THE EVER CHANGING. i6i 



mitted. But when she got us away from home for a day or two, 

 how she did enjoy it ! How she did luxuriate in the power to 

 innovate "at her own sweet wUl" — the quotation, by the way, is 

 rather inapt, for her temper was somewhat of the sourest. Some- 

 times when we came back after a day or two's absence, we could 

 hardly believe it to be the same house, so great was the change in 

 the place and position of everything. At last the thing became 

 unbearable. One evening, on our return from a walk, we found 

 our vrriting-table, at which we had been employed during the day, 

 carefully placed in the darkest corner of the room, with its 

 drawers, containing letters, paper, pens, &c., jammed up hard and 

 fast against the wall, while books and manuscripts were most 

 artistically arranged in pyramidal form, the ink-bottle representing 

 the graceful entablature on the top of a book-case, where it must 

 have cost her no small pains, and a great deal of stretching on tip- 

 toe, even with the aid of a chair, to place them. The thing was 

 too absurd for any one to be really angry ; but we pretended to be 

 so, and at last peace was proclaimed, under a sort of compromise 

 that she should arrange and readjust all the rest of the house at 

 her pleasure, as often and as radically as she chose, but that that 

 particular room, having been put to rights to our mutual satisfac- 

 tion once for all, must in aU time coming be let alone. This treaty 

 being duly ratified, was upon the whole faithfully observed by the 

 contracting parties. The mischief, however, with your thorough- 

 bred innovator is that you can never completely satisfy him, his 

 appetite for change is insatiable, he will make no compromise with 

 you. Grant him all he asks to^ay, and as sure as to-morrow 

 comes, he is at it anew. If you gave him the whole world, and 

 his own way everywhere and in everything, he would be in worse 

 plight than the conqueror who wept because there were no more 

 worlds to subdue, and fret himself to death that there were no more 

 changes for him to effect. The probability is that, rather than be 



