The party of violence, a small
minority as is usually the case, but consisting of men of
determined character, triumphed; and the outbreak at
Birmingham was the first consequence of those reckless
councils that were destined in the course of the ensuing years
to inflict on the working classes of this country so much
suffering and disaster.
It was about this time, a balmy morning of July, that Sybil,
tempted by the soft sunshine, and a longing for the sight of
flowers and turf and the spread of winding waters, went forth
from her gloomy domicile to those beautiful gardens that bloom
in that once melancholy region of marsh, celebrated in old
days only for its Dutch canal and its Chinese bridge, and now
not unworthy of the royal park that incloses them.. Except
here and there a pretty nursery-maid with her interesting
charge; some beautiful child with nodding plume, immense bow,
and gorgeous sash; the gardens were vacant. Indeed it was
only at this early hour, that Sybil found from experience,
that it was agreeable in London for a woman unaccompanied to
venture abroad. There is no European city where our fair
sisters are so little independent as in our metropolis; to our
shame.
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