fire-characters, or smoke-characters prompt to become fire again,
a legible balance-account of grim vengeance; very unjustly
balanced, much exaggerated, as is the way with such accounts;
but payable readily at sight, in full with compound interest!
Such things should be avoided as the very pestilence. For men's
hearts ought not to be set against one another; but set _with_
one another, and all against the Evil Thing only. Men's souls
ought to be left to see clearly; not jaundiced, blinded, twisted
all awry, by revenge, mutual abhorrence, and the like. An
Insurrection that can announce the disease, and then retire with
no such balance-account opened anywhere, has attained the highest
success possible for it.

And this was what these poor Manchester operatives, with all the
darkness that was in them and round them, did manage to perform.
They put their huge inarticulate question, "What do you mean to
do with us?" in a manner audible to every reflective soul in this
kingdom; exciting deep pity in all good men, deep anxiety in all
men whatever; and no conflagration or outburst of madness came
to cloud that feeling anywhere, but everywhere it operates
unclouded. All England heard the question: it is the first
practical form of our Sphinx-riddle. England will answer it;
or, on the whole, England will perish;--one does not yet expect
the latter result!

For the rest, that the Manchester Insurrection could yet discern
no radiance of Heaven on any side of its horizon; but feared
that all lights, of the O'Connor or other sorts, hitherto
kindled, were but deceptive fish-oil transparencies, or bog
will-o'-wisp lights, and no dayspring from on high: for this