marry me, an agreeable man, in receipt of a good income." Possibly
enough this twain have passed one another in the street, have sat
side by side in the same tram-car, never guessing, each one, that the
other was the very article of which they were in want to make life
beautiful.

Mistresses in search of a servant, not so much with the idea of
getting work out of her, rather with the object of making her happy,
advertise on one page. On the opposite page, domestic treasures--
disciples of Carlyle, apparently, with a passionate love of work for
its own sake--are seeking situations, not so much with the desire of
gain as with the hope of finding openings where they may enjoy the
luxury of feeling they are leading useful lives. These philanthropic
mistresses, these toil-loving hand-maidens, have lived side by side
in the same town for years, never knowing one another.

So it is with these poor European peoples. They pass me in the
street. They do not guess that I am ready and willing to take them
under my care, to teach them common sense with a smattering of
intelligence--to be, as one might say, a father to them. They look
at me. There is nothing about me to tell them that I know what is
good for them better than they do themselves. In the fairy tales the
wise man wore a conical hat and a long robe with twiddly things all
round the edge. You knew he was a clever man. It avoided the
necessity of explanation. Unfortunately, the fashion has gone out.
We wise men have to wear just ordinary clothes. Nobody knows we are
wise men. Even when we tell them so, they don't believe it. This it
is that makes our task the more difficult.

One of the first things I should take in hand, were European affairs