Page:Artabanzanus (Ferrar, 1896).djvu/155

Rh world—of Marlborough and Wellington, of Benbow and Nelson, and hundreds more. We lived in the reigns of William the Third, Anne, and the four Georges in the heroic age; now we are living in the golden age.'

'Why the golden age?'

'Because people almost worship gold. Everyone, without exception, is thinking of it constantly, and desiring to possess it. The rich are perpetually craving for more. The poor think and dream of it night and day with sighs and tears. And, indeed, we can hardly blame the poor creatures when we know that in our world a man without money is a despised and miserable being. Thousands are rolling in riches and revelling in pomp and luxury, many of them still unsatisfied; tens of thousands cannot get food enough to eat, or clothes to keep them warm in winter.'

'How do they conduct themselves?'

'They have their evil passions, which they nurse and keep hot in their bosoms, as if they were angelic messengers of love, instead of being what they are—venomous destroyers; they have their pride, envy, jealousy, malice and bitterness. We have tyrants and self-worshippers who cannot bear the slightest opposition to their will—despots of society, all the more dangerous because they have the gift of eloquence; political plunderers who are never tired of devising schemes of legalized robbery—insatiable bugbears who keep us in constant hot water.'

'We have plenty of that stamp here,' said the Doctor; 'but they are not allowed to have their own way. A pot of boiling pitch, moral or physical, is not a bad cure for their diseases. You have larrikins too; I think I heard you use that word.'

'Yes, we have larrikins, and larrikins who curse and swear, and insult passers-by, who stand for hours at the corners of streets. And we have liars, and drunkards, and