But these were no more than
the moral blotches that usually disfigure human commendation. The
sentiment and the sympathies of the mass were powerfully and irresistibly
enlisted in favor of the unknown maiden--feelings that were very
unequivocally manifested as she drew nearer the estrade, walking timidly
through a dense lane of bodies, all of which were pressing eagerly
forward to get a better view of her person.
The bailiff, under ordinary circumstances, would have taken in dudgeon
this violation of the rules prescribed for the government of the
multitude; for he was perfectly sincere in his opinions, absurd as so many
of them were, and, like many other honest men who defeat the effects they
would produce by forced constructions of their principles, he was a little
apt to run into excesses of discipline. But in the present instance, he
was rather pleased than otherwise to see the throng within the reach of
his voice. The occasion was, at best, but semi-official, and he was so far
under the influence of the warm liquors of the cotes as to burn with the
desire of putting forth still more liberally his flowers of eloquence and
his stores of wisdom.
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