246 The Dangers of Cutting Loose 



taken all in all, to the city life even if this city 

 life is fairly successful in a commercial sense, 

 and I hold this for the simple reason that it 

 offers emancipation from some of the worst of 

 city evils, while its drawbacks and there are 

 drawbacks are insignificant as compared to 

 the advantages gained. Take half a dozen of 

 the most successful city men you know and 

 consider: (i) How much healthy exercise in the 

 sunshine they have; (2) How much of their 

 life is passed with their children and family; 

 (3) How much intellectual exercise do they get 

 out of life, how many books worth reading do 

 they open in the course of the year? 



In olden times, and in fact in recent times 

 until the power press and cheap postage ap- 

 peared, the dweller in the country was largely 

 cut off from intellectual intercourse. He had 

 his few books, as a rule costly and therefore 

 few, and that was all. To-day, no matter how 

 distant the hamlet, the mail reaches it, and for 

 a trifle the newspapers and magazines bring him 

 the best thoughts of the world together with a 

 record of what men who like the fuss and the 

 noise of towns are doing. It is no longer 



