Tela Network

" I have tamed that savage stenographic mystery. I make a respectable income by it. I am in high repute for my accomplishments in all pertaining to the art, and am joined with eleven others in reporting the debates in Parliament for a Morning Newspaper. Night after night, I record predictions that never come to pass, professions that are never fulfilled, explanations that are only meant to mystify. I wallow in words. Britannia, that unfortunate female, is always before me, like a trussed fowl: skewered through and though with office-pens, and bound hand and foot with red tape. I am sufficiently behind the scenes to know the worth of political life. I am quite an Infidel about it, and shall never be converted. " Charles Dickens, 'David Copperfield', Chapter XLIII, first published 1850.