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39

I hoped it might fall to me to treat of "Reigning Sovereigns" a subject, it seems to me full of interest. Never having had the satisfaction of witnessing the phenomenon of raining sovereigns, or even so much as a shower of green-backs, it would have been a pleasure to contemplate, even in imagination, a storm of this nature, of however brief duration, if only sufficiently violent, with ones self sitting under the spout holding ones hat, or still better a meal bag.

However as I did not get that, I am expected to say something about the age of a man whose age I know nothing about. I tried to borrow Cantines Encyclopedia, but I was informed that he had started for Cripplebush that morning with the volume on O'c and would not be back until Friday night. I have come to the conclusion however that O'Connell was a man of about the usual age, having heard of him about as long as I have heard of anybody. I also believe he was of the the average respectability since his friends claim him for a saint and his enemies for the devil himself. Between such conflicting estimates if one strikes an average it usually seems to be not far out of the way.

Twenty years ago I met him (in plaster) daily, in the apartment I occupied in Rome and though he never spoke, he had left his impression upon that Roman household. The soft Tuscan tongue in the Roman 

Transcription Notes:
Cripplebush is likely a misspelling of KRIPPLEBUSH ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-21 15:21:27 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-21 22:55:30 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-22 22:11:05