The Coming Man Will Brink Wine, etc. 



163 



sides of the question. My fond hopes 

 have not been realized ; once more 

 nm I sadly disappointed. But if 

 great talents cannot be moved into 

 action, why should not an infinitesi- 

 mal take their place ? I have heard 

 that it is never too late to do or to 

 say an amusing thing, and your intel- 

 ligent readers may be satisfied with 

 one of my raphsodies. Moreover, 

 though we ma}^ diff"er widely on some 

 questions, when I find you peeping 

 through the same glasses that I use, I 

 •cannot resist the temptation of pat- 

 ting 3'ou gently upon the shoulder 

 with an " all right, my friend, go 

 iihead and fear no danger I" 



It is now many years since the love 

 of truth, mingled with the disgust 

 raised by so many modern critics and 

 fanatical reformers, coupled with the 

 obstinate conservatism of old fogies, 

 inspired me with the idea of studying 

 all that deserved the most to be ob- 

 served in the general frame of the 

 world — a frame sorely disfigured, I 

 xissure you — noting especially among 

 the facts the results of laws passed to 

 guarantee, regulate, restrict, or even 

 ■den3", the natural liberties of man- 

 kind, and, had I the talent, the result 

 ■of my observations, together with my 

 personal conclusions, might form an 

 amusing if not an instructive book. 

 It would be no very diflicult task to 

 show that men, notwithstanding their 

 hypocrisies and contrary appearances, 

 have alwa^-s, in reality, agreed on one 

 point : To set the light under the 

 bushel. 



Once in my life, long ago, quite 

 tired of seeing it there without any 

 serious attempt being made to upset 

 the bushel, a touch of vanity — for, 



like man}' others, I am human — made 

 me believe that I could undertake the 

 feat ; like so many who went before, 

 and failed, I thought I could establish, 

 if not a new nation, at least a new 

 society, where men, with all freedom 

 possible, could be at the same time 

 the very pinks of perfection. Broth- 

 ers of Icaria, do you remember? 



But to possess any hopes of success, 

 m}^ project and scheme would have 

 required to wear the mj'sterious cloak 

 of a secret society — a Free Masonry, 

 an Odd Fellowship, or the Good Tem- 

 plars, etc.; something, in two words, 

 on a Know Nothing plan. Such an 

 organization, to insure success against 

 the common enemy, would have im- 

 peratively demanded of its members 

 SILENCE the most absolute. This ne- 

 cessity' was the cause that made me 

 abandon the scheme. Silence, and 

 least of all, secresy, are things impos- 

 sible amongst men : one can meet, any 

 day he chooses to walk out, numbers 

 of Morgans and Ilichardsons who will 

 ask nothing better than to perjure 

 themselves. 



The question of temperance could 

 not escape my notice, and has been 

 viewed by me from all sides. The 

 position you have taken upon it can- 

 not but meet with my earnest appro- 

 bation. It is true that nothing else 

 could be expected from a faithful vint- 

 ner, mindful of the worth}' reputation 

 of his ancestor, the good Noah. To 

 help a good cause, to mitigate, if pos- 

 sible, the baneful results likely to fol- 

 low the piinic war— I should have said 

 puny — which our modern lonadabs 

 appear eager to wage, until the end 

 of time, against one of the most neces- 

 sary natural liberties of mankind, I 



