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235
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
·
George Gissing
78
Suppose
yourself
endowed
with
such
power
of
hearing
that
all
the
talk
going
on
at
any
moment
beneath
the
domestic
roofs
of
any
town
became
clearly
audible
to
you;
the
dominant
note
would
be
that
of
moods,
tempers,
opinions
at
jar.
Who
but
the
most
amiable
dreamer
can
doubt
it?
This,
mind
you,
is
not
the
same
thing
as
saying
that
angry
emotion
is
the
ruling
force
in
human
life;
the
facts
of
our
civilization
prove
the
contrary.
Just
because,
and
only
because,
the
natural
spirit
of
conflict
finds
such
frequent
scope,
does
human
society
hold
together,
and,
on
the
whole,
present
a
pacific
aspect.
In
the
course
of
ages
(one
would
like
to
know
how
many)
man
has
attained
a
remarkable
degree
of
self-control;
dire
experience
has
forced
upon
him
the
necessity
of
compromise,
and
habit
has
inclined
him
(the
individual)
to
prefer
a
quiet,
orderly
life.
But
by
instinct
he
is
still
a
quarrelsome
creature,
and
he
gives
vent
to
the
impulse
as
far
as
it
is
compatible
with
his
reasoned
interests--often,
to
be
sure,
without
regard
for
that
limit.
The
average
man
or
woman
is
always
at
open
discord
with
some
one;
the
great
majority
could
not
live
without
oft-recurrent
squabble.
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