. . and so
on through all things appertaining to him. One could see directly that
any attempt to convince him to the contrary would be utterly futile.
His ears were not made to admit any such remarks. . . . He declared that
the weather of the last twelve months was unprecedented. I meekly
suggested Bulwer's testimony, but he scoffed at it. . . . He discussed
with Mrs. Holland the probable merits of a pudding before her, and
concluded he would not try it. There was something peremptory,
petulant, and whimsical about him. . . . He was precisely a character
such as I have read about in English novels, and entertained me very
much. He was evidently of the war party of Britain, and thought
Kossuth's last letter to the people of Straffan "exceedingly clever."
In speaking of contested elections, he referred to one which cost
100,000 pounds; and some one asked Mr. Hawthorne if an election ever
cost so much as that in America. Upon this question, a young
gentleman, a fair-haired Egbert, with an aristocratic face and head,
observed that he supposed 100,000 pounds would purchase all America!
Was not that impertinent? Mr. Hawthorne gravely replied that from the
number of elections it was impossible that any such purchasing could
be made. Opposite me sat a Mrs. Mann;--an old lady with an
extraordinary cap, trimmed with pink ribbon, and a magnificent
necklace of rubies round her neck, and bracelets of the same. She had
a very intelligent face. There was a Mrs.
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