Did I Ever Say An Engagement Was

God Has Made Us So That We Must Be Mutually Dependent. We May Ignore Our Own Dependence, Or Refuse To Acknowledge That Others Depend Upon Us In More Respects Than The Payment Of Weekly Wages; But The Thing Must Be, Nevertheless. Neither You Nor Any Other Master Can Help Yourselves. The Most Proudly Independent Man Depends On Those Around Him For Their Insensible Influence On His Character - His Life.

I Value My Own Independence So Highly That I Can Fancy No Degradation Greater Than That Of Having Another Man Perpetually Directing And Advising And Lecturing Me, Or Even Planning Too Closely In Any Way About My Actions. He Might Be The Wisest Of Men, Or The Most Powerful - I Should Equally Rebel And Resent His Interference.

But Margaret Went Less Abroad, Among Machinery And Men; Saw Less Of Power In Its Public Effect, And, As It Happened, She Was Thrown With One Or Two Of Those Who, In All Measures Affecting Masses Of People, Must Be Acute Sufferers For The Good Of Many. The Question Always Is, Has Everything Been Done To Make The Sufferings Of These Exceptions As Small As Possible?

He Had Tenderness In His Heart — ‘a Soft Place,’ As Nicholas Higgins Called It; But He Had Some Pride In Concealing It; He Kept It Very Sacred And Safe, And Was Jealous Of Every Circumstance That Tried To Gain Admission. But If He Dreaded Exposure Of His Tenderness, He Was Equally Desirous That All Men Should Recognize His Justice; And He Felt That He Had Been Unjust, In Giving So Scornful A Hearing To Anyone Who Had Waited, With Humble Patience, For Five Hours, To Speak To Him.

But With The Increase Of Serious And Just Ground Of Complaint, A New Kind Of Patience Had Sprung Up In Her Mother's Mind. She Was Gentle And Quiet In Intense Bodily Suffering, Almost In Proportion As She Had Been Restless And Depressed When There Had Been No Real Cause For Grief.