One Great Secret
Of Their Hold On The Popular Mind Is Their Being So Radically And
Thoroughly English.
They have the solid grain of the English oak, not
veneered by learning and the classics; not inlaid with arabesques from
other nations, but developing wholly out of the English nationality.
I have heard that Goethe said the reason for the great enthusiasm with
which his countrymen regarded him was, that he _did know how to
write German,_ and so also these men knew how to write English. I
think Defoe the most suggestive writer to an artist of fiction that
the English language affords. That power by which he wrought fiction
to produce the impression of reality, so that his Plague in London was
quoted by medical men as an authentic narrative, and his Life of a
Cavalier recommended by Lord Chatham as an historical authority, is
certainly worth an analysis. With him, undoubtedly, it was an
instinct.
One anecdote, related to us this evening by our friends, brought to
mind with new power the annoyances to which the Quakers have been
subjected in England, under the old system of church rates. It being
contrary to the conscientious principles of the Quakers to pay these
church rates voluntarily, they allowed the officers of the law to
enter their houses and take whatever article he pleased in
satisfaction of the claim. On one occasion, for the satisfaction of a
claim of a few pounds, they seized and sold a most rare and costly
mantel clock, which had a particular value as a choice specimen of
mechanical skill, and which was worth four or five times the sum owed.
A friend afterwards repurchased and presented it to the owner.
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