It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the
age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of
belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it
was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter
of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we
were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other
way--in short, the period was so. far like the present period, that some
of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or
for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
