Prithee come in. Sybil will not
take it kindly if you go, after so long an absence; and I am
sure I shall not."
So they entered together.
The evening passed in various conversation, though it led
frequently to the staple subject of talk beneath the roof of
Gerard--the Condition of the People. What Morley had seen in
his recent excursion afforded materials for many comments.
"The domestic feeling is fast vanishing among the working
classes of this country," said Gerard; "nor is it wonderful--
the Home no longer exists."
"But there are means of reviving it," said Egremont; "we have
witnessed them to-day. Give men homes, and they will have
soft and homely notions, If all men acted like Mr Trafford,
the condition of the people would be changed."
"But all men will not act like Mr Trafford," said Morley. "It
requires a sacrifice of self which cannot be expected, which
is unnatural. It is not individual influence that can
renovate society: it is some new principle that must
reconstruct it. You lament the expiring idea of Home. It
would not be expiring, if
it were worth retaining. The domestic principle has fulfilled
its purpose. The irresistible law of progress demands that
another should be developed.
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