Dawn of All by Robert Hugh Benson
page 307 of 381 (80%)
page 307 of 381 (80%)
![]() | ![]() |
|
liberty as he had conceived it.
He began to scrutinize the faces of the passers-by, sheltering himself behind his elbow that he might not be noticed--appearing as if he were waiting for some one. Women passed by, strong-faced and business-like; men came up and passed, talking in twos or threes. He even watched for some while a couple of children who sat gravely together on a doorstep. (That reminded him of the meeting of to-morrow, when certain educational matters had to be finally decided; he remembered the proposed _curriculum_, sketched out in some papers that he had to study this evening--an exceedingly sound and useful _curriculum_, calculated to make the pupils satisfactorily informed persons.) Again and again he told himself that it was fancy that made him see in the faces of these people--people, it must be remembered, who were not commonplace, but rather enthusiasts for their cause, since they preferred exile to a life under the Christian system--that made him see a kind of blankness and heaviness corresponding to that which the aspect of their street presented. Many of the faces were intellectual, especially of the men--there was no doubt of that; and all were wholesome-looking and healthy, just as this little square was sensibly built and planned, and the houses soundly constructed. Yet, as he looked at them _en masse_, and compared them with his general memories of the type of face that he saw in London streets, there was certainly a difference. He could conceive these people making speeches, recording votes, discussing matters of public interest with great gravity and consideration; |
|