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More: a Coronet of itself can bring about no evil. It is good in itself absolutely. It conveys a definitely good thing, enjoyable to those who enjoy it and at the worst indifferent to those who do not. It is a steady, unmixed, absolute pleasure to its owner and to others. But a Kind Heart? No! A kind heart suffers; and it causes suffering—more than it heals. It makes its owner as often as not despised, always taken advantage of. It is a perilous, uncertain thing.

Nevertheless, I return to my original judgment; kind hearts are more than coronets. They are less rare; they are more easily captured; they are much cheaper—yet they are more. One may put them somewhere between coronets and good verse, but, of course, nowhere near Poetry.

* * * * *

"Oh! Sir!" cries the Reader of Proofs, "have you verified your references in all this?"

"No, My Child, nor will I. It is an extra labour, and should be charged overtime. Let them go."

ON MUMBO-JUMBO

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Mumbo-Jumbo is that department in the ruling of men which is made of dead, false, apparatus; unreasonable; contemptible to the free; unworthy of authority—and Mumbo-Jumbo is the most necessary ingredient in all government.

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