But I
know that the solemn business of justice, like most of the world's
business, is made up of the mumbled question that is seldom heard and
the fixed reply that is never listened to. The clerk of the court stares
at the wall and drones out the ancient formula which begins
"Jusolimlyswear," and ends "Swelpyugod," and the witness on the stand
blurts out "I do." The Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
asks the President-elect whether he will be faithful to the Constitution
and the laws of the United States, and the President-elect invariably
says that he will. The candidate for American citizenship is asked
whether he hereby renounces allegiance to foreign kings, emperors, and
potentates, and fervently responds that he does. When I took my medical
examination for a life-insurance policy, the physician asked me whether
I suffered from asthma, bronchitis, calculus, dementia, erysipelas, and
several score other afflictions, and, without waiting for an answer, he
wrote "No" opposite every disease.
Whenever I think of the world and the world's opinion, I think of Mrs.
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