Our Philadelphia . ,who, in 1880, when the Centennial excitement was subsid-ing, settled again in Philadelphia after ten years abroad,chiefly in England. Philadelphia welcomed him with itsusual serenity, betrayed into no expression of emotion bythe home-coming of one of its most distinguished citizenswho, in London, had been received with the open armsLondon, in expansive moments, extends to the lion fromAmerica. The contrast, no doubt, was annoying, and myLTncle, of whom patience could not be said to be the pre-dominating virtue, was accordingly annoyed and, on hisside, betrayed into anything
Our Philadelphia . ,who, in 1880, when the Centennial excitement was subsid-ing, settled again in Philadelphia after ten years abroad,chiefly in England. Philadelphia welcomed him with itsusual serenity, betrayed into no expression of emotion bythe home-coming of one of its most distinguished citizenswho, in London, had been received with the open armsLondon, in expansive moments, extends to the lion fromAmerica. The contrast, no doubt, was annoying, and myLTncle, of whom patience could not be said to be the pre-dominating virtue, was accordingly annoyed and, on hisside, betrayed into anything but a serene expression ofhis annoyance. Many smaller slights irritated him furtheruntil he worked himself up into the belief that he detestedPhiladelphia, and he was apt to be so outspoken in criti-cism that he succeeded in convincing me, anyway, that hedid. Later, when I read his Memoirs, I found in thempassages that suggest the charm of Philadelphia as it hasnot been suggested by any other writer I know of, and. STATK HOUSE YARD THE iVIIRACLE OF WORK 237 that he could not have written had he not felt for the townan affection strong enough to withstand that towns easyindifference. But during the few years he spent in Phila-delphia after his return he was uncommonly successful inhiding his affection, a fact which did not add to hispopularitj\ From his talk, I might have been expected to borrownothing save dislike for Philadelphia. But his influencedid not begin and end with his talk. There never was aman—except J.—who had such a contempt for idle-ness and such a talent for work. He could not endurepeople about him who did not work and, as I was anxiousto enjoy as much of his company as I could, for I hadfound nobody in Philadelphia so entertaining, and as bywork I might earn the money to pay for the independenceI wanted above all things, I found myself working beforeI knew it. I had my doubts when he set me to drawing but, mytime being wholly my own and frequently hanging
Size: 1389px × 1800px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectlithographyamerican
