95 
LIFE AND CONDUCT IN MODERN 
ENGLAND. 
A Short Sketch of some Features of the Life of the 
People, especially the Middle Classes. 
By R. HOPE BOWDLER. November 30 th, 1909. 
A careful survey of the modern conditions of life, beside 
being of great importance, is extremely interesting in such 
wonderful and changing times as the present. The welfare 
of our country is the concern of every citizen, but it is too 
often served by profession rather than by practice, and 
difficulties in life and conduct are often regarded as of less 
importance than the trend of a particular social or political 
movement. 
The England of to-day is a very different place from the 
England which our fathers knew ; the country itself is different 
materially and the people are different in character. 
According to some observers the foundations of national 
stability in social, political and religious life are being under- 
mined, and the decay of our power is at hand if not actually 
in progress. According to others, we are passing out of 
darkness into light. The old order is changing, and the 
new order to which it must yield place is Filed with the hopes 
of happier times and the ideals of a golden age. 
Now it is true that there is much of the best of human 
nature and much of its worst in our midst, but how far do they 
counteract one another, and which side has the advantage ? 
Looking back over the ages of history, can we say that we 
have reached a higher state of development than any our 
forefathers have known ? Perhaps we are passing through 
a transitional stage, and if so, we are living in critical times. 
