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And this perhaps is the main impression which the slight record here presented will convey, the impression of a man quite unlike the many statesmen whom power and the vexations attendant upon it have in some piteous way spoiled and marred, a man who started by being tough and shrewd and canny and became very strong and very wise, started with an inclination to honesty, courage, and kindness, and became, under a tremendous strain, honest, brave, and kind to an almost tremendous degree.
Yet it never occurred to me to believe or fancy, that the quantum of intellectual power bestowed on me by nature or education was in any way connected with this habit of my feelings; or that it needed any other parents or fosterers than constitutional indolence, aggravated into languor by ill-health; the accumulating embarrassments of procrastination; the mental cowardice, which is the inseparable companion of procrastination, and which makes us anxious to think and converse on any thing rather than on what concerns ourselves; in fine, all those close vexations, whether chargeable on my faults or my fortunes, which leave me but little grief to spare for evils comparatively distant and alien.
His temper, which, though generous and affectionate, had always been irritable, had now been made almost savage by bodily infirmities and mental vexations. Conscious of great powers and great virtues, he found himself, in age and poverty, a mark for the hatred of a perfidious court and a deluded people. In Parliament his eloquence was out of date.
Instead of alleviating, by my cheerful talk, thy vexations and discomforts, I shall demand consolation from thee. And yet imperious necessity may bereave us even of that joy. I may be obliged to encounter the perils of the seas once more.
"Public spirit is unknown." There is no social body, except any number of small parties hostile to each other.... One is not a Corsican without belonging to some family, and consequently attached to some party; he who would serve none, would be detested by all.... All the leaders have the same end in view, that of getting money no matter by what means, and their first care is to surround themselves with creatures entirely devoted to them and to whom they give all the offices.... The elections are held under arms, and all with violence.... The victorious party uses its authority to avenge itself on their opponents, and multiplies vexations and outrages... . The leaders form aristocratic leagues with each other.... and mutually tolerate abuses.
D. O mere fancies! We seek and find on the present stage our own wants and passions, our own vexations, losses, and embarrassments. P. It is your own poor pettifogging nature then, which you desire to have represented before you? not human nature in its height and vigour? But surely you might find the former with all its joys and sorrows, more conveniently in your own houses and parishes.
This, do you see, is, to a woman's heart, what the pain of an extracted tooth is to a child of eight. Ab uno disce omnes: which means, "There's one of them: find the rest in your memory." For we have taken this culinary description as a prototype of the vexations which afflict loving but indifferently loved women. A woman full of faith in the man she loves is a romancer's fancy.
There will be more worry and vexations, and I really don't think I could bear much more; I believe I should go off my head. The little man spoke in a calm, even voice, and stroked his silky moustache gravely. 'Very well, then, my dear, I'll return to town as soon as you like as soon as it is convenient. I daresay you are right. 'I'm sure I am.
Thus had they freed themselves from many of the vexations which harass the people of a younger world. I was fortunately able to endure the strain of the great task which I had undertaken, and finally succeeded in bringing my precious burden to land and helping her to a place of safety.
Another drawback to be recognized in the librarian's calling, is that there are peculiar trials and vexations connected with it. There are almost no limits to the demands made upon the knowledge and the time of the librarian.
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