Uncle Jim is pleased,
and as for war, Mr. Rivers, if that is what you dislike, what chance of
war is there?"
"You have very likely forgotten my talk with Mr. George Grey. The North
and the South will never put an end to their differences without
bloodshed."
It seemed a strange opinion to John. He had thought so when he heard
their talk, but now the clergyman's earnestness and some better
understanding of the half-century's bitter feeling made him thoughtful.
Rising to his feet, he said, "Uncle Jim does not agree with you, and Aunt
Ann and her brother, Henry Grey, think that Mr. Buchanan will bring all
our troubles to an end. Of course, sir, I don't know, but"--and his voice
rose--"if there ever should be such a war, I am on Uncle Jim's side, and
being out of West Point would not keep me out of the fight."
Rivers shook his head. "It will come, John. Few men think as I do, and
your uncle considers me, I suspect, to be governed by my unhappy way of
seeing the dark side of things. He says that I am a bewildered pessimist
about politics. A pessimist I may be, but it is the habitually hopeful
meliorist who is just now perplexed past power to think straight."
John's interest was caught for the moment by the word, "meliorist." "What
is a meliorist, sir?" he asked.
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