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Gala-days by Gail Hamilton
page 92 of 351 (26%)
that looks so attractive, so different from our hasty, brittle,
shingly American half-minute houses,--massive, permanent, full
of character and solid worth. And now our tiny craft butts
against the pier, and we ascend from the Jesuit river and stand
on British soil. No stars and stripes here, but Saint George
and his dragon fight out their never-ending brawl. No war, no
volunteering, no Congress here; but peace and a Parliament and
a Queen, God bless her! and this is her realm, a kingdom. Now
if it had been a year ago I do not know that I should not, like
Columbus, have knelt to kiss these dingy stones, so much did
I love and reverence England, and whatever bore the dear
English name. But we--they, rather--have changed all that.
Among the great gains of this memorable year,--among the
devotions, the sacrifices, the heroisms,--all the mighty,
noble, and ennobling deeds by which we stand enriched
forevermore,--there broods the shadow of one irreparable loss,--
the loss of England. Success or failure can make no difference
there. English gold, English steel, English pluck, stand today
as always; but English integrity, English staunchness, English
love, where are they? Just where Prescott is, now that we have
come to it; for the substantial stone city a mile and a half
away turns out to be a miserable little dirty, butty, smutty,
stagnant owl-cote when you get into it. What we took for stone
is stolidity. It is old, but its age is squalid, not picturesque.
We stumble through the alleys that answer for streets, and come
to the "Dog and Duck," a dark, dingy ale-room, famous for its
fine ale, we are told, or perhaps it was beer: I don't remember.
It is not in male nature to go by on the other side of such a
thing, and we enter,--they to test the beverage, Grande and I to
make observation of the surroundings. We take position in the
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