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He used to say that there are only two sources of human vice—idleness
and superstition, and only two virtues—activity and intelligence. He
himself undertook his daughter's education, and to develop these two
cardinal virtues in her gave her lessons in algebra and geometry till
she was twenty, and arranged her life so that her whole time was
occupied. He was himself always occupied: writing his memoirs, solving
problems in higher mathematics, turning snuffboxes on a lathe, working
in the garden, or superintending the building that was always going on
at his estate.
“Mere mobs!” repeated his new friend with a snort of scorn. “So you
talk about mobs and the working classes as if they were the
question. You’ve got that eternal idiotic idea that if anarchy came it
would come from the poor. Why should it? The poor have been rebels,
but they have never been anarchists; they have more interest than
anyone else in there being some decent government. The poor man really
has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn’t; he can go away to
New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being
governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at
all. Aristocrats were always anarchists, as you can see from the
barons’ wars.”
Thanking You in Advance. This sounds as if the writer meant, "It will
not be worth my while to write to you again." In making your request,
write, "Will you please," or "I shall be obliged," and if anything
further seems necessary write a letter of acknowledgment later.
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