The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Little Britain by Washington Irving: Beef-eaters under arms, and he may bid defiance to the world!
Thus wrapped up in its own concerns, its own habits, and its
own opinions, Little Britain has long flourished as a sound
heart to this great fungous metropolis. I have pleased myself
with considering it as a chosen spot, where the principles of
sturdy John Bullism were garnered up, like seed corn, to renew
the national character, when it had run to waste and
degeneracy. I have rejoiced also in the general spirit of
harmony that prevailed throughout it; for though there might
now and then be a few clashes of opinion between the
adherents of the cheesemonger and the apothecary, and an
|