Great Britain -- Social conditions -- 19th century; Social problems
Such sordid populations, which were long blind to Heaven's light,
are getting themselves burnt up rapidly, in these days, by
street-insurrection and Hell-fire;--as is indeed inevitable, my esteemed
M'Croudy! Light, accept the blessed light, if you will have it when
Heaven vouchsafes. You refuse? You prefer Delolme on the British
Constitution, the Gospel according to M'Croudy, and a good balance at
your banker's? Very well: the "light" is more and more withdrawn; and
for some time you have a general dusk, very favorable for catching
mice; and the opulent owlery is very "happy," and well-off at its
banker's;--and furthermore, by due sequence, infallible as the
foundations of the Universe and Nature's oldest law, the light _returns_
on you, condensed, this time, into _lightning_, which there is not any
skin whatever too thick for taking in!
No. IV. THE NEW DOWNING STREET. [April 15, 1850.]
In looking at this wreck of Governments in all European countries, there
is one consideration that suggests itself, sadly elucidative of our
modern epoch. These Governments, we may be well assured, have gone to
anarchy for this one reason inclusive of every other whatsoever, That
they were not wise enough; that the spiritual talent embarked in
them, the virtue, heroism, intellect, or by whatever other synonyms we
designate it, was not adequate,--probably had long been inadequate, and
so in its dim helplessness had suffered, or perhaps invited falsity
to introduce itself; had suffered injustices, and solecisms, and
contradictions of the Divine Fact, to accumulate in more than tolerable
measure; whereupon said Governments were overset, and declared before
all creatures to be too false.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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