Preface 
in his outlook, conventional though he was in all 
his views. But at least he never played the 
superior person. 
Yet what a high-minded race they were, if in 
some cases rather purse-proud—these provincials, 
of whom Mr. Smith, whatever the poverty of his 
purse, was essentially one! It is pleasant to think 
of them—the Simmondses and Mulfords, the 
Hewetts, the Bakers, the Cranstones, and dozens 
more—men shrewd sometimes to the point of 
avarice, yet of unimpeachable integrity. Their 
word was their bond; they were touchy on a 
point of honour; in their sunburnt faces, and 
through their nutty vernacular, the gorgeous 
English countryside seemed to live and speak, 
and they were worthy of it. 
Such were the countrymen I knew, and such 
was John Smith in the main features of his 
character. His very defects were noteworthy, 
because with the qualities they came from they 
have such a place in the career of the English. 
If he was at times over-prudent and always over- 
anxious ; if he never let himself go in company 
and never was reckless and gay, it was for reasons 
that had produced Wesleyanism, Quakerism, 
devout churchman though he was. A sort of 
instinctive spirituality lurked for him round every 
corner. He never got on glad, confident terms 
with it: even in his youth (I surmise) it had 
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