28. The phrase “by one consent” is synonymous with
There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not
profited, I dare say, Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of
Christmas-time, when it has come round-apart trom the veneration due to its sacred
origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that-as a god time; a kind,
(5) forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of
the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely
and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow travelers to the grave.
and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore; uncle,
though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done
(10) me good, and will do me good; and I say, “God bless it!”
The clerk in the tank involuntarily applauded.
“Let me hear another sound from you,” said Scrooge, “and you’ll keep your
Christmas by losing your situation! You’re quite a powerful speaker, sir,” he added,
turning to his nephew. “I wonder why you don’t go into Parliament.”
-from A Christmas Carol by
Charles Dickens