"
We quote this passage merely in confirmation of our statement that
Donald felt perfectly free to go abroad after the tragedy, and to
participate in the social life of the village.
CHAPTER XXIII.
ACTION OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT.--FIVE OFFICERS SENT TO MEGANTIC.
To the common mind government is something vast, mysterious, and
powerful. It is associated with armies and navies, and an unlimited
police force. There are a glittering sword, a ponderous mace, and an
argus eye, that reaches to the remotest point of territory like a great
big electric search light, in it.
No man is a hero to his valet, and the nearer you get to the seat of
power, the less does government impose upon the imagination. Those who
read, with infinite respect, "that the Government has decided, after a
protracted meeting of the Cabinet, to levy a tax upon terrier dogs for
purposes of revenue," would be shocked to learn that government meant
a small table, a bottle of wine, a few cigars, and two men not a whit
above the mental or moral level of the ordinary citizen.
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