44 THE BRITISH ISLES. 



famous as climbers ami explorers of mountains. Nearly a century and a half 

 has passed by since Mont Blanc was " discovered," as it were, by Pococke and 

 AVindham. Englishmen were not the first to climb this giant amongst European 

 mountains, but next to Saussure they have most frequently scaled the summits 

 of the peaks of Savoy and Switzerland, far surpassing in intrepidity the natives of 

 these countries. It is they who have most assiduously studied the phenomena of 

 the Mer de Glace, and of its surrounding snow-fields, and who were the first to 

 unravel the topography of the little-known mountain groups of the Pelvoux, 

 Grand Paradis, and Viso. It was they, too, who first founded an Alpine Club, 

 which has become the parent of similar societies in other parts of Europe, and 

 oven of India, at the foot of the Himalayas. 



A loviiio- intimacv with nature has undoubtedly helped Englishmen in 

 appreciating and breeding to perfection the various kinds of domestic animals. 

 They do not confine themselves merely to improve the breeds, in order that they 

 may yield more meat or better wool, and thus enhance the pecuniary profits to 

 be derived from them, for they seek also to satisfy their aesthetic feelings by 

 rendering them more shapely. Passionately fond of horses and dogs, they have 

 succeeded, by judicious crossings, unflagging attention, and a course of training 

 persevered in for generations, in producing new varieties, and transmitting the 

 qualities in which they excel. An English breeder has almost the power of 

 endowing the animal he breeds with strength, agility, or beauty. Even before 

 it is born he ventures to predict its shape, its gait, the form of its head, and the 

 colour of its skin. English horticulturists, too, have created thousands of new 

 varieties of plants, and they reproduce in their hothouses the climate best suited 

 to each species. 



But if England is the country where the breeding of our various domestic 

 animals is carried on with the greatest success, it is no less the country where 

 the physical education of youth is conducted most intelligently, and with the 

 greatest respect for the nature of the child, so that it may gain in strength 

 and beauty. There are few English babies not charming to look upon. Poverty 

 unfortunately disfigures the features of many early in life, but amongst those 

 privileged by fortune how many are there not who amply fulfil the promises 

 they held out in early childhood Î Observations made at Harrow and Eton, as 

 well as at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, during a period of fifty years, 

 prove conclusively that the young men of modern England are superior to their 

 forefathers in strength and agility. Thanks to a greater attention to the laws of 

 hygiene, the growing generation is physically superior to the generations which 

 preceded it. A cricket match is at all times a pleasant sight. These tall, lithe 

 youths, with muscular arms, dressed in light attire, and surrounded by thousands 

 of spectators keenly interested in their efibrts ,do they not remind us of the heroes • 

 of the Olympian games ? Different surroundings, and perhaps a little more 

 personal grace, alone are wanting to weave around them a charm of poetry such 

 as enveloped the athletes of ancient Hellas. But where is the azure sky, where are 

 the marble halls and divinely shaped statues which surrounded the ancient 



