270 OUR ENGLISH LAND MUDDLE. 



that England, alone of the countries of the earth, 

 is so happy that there is no tendency here from 

 the fields to the cities, no lure in the flaring 

 lights of the streets, of the gin palaces, of the 

 picture theatres, of the arenas where profes- 

 sional sportsmen compete in mercenary games. 

 The English are human, and theirs is a human 

 nature. But I do think that in them, more 

 than in most industrial peoples, some real sym- 

 pathy with the life of the country has survived. 

 Their forbears in the past had much reason to 

 be attached to the soil, which gave them bread, 

 and offered them the enchantment of soft beauty 

 unequalled in the world. They came, perhaps, 

 to a greater love than ordinary of the country- 

 side, and transmitted it to their descendants. 



