The disposal of ten thousand copies of
a work is no large sale in America of a book published at a dollar;
but in England it is a very large sale of a book brought out at
five shillings.
I do not remember that I ever examined the rooms of an American
without finding books or magazines in them. I do not speak here of
the houses of my friends, as of course the same remark would apply
as strongly in England; but of the houses of persons presumed to
earn their bread by the labor of their hands. The opportunity for
such examination does not come daily; but when it has been in my
power I have made it, and have always found signs of education.
Men and women of the classes to which I allude talk of reading and
writing as of arts belonging to them as a matter of course, quite
as much as are the arts of eating and drinking. A porter or a
farmer's servant in the States is not proud of reading and writing.
It is to him quite a matter of course. The coachmen on their boxes
and the boots as they set in the halls of the hotels have
newspapers constantly in their hands. The young women have them
also, and the children. The fact comes home to one at every turn,
and at every hour, that the people are an educated people. The
whole of this question between North and South is as well
understood by the servants as by their masters, is discussed as
vehemently by the private soldiers as by the officers.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 486 of 538
Words from 129455 to 129733
of 143277
