The Finest Life 



going in swift motors, but the trend of population 

 is tangential, and even now our cities are dissolv- 

 ing. Every year London spreads farther into the 

 home counties, and this exodus is the most notice- 

 able change of the present day. 



The coming of the telephone and motor, the 

 spread of small holdings, more and better cottages 

 for labourers, and the boom of intensive culture 

 are drawing people back to the land, and I see 

 no likelihood of a cessation. The future will 

 show, but one cannot imagine the saner England 

 of the next generation tolerating rabbit hutch 

 tenements or city slums with the people who 

 infest them. Man's proper sphere is the country. 

 There is something about open air life which 

 affects his nature so that the country dweller 

 becomes kindlier, more genuine, and a truer 

 friend than the cityling. 



Close intimacy with farmers has impressed 

 me with their honesty. I would trust the average 

 countryman with my last shilling, where I would 

 not trust the average cityling with my first 

 copper. The last two generations of city life have 

 brought competition to such a keen pitch that 

 in the words of a thoughtful man " Honesty 

 and business success are a rare combination," 

 and again " Conscientiousness to-day is a luxury 

 of the rich." But the farmer has no incentive to 



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