It must be because I have got it into my head that we are
bound to have some kind of sentimental outbreak amongst us, and that this
will give a chance for advances on the part of anybody disposed in that
direction. A little change of circumstance often hastens on a movement
that has been long in preparation. A chemist will show you a flask
containing a clear liquid; he will give it a shake or two, and the whole
contents of the flask will become solid in an instant. Or you may lay a
little heap of iron-filings on a sheet of paper with a magnet beneath it,
and they will be quiet enough as they are, but give the paper a slight
jar and the specks of metal will suddenly find their way to the north or
the south pole of the magnet and take a definite shape not unpleasing to
contemplate, and curiously illustrating the laws of attraction,
antagonism, and average, by which the worlds, conscious and unconscious,
are alike governed. So with our little party, with any little party of
persons who have got used to each other; leave them undisturbed and they
might remain in a state of equilibrium forever; but let anything give
them a shake or a jar, and the long-striving but hindered affinities come
all at once into play and finish the work of a year in five minutes.
We were all a good deal excited by the anticipation of this visit.
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