And is as singular as on the world's first day.
A pity 'tis thou shouldst have given
The fool, to make him worse, a gleam of light from heaven;
He calls it reason, using it
To be more beast than ever beast was yet.
He seems to me, (your grace the words will pardon,)
Like a long-legged grasshopper, in the garden,
Forever on the wing, and hops and sings
The same old song, as in the grass he springs."
GOETHE'S FAUST.

It is a common remark that a railroad car is an excellent place in
which to study human nature; but the particular phase of human
nature which is usually presented there is not, I think,
sufficiently attractive to engage a man who desires to maintain a
good opinion of his race. I would as soon think of studying human
nature in a pig-pen as in a railroad car. I do not like to study
even my own nature there, for I find that the more I ride, the
more selfish I become, and the more desirable it seems to me that
I should occupy the space usually assigned to four men, viz,: two
seats for my feet, and two for such other portions of my person as
are not required for spanning the space between the sofas. It must
be a matter of regret to most persons, I am sure, that they are
not large enough to cover twice as many seats as they do, and thus
drive those who travel with them into more close and inconvenient
quarters. Whenever I witness an instance of genuine, self-sacrificing
politeness in a railroad car, I become aware that there is at least one
man on the train who has travelled very little. No; when I travel I turn
my observation upon things outside--upon the farms and streams, and
mountains and forests, and towns and villages through which the