the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was 

the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was 

the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was

the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had

everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were

all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the 

other way--in short, the period was so far like the present

period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its

being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree

of comparison only.

      There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with

a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king

with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne

of France.  In both countries it was clearer than crystal 

to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that

things in general were settled for ever.

     It was the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred

and seventy-five.  Spiritual revelations were conceded to

England at that favoured period, as at this.  Mrs. Southcott

had recently attained her five-and-twentieth blessed birthday,

of whom a prophetic private in the Life Guards had heralded

the sublime appearance by announcing that arrangements 

were made for theswallowing up of London and 

Westminster.  Even the Cock-lane ghost had been laid only

a round dozen of years, after rapping out its messages, as

the spirits of this very year last past (supernaturally deficient

in originality) rapped out theirs. Mere messages in the earthly 

order of events had lately come to the English Crown and 

People, from a congress of British subjects in America:  

which, strange to relate, have proved more important to

the human race than any communications yet received 

through any of the chickens of the Cock-lane brood.