294 AWAKENING OF ENGLAND. 



versation may have been before, concerning 

 mangolds and pigs, yet it was largely free 

 from the vulgarity of the talk of the music 

 hall, of champagne - swilling, of comparing 

 the lavish display of one country house with 

 another; free, too, it was, of the garbage of 

 the divorce court, and all the other genteel 

 topics of conversation introduced by the 

 flunkeys from town. 



No one, perhaps, could be more out of 

 sympathy, intellectually and artistically, than 

 myself with the mental outlook of those who 

 clothe themselves in black, and with dour 

 faces find spiritual refreshment on Sundays in 

 the Ebenezer Chapel of the countryside ; yet 

 I cannot help recognising the greater virility 

 of those who live outside the pale of the 

 Established Church and the scope of the 

 patronage of the country house. Indeed, if 

 one were to compare the general happiness of 

 those who live in village communities with no 

 large country house near at hand, or even with 

 a benevolent landlord, the greater happiness 

 will be found with those who are endeavouring 

 to shape unaided their own destinies. 



In many places a great deal too much is 

 done for the poor by philanthropic ladies. 



