"I never defend people I can't
respect," he used to say.
He began his speech in a rambling, desultory sort of fashion and quite
a low tone of voice, as if he were addressing a circle of friends.
A charming place, Nepenthe! He would carry away the pleasantest
memories of its beauty and the kindliness of its inhabitants. It was
like a terrestrial paradise, so verdant, so remote from all danger. And
yet nothing on earth was secure. That volcanic eruption the other
day--what a scare it must have given them! What a lucky escape they had,
thanks to the Divine intervention of the Patron Saint! Hardly any
damage done; no victims worth mentioning. The fertile fields were
intact; mothers and fathers and children could once more go out to
their daily tasks and return in the evening, tired but happy, to gather
round the family board. Family life, the sacred hearth! It was the
pride, the strength, the mainstay of the country; it was the source
whence the rising generation drew their earliest notions of piety and
right conduct.
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