After a quiet life in a country parsonage for more than twenty years, there was something dazzling to Mr. Hale in the energy which conquered immense difficulties with ease; the power of the machinery of Milton, the power of the men of Milton, impressed him with a sense of grandeur, which he yielded to without caring to inquire into the details of its exercise. But Margaret went less abroad, among machinery and men; saw less of power in its public effect, and, as it happened, she was thrown with one or two of those who, in all measures affecting masses of people, must be acute sufferers for the good of many. The question always is, has everything been done to make the sufferings of these exceptions as small as possible? or, in the triumph of the crowded procession, have the helpless been trampled on, instead of being gently lifted aside out of the roadway of the conqueror, whom they have no power to accompany on his march?

After his quiet life in a country parsonage, Mr. Hale was somewhat dazzled by the energy which conquered immense difficulties with ease; the power of Milton's machinery, and the power of its men, impressed him with a sense of grandeur. But Margaret went less abroad among machinery and men; saw less of power in its public effect, and, as it happened, she was thrown together with one or two of those who must be acute sufferers for the good of many. The question always is, has everything been done to make the sufferings of these exceptions as small as possible? Or, in the triumph of the procession, have the helpless been trampled on, instead of being gently lifted aside out of the way of the conqueror, whom they have no power to accompany on his march?
