The children were radiantly content with their
lot; and it is on record that the little boy once remarked, "I don't
remember when I came down from heaven; but I'm glad I happened to
tumble into so good a family." The same individual, rolling on the
floor in excess of mirth over some childish comicality, panted out, "Oh,
mamma, my ball of jolly is so big I can't breathe!" The ball of jolly
became a household word for years thereafter. It was well nourished in
those days.

VIII

Cataclysmic adventures--On the trail of dazzling fortunes--
"Lovely, but reprehensible Madham"--The throne saves the
artist--English robin redbreast--A sad and weary old man--
"Most indelicate woman I've ever known"--Perfectly chaste--
Something human stirred dimly--"She loves me; she loves
me!"--The Prince of Wales and half-a-crown--Portentous and
thundering title--Honest English simplicity--"The spirit
lacking"--Abelard, Isaac Newton, and Ruskin--A famous and
charming woman of genius--Deep and wide well of human
sympathy--The whooping-cough.

In the spring of 1854 we were visited by John O'Sullivan, his wife and
mother, and a young relative of theirs, Miss Ella Rogers. O'Sullivan
had been appointed Minister to the Court of Portugal, and was on his way
thither. He was a Democrat of old standing; had edited the Democratic
Review in 1837, and had made my father's acquaintance at that time
through soliciting contributions from him; later they became close
friends, and when my sister Una was born, he sent her a silver cup,
and was ever after called "Uncle John" in the family, and, also,
occasionally, "the Count"--a title which, I believe, had some warrant in
his ancestry. For, although an American, Uncle John was born at sea
off the coast of Spain, of an Irish father and a mother of aristocratic
connections or extraction (I am a little uncertain, I find, on this
point); I think her parents were Italian. Uncle John had all the
charming qualities of the nations mentioned, and none of their
objectionable ones; though this is not to say that he was devoid of
tender faults, which were, if anything, more lovable than his virtues.
Beneath a tranquil, comely, and gentle exterior burned all the fire
and romance of the Celt; his faith and enthusiasm in "projects" knew no
bounds; he might be deceived and bankrupted a hundred times, and
would toe the mark the next time with undiminished confidence. H