All in a garden fair; the simple story of three boys ... - University Library

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ALL IX A GARDEX FAIR.
At first thoiiglit it seems strange that any
village should be blessed with so great a dis-
tinction. Yet it is not really strange at all. For,
if you think of it, every town must have some
peculiarities. It may be placed on the Thames
or on the Potomac, but it must be placed some-
where, else it would be worse off than a mathe-
matical point, w^hich at least hath position.
Then it must have residents, else what sort of
a town would it be ? And the residents must
have distinguishing marks—unless they are
Chinamen, who are all alike over the whole
Empire. We have, for instance, all heard of
the one-ej^ed man in the city of the blind.
Abdera, again, was a city where all, from young
to old, were confessedly born fools—no doubt
proud of their folly. Gotham (impudently an-
nexed by the Americans) is a city, on the other
hand, where they are all proud of their wisdom.
Surely, therefore, there is nothing remarkable
in a village—not a city, but a small village
occupied entirely by people who have broken
down in the world. It would be strange, con-