As I gazed on the frantic assembly, I wondered how the English
ever came to be considered a grave solid nation; I wondered, moreover,
how a great percentage of men representing a nation of conquerors,
explorers, administrators, inventors, should on a sudden decide to go
mad for a day. Perhaps, after all, the catchword "Merry England" meant
really "Mad England"; perhaps the good days which men mourned for after
the grim shade of Puritanism came over the country were neither more nor
less than periods of wild orgies; perhaps we have reason to be thankful
that the national carnivals do not now occur very often. Our ancestors
had a very peculiar idea of what constituted a merry-making, and there
are many things in ancient art and literature which tempt us to fancy
that a certain crudity distinguished the festivals of ancient days; but
still the latter-day frolic in all its monstrous proportions is not to
be studied by a philosophic observer without profoundly moving thoughts
arising. As I gazed on the endless flow of travellers, I could hardly
help wondering how the mob would conduct themselves during any great
social convulsion. Some gushing persons talk about the good humour and
orderliness of the British crowd.
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