Possibly, after all, the grapes are sour; and were one rich, one
would do even as the rich are wont to do: but still, I am a minute
philosopher. And therefore, this afternoon, after I have done the
same work, visited the same people, and said the same words to them,
which I have done for years past, and shall, I trust, for many a year
to come, I shall go wandering out into the same winter-garden on the
same old mare; and think the same thoughts, and see the same fir-
trees, and meet perhaps the same good fellows hunting of their fox,
as I have done with full content this many a year; and rejoice, as I
said before, in my own boundless wealth, who have the whole universe
to look at, without being charged one penny for the show.
As I have said, the grapes may be sour, and I enjoy the want of
luxuries only because I cannot get them; but if my self-deception be
useful to me, leave it alone.
No one is less inclined to depreciate that magnificent winter-garden
at the Crystal Palace: yet let me, if I choose, prefer my own; I
argue that, in the first place, it is far larger.
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