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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Vailima Letters by Robert Louis Stevenson: good one for my purpose, owing to two civilisations having
been face to face throughout - or rather Roman civilisation
face to face with our ancient barbaric life and government,
down to yesterday, to 1750 anyway. But the TALES OF A
GRANDFATHER stand in my way; I am teaching them to Austin
now, and they have all Scott's defects and all Scott's
hopeless merit. I cannot compete with that; and yet, so far
as regards teaching History, how he has missed his chances!
I think I'll try; I really have some historic sense, I feel
that in my bones. Then there's another thing. Scott never
knew the Highlands; he was always a Borderer. He has missed
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