190 AN OCTOBER ABROAD 



ENGLISH CHARACTERISTICS. 



ENGLAND is a mellow country, and the English 

 people are a mellow people. They have hung on 

 the tree of nations a long time, and will, no doubt, 

 hang as much longer ; for windfalls, I reckon, are not 

 the order in this island. We are pitched several de- 

 grees higher in this country. By contrast, things here 

 are loud, sharp, and garish. Our geography is loud; 

 the manners of the people are loud ; our climate is 

 loud, very loud, so dry and sharp, and full of violent 

 changes and contrasts ; and our goings-out and com- 

 ings-in as a nation are anything but silent. Do we 

 not occasionally give the door an extra slam, just for 

 effect? 



In England, everything is on a lower key, slower, 

 steadier, gentler. Life is, no doubt, as full, or fuller, 

 in its material forms and measures, but less violent 

 and aggressive. The buffers the English have be- 

 tween their cars to break the shock, are typical of 

 much one sees there. 



All sounds are softer in England ; the surface of 

 things is less hard. The eye of day and the face of 

 Nature are less bright. Everything has a mellow, 



