Червона літера

           Thedimreflectionofarememberedsplendour,acolourlessandmanifolddilutedrepetitionofwhattheyhadbeheldinproudoldLondon—wewillnotsayataroyalcoronation,butataLordMayor’sshow—mightbetracedinthecustomswhichourforefathersinstituted,withreferencetotheannualinstallationofmagistrates.Thefathersandfoundersofthecommonwealth—thestatesman,thepriest,andthesoldier—seemeditadutythentoassumetheoutwardstateandmajesty,which,inaccordancewithantiquestyle,waslookeduponasthepropergarbofpublicandsocialeminence.Allcameforthtomoveinprocessionbeforethepeople’seye,andthusimpartaneededdignitytothesimpleframeworkofagovernmentsonewlyconstructed.

           Then,too,thepeoplewerecountenanced,ifnotencouraged,inrelaxingthesevereandcloseapplicationtotheirvariousmodesofruggedindustry,whichatallothertimes,seemedofthesamepieceandmaterialwiththeirreligion.Here,itistrue,werenoneoftheapplianceswhichpopularmerrimentwouldsoreadilyhavefoundintheEnglandofElizabeth’stime,orthatofJames—norudeshowsofatheatricalkind;nominstrel,withhisharpandlegendaryballad,norgleemanwithanapedancingtohismusic;nojuggler,withhistricksofmimicwitchcraft;noMerryAndrew,tostirupthemultitudewithjests,perhapsahundredyearsold,butstilleffective,bytheirappealstotheverybroadestsourcesofmirthfulsympathy.