Sybil, Or, The Two Nations by Earl of Beaconsfield Benjamin Disraeli (10 best novels of all time txt) π
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βAs for community,β said a voice which proceeded neither from Egremont nor the stranger, βwith the monasteries expired the only type that we ever had in England of such an intercourse. There is no community in England; there is aggregation, but aggregation under circumstances which make it rather a dissociating, than an uniting, principle.β
It was a still voice that uttered these words, yet one of a peculiar character; one of those voices that instantly arrest attention: gentle and yet solemn, earnest yet unimpassioned. With a step as whispering as his tone, the man who had been kneeling by the tomb, had unobserved joined his associate and Egremont. He hardly reached the middle height; his form slender, but well proportioned; his pale countenance, slightly marked with the small pox, was redeemed from absolute ugliness by a highly-intellectual brow, and large dark eyes that indicated deep sensibility and great quickness of apprehension. Though young, he was already a little bald; he was dressed entirely in black; the fairness of his linen, the neatness of his beard, his gloves much worn, yet carefully mended, intimated that his very faded garments were the result of necessity rather than of negligence.
βYou also lament the dissolution of these bodies,β said Egremont.
βThere is so much to lament in the world in which we live,β said the younger of the strangers, βthat I can spare no pang for the past.β
βYet you approve of the principle of their society; you prefer it, you say, to our existing life.β
βYes; I prefer association to gregariousness.β
βThat is a distinction,β said Egremont, musingly.
βIt is a community of purpose that constitutes society,β continued the younger stranger; βwithout that, men may be drawn into contiguity, but they still continue virtually isolated.β
βAnd is that their condition in cities?β
βIt is their condition everywhere; but in cities that condition is aggravated. A density of population implies a severer struggle for existence, and a consequent repulsion of elements brought into too close contact. In great cities men are brought together by the desire of gain. They are not in a state of co-operation, but of isolation, as to the making of fortunes; and for all the rest they are careless of neighbours. Christianity teaches us to love our neighbour as ourself; modern society acknowledges no neighbour.β
βWell, we live in strange times,β said Egremont, struck by the observation of his companion, and relieving a perplexed spirit by an ordinary exclamation, which often denotes that the mind is more stirring than it cares to acknowledge, or at the moment is capable to express.
βWhen the infant begins to walk, it also thinks that it lives in strange times,β said his companion.
βYour inference?β asked Egremont.
βThat society, still in its infancy, is beginning to feel its way.β
βThis is a new reign,β said Egremont, βperhaps it is a new era.β
βI think so,β said the younger stranger.
βI hope so,β said the elder one.
βWell, society may be in its infancy,β said Egremont slightly smiling; βbut, say what you like, our Queen reigns over the greatest nation that ever existed.β
βWhich nation?β asked the younger stranger, βfor she reigns over two.β
The stranger paused; Egremont was silent, but looked inquiringly.
βYes,β resumed the younger stranger after a momentβs interval. βTwo nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each otherβs habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets; who are formed by a different breeding, are fed by a different food, are ordered by different manners, and are not governed by the same laws.β
βYou speak ofββ said Egremont, hesitatingly.
βTHE RICH AND THE POOR.β
At this moment a sudden flush of rosy light, suffusing the grey ruins, indicated that the sun had just fallen; and through a vacant arch that overlooked them, alone in the resplendent sky, glittered the twilight star. The hour, the scene, the solemn stillness and the softening beauty, repressed controversy, induced even silence. The last words of the stranger lingered in the ear of Egremont; his musing spirit was teeming with many thoughts, many emotions; when from the Lady Chapel there rose the evening hymn to the Virgin. A single voice; but tones of almost supernatural sweetness; tender and solemn, yet flexible and thrilling.
Egremont started from his reverie. He would have spoken, but he perceived that the elder of the strangers had risen from his resting-place, and with downcast eyes and crossed arms, was on his knees. The other remained standing in his former posture.
The divine melody ceased; the elder stranger rose; the words were on the lips of Egremont, that would have asked some explanation of this sweet and holy mystery, when in the vacant and star-lit arch on which his glance was fixed, he beheld a female form. She was apparently in the habit of a Religious, yet scarcely could be a nun, for her veil, if indeed it were a veil, had fallen on her shoulders, and revealed her thick tresses of long fair hair. The blush of deep emotion lingered on a countenance, which though extremely young, was impressed with a character of almost divine majesty; while her dark eyes and long dark lashes, contrasting with the brightness of her complexion and the luxuriance of her radiant locks, combined to produce a beauty as rare as it is choice; and so strange, that Egremont might for a moment have been pardoned for believing her a seraph, that had lighted on this sphere, or the fair phantom of some saint haunting the sacred ruins of her desecrated fane.
Book 2 Chapter 6
βI understand, then,β said Lord Marney to his brother, as on the evening of the same day they were seated together in the drawing-room, in close converse βI understand then, that you have in fact paid nothing, and that my mother will give you a thousand pounds. That wonβt go very far.β
βIt will hardly pay for the chairing,β said Egremont; βthe restoration of the family influence was celebrated on so great a scale.β
βThe family influence must be supported,β said Lord Marney, βand my mother will give you a thousand pounds; as I said, that will not do much for you, but I like her spirit. Contests are very expensive things, yet I quite approve of what you have done, especially as you won. It is a
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