REFLECTIONS ON REVOLUTIONS. 



49 



conversing together. In their countenances, which 

 retained traces of considerable beauty, there dwelt 

 a melancholy expression ; while their demeanour 

 indicated an indifference to all that was passing. 

 On inquiry, I learnt that they were old Spaniards, 

 who, under the former administration of the coun- 

 try, had been persons of wealth and consequence, 

 but whose very existence was now scarcely known. 

 The recent revolution had stripped them of their 

 fortune and their rank ; and they were now living 

 in such poverty and obscurity, as not to be thought 

 worthy of an invitation to the ball. 



Even so trifling a circumstance as this, if duly 

 considered, leads the mind to reflect on the ine- 

 vitable consequences of all violent political chan- 

 ges. On first arriving in South America, one is 

 apt to be dazzled by the brilliancy of the spectacle, 

 and to imagine that the good arising from the 

 emancipation of the people must be without alloy. 

 This delusive veil the successful party are ex- 

 tremely desirous of throwing over every thing. 

 Experience, however, soon betrays the bitter 

 workings of fortune under a great variety of 

 shapes ; and it is a wholesome exercise, both to 



VOL. I. D 



