it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, i
t was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of in
credulity, 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 h
ad nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going dire
ct 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.