To One
Special Man Was Appointed A Performance Which Seemed To Be Specially
Disagreeable, So That He Appeared Despicable In My Eyes; But When On
Inquiry I Learned That He Earned Five Dollars (Or A Pound Sterling)
A Day, My Judgment As To His Position Was Reversed.
And, after all,
what matters the ugly nature of such an occupation when a man is
used to it?
Cincinnati is like all other American towns, with second, third, and
fourth streets, seventh, eighth, and ninth streets, and so on. Then
the cross streets are named chiefly from trees. Chestnut, walnut,
locust, etc. I do not know whence has come this fancy for naming
streets after trees in the States, but it is very general. The town
is well built, with good fronts to many of the houses, with large
shops and larger stores; of course also with an enormous hotel,
which has never paid anything like a proper dividend to the
speculator who built it. It is always the same story. But these
towns shame our provincial towns by their breadth and grandeur. I
am afraid that speculators with us are trammeled by an "ignorant
impatience of ruin." I should not myself like to live in Cincinnati
or in any of these towns. They are slow, dingy, and uninteresting;
but they all possess an air of substantial, civic dignity. It must,
however, be remembered that the Americans live much more in towns
than we do. All with us that are rich and aristocratic and
luxurious live in the country, frequenting the metropolis for only a
portion of the year.
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