spur gives him a piece of advice which will do for his whole race of
the present day, viz., 'tell the truth, and shame the devil.'

The English people of this generation are rather more phlegmatic than
their explosive neighbors across the channel, and neither the injustice
of black slavery abroad, nor the starvation of _white_ slaves at home,
can shake them from their lop-sided neutrality, _so long as money goes
into their pocket_. The excitable French, on the contrary, require an
occasional _coup d'etat_ to arouse their conjectures as to the next
imperial experiment in the art of international diplomacy.

The press of the day teems with all sorts of provisions to satisfy the
cravings of a depraved imagination, and even the most sedate of our
daily papers are not above employing 'double-leaded Sensations,' and
'display Heads' as a part of their ordinary stock in trade; while from
the hebdomadals, 'Thrilling Tales,' 'Awful Disclosures,' and 'Startling
Discoveries,' succeed each other with truly fearful rapidity. Thus he
who wastes the midnight kerosene, and spoils his weary eyes in poring
over the pages of trashy productions, so well designed to murder sleep,
may truly say with Macbeth, 'I have supp'd full with horrors.'

It is certainly remarkable (as an indication of the pleasure the
multitude take in voluntarily perplexing themselves), how eagerly they
enter into all sorts of contrivances which conduce to bewilderment and
doubt. In 'Hampton Court' there is a famous enclosure called the
'_Maze_,' so arranged with hedged alleys as to form a perfect labyrinth.
To this place throngs of persons are constantly repairing, to enjoy the
luxury of losing themselves, and of seeing others in the same
predicament.

Some persons become so impatient of the constant demand upon their
admiration, that they resist whatever seems to lead in that direction.
Washington Irving said he 'never liked to walk with his host over the
latter's ground'--a feeling which many will at once acknowledge having
experienced. A celebrated English traveller was so annoyed by the urgent
invitations of the Philadelphians to visit the Fairmount Water Works,
that he resolved _not_ to visit them, so that he might have the
characteristic satisfaction of recording the ill-natured fact.

'Swift mentions a gentleman who made it a rule in reading, to skip over
all sentences where he spied a note of admiration at the end.'

The instances here quoted are, to be s