A SHADOW 235 
cians, whom it is our American fashion to revile 
as the chief of sinners, there is perhaps less of 
evil than of good. In Wilberforce’s “Memoirs” 
there is an account of his having once asked 
Mr. Pitt whether his long experience as Prime 
Minister had made him think well or ill of his 
fellow men. Mr. Pitt answered, “Well;” and 
his successor, Lord Melbourne, being asked the 
same question, answered, after a little reflec- 
tion, “My opinion is the same as that of Mr. 
Pitt.” 
Let us have faith. It was a part of the vigor 
of the old Hebrew tradition to rejoice when a 
man-child was born into the world; and the 
maturer strength of nobler ages should rejoice 
over a woman-child as well. Nothing human 
is wholly sad, until it is effete and dying out. 
Where there is life there is promise. “ Vitality 
is always hopeful,” was the verdict of the most 
refined and clear-sighted woman who has yet 
explored the rough mining villages of the Rocky 
Mountains. There is apt to be a certain coarse 
virtue in rude health; as the Germanic races 
were purest when least civilized, and our Ameri- 
can Indians did not unlearn chastity till they 
began to decay. But even where vigor and 
vice are found together, they still may hold a 
promise for the next generation. Out of the 
strong cometh forth sweetness. Parisian wick- 
