As  individuals  are  constitutionally  predisposed  to  mel
ancholy,  so  there  is  a  national  temperament  that  predis
poses  men  to  gloomy  views  of  life.  The  Englishman,
saturated  with  the  fogs  of  his  island,  is  notoriously  less
cheerful  than  the  inhabitant  of  sunny  France.  It  is  said
that  when  the  former  meets  with  reverses,  his  resources
are  his  razor  and  his  pistol ;  a  Frenchman,  on  the  other
hand,  turns  to  that  all-consoling  word,  "  n'importe"  and,


68  "THE  BLUES'  AND  THEIR  REMEDY.
