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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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