II
I myself came away entirely satisfied, indeed, but for the
lasting pang I inflicted upon myself by denying a penny to the
ragged wretch who superfluously opened the valves of my hansom
for me. My explanation to my soul was that I had no penny in my
pocket, and that it would have been folly little short of crime
to give so needy a wretch sixpence. But would it? Would it have
corrupted him, since pauperize him further it could not? I advise
the reader who finds himself in the like case to give the
sixpence, and if he cares for the peace of my conscience, to make
it a shilling; or, come! a half-crown, if he wishes to be truly
handsome. It is astonishing how these regrets persist; but
perhaps in this instance I owe the permanence of my pang to those
frequent appeals to one's pity which repeated themselves in
Sheffield. As I had noted at Liverpool I now noted at Sheffield
that you cannot have great prosperity without having adversity,
just as you cannot have heat without cold or day without dark.
The one substantiates and verifies the other; and I perceived
that wherever business throve it seemed to be at the cost of
somebody; though even when business pines it is apparently no
better.
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