"I Don't Know That We Are Right To Put Them There," He
Said.
"Quite right," was my reply, "as long as the world does such
things." In private life it is vulgar to triumph over one's
friends, and malicious to triumph over one's enemies.
We have not
got so far yet in public life, but I hope we are advancing toward
it. In the mean time I did not begrudge the Americans our two
flags. If we keep flags and cannons taken from our enemies, and
show them about as signs of our own prowess after those enemies
have become friends, why should not others do so as regards us? It
clearly would not be well for the world that we should always beat
other nations and never be beaten. I did not begrudge that chapel
our two flags. But, nevertheless, the sight of them made me sick
in the stomach and uncomfortable. As an Englishman I do not want
to be ascendant over any one. But it makes me very ill when any
one tries to be ascendant over me. I wish we could send back with
our compliments all the trophies that we hold, carriage paid, and
get back in return those two flags, and any other flag or two of
our own that may be doing similar duty about the world. I take it
that the parcel sent away would be somewhat more bulky than that
which would reach us in return.
The discipline at West Point seemed, as I have said, to be very
severe; but it seemed also that that severity could not in all
cases be maintained. The hours of study also were long, being
nearly continuous throughout the day. "English lads of that age
could not do it," I said; thus confessing that English lads must
have in them less power of sustained work than those of America.
"They must do it here," said my informant, "or else leave us." And
then he took us off to one of the young gentlemen's quarters, in
order that we might see the nature of their rooms. We found the
young gentleman fast asleep on his bed, and felt uncommonly grieved
that we should have thus intruded on him. As the hour was one of
those allocated by my informant in the distribution of the day to
private study, I could not but take the present occupation of the
embryo warrior as an indication that the amount of labor required
might be occasionally too much even for an American youth. "The
heat makes one so uncommonly drowsy," said the young man. I was
not the least surprised at the exclamation. The air of the
apartment had been warmed up to such a pitch by the hot-pipe
apparatus of the building that prolonged life to me would, I should
have thought, be out of the question in such an atmosphere. "Do
you always have it as hot as this?" I asked. The young man swore
that it was so, and with considerable energy expressed his opinion
that all his health, and spirits, and vitality were being baked out
of him.
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