets; and my first resolution was to live in open
communion with my kind. So intense, indeed, did my anxiety to execute
this purpose become that it might have led even to frenzy had not a
fortunate circumstance interposed to save me from so dire a calamity.

The coach in which I had taken passage (for I purposely avoided the
parade and trouble of post-chaise and servants), passed through a market
town of known loyalty on the eve of a contested election. This appeal
to the intelligence and patriotism of the constituency had occurred in
consequence of the late incumbent having taken office. The new minister,
for he was a member of the cabinet, had just ended his canvass, and he
was about to address his fellow-subjects from a window of the tavern in
which he lodged. Fatigued, but ready to seek mental relief by any means,
I threw myself from the coach, secured a room, and made one of the
multitude.

The favorite candidate occupied a large balcony surrounded by his
principal friends, among whom it was delightful to see earls, lords
John, baronets, dignitaries of the church, tradesmen of influence in
the borough, and even a mechanic or two, all squeezed together in the
agreeable amalgamation of political affinity. Here then, thought I, is
an example of the heavenly charities I The candidate himself, the son
and heir of a peer, feels that he is truly of the same flesh and
blood as his constituents; how amiably he smiles!--how bland are
his manners!--and with what cordiality does he shake hands with the
greasiest and the worst! There must be a corrective to human pride, a
stimulus to the charities, a never-ending