She was probably a
year younger than himself; but I saw at the time, though both of them
appeared unconscious of the fact, that she loved him then. What with her
rejection and scorn, coming at the same time with my election defeat, I
am what I am. These defeats were wormwood to my soul; and, if I am
criminal, the parties concerned in them have been the cause of the
crime."
"A very consoling argument, if you could only prove it!"
"Very likely--you are not alone. The million would say with yourself.
But hear the case as I put it, and not as it is put by the majority.
Providence endowed me with a certain superiority of mind over my
fellows. I had capacities which they had not--talents to which they did
not aspire, and the possession of which they readily conceded to me.
These talents fitted me for certain stations in society, to which, as I
had the talents pre-eminently for such stations, the inference is fair
that Providence intended me for some such stations. But I was denied my
place.
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