PART VI.
"I THINK, my Specimen, we have now had enough history for one day, so meanwhile I shall postpone this subject; as time permits I will revert to it again. We shall now talk about the present for a little.
"It is most interesting to read the writings of the past and study the changes of thought and sentiment that took place in the various decades of the life of our nation. At one period, the thoughts of our fathers seemed to be exalted and pure in tone, while at another, we find all these noble aspirations gone, and replaced by ideas and thoughts that are immoral and degrading. This changing reminds me of a number of great ocean waves, rolling on the shore. At one moment, you see them clear, pure and beautiful, at another, they are dim and muddy, having stirred up and become polluted by contact with the bottom's dirt and
