I'd Argue If I Could

Last week I was strolling along the riverfront here in my hometown of Evansville, Indiana, and saw this— a plaque commemorating noted author Charles Dickens' visit to the River City in 1842. Wow! The author of A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield and Oliver Twist (among many others) was actually in my city! Amazing!

Apparently Dickens passed through Evansville while traveling by steamboat on his way from Louisville to St. Louis. 

Let's zoom in on Chuck's comments about Eville and see what he had to say, shall we?

“Such deadly leaden people; such systematic, plodding, weary, insupportable heaviness; such mass of animated indigestion in respect to what was genial, jovial, frank, social or hearty; never, sure, was brought together elsewhere since the world began.

Nor was the scenery, as we approached the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi River, at all inspiring in its influence.”

Wow! Zing! What a hearty endorsement. Welp, I'd argue with him if I could. Why, it's as if he wrote that withering statement today instead of 174 years ago! 

Note that this plaque is one of many along the riverfront, outlining the history of the city. Thousands of people probably read it every year. Surely there were more flattering quotes from other notables the Evansville Chamber Of Commerce could have chosen? If they picked this one, imagine the ones they must have rejected!