one may even say that the
rest of the world has profited by it not a little. That Uncommon Sense
might now and then have stood them even in better stead is nothing to the
point. The Englishman deals with things as they are, and first and
foremost accepts his own being.

This Jubilee declares a legitimate triumph of the average man. Look back
for threescore years, and who shall affect to doubt that the time has
been marked by many improvements in the material life of the English
people? Often have they been at loggerheads among themselves, but they
have never flown at each other's throats, and from every grave dispute
has resulted some substantial gain. They are a cleaner people and a more
sober; in every class there is a diminution of brutality; education--stand
for what it may--has notably extended; certain forms of tyranny have been
abolished; certain forms of suffering, due to heedlessness or ignorance,
have been abated. True, these are mere details; whether they indicate a
solid advance in civilization cannot yet be determined. But assuredly
the average Briton has cause to jubilate; for the progressive features of
the epoch are such as he can understand and approve, whereas the doubt
which may be cast upon its ethical complexion is for him either
non-existent or unintelligible. So let cressets flare into the night
from all the hills! It is no purchased exultation, no servile flattery.
The People acclaims itself, yet not without genuine gratitude and
affection towards the Representative of its glory and its power. The
Constitutional Compact has been well preserved. Review the record of
kingdoms, and say how often it has come to pass that sovereign and people
rejoiced together over bloodless victories.



XXI.


At an inn in the north I once heard three men talking at their breakfast
on the question of diet. They agreed that most people ate too much meat,
and one of them went so far as to declare that, for his part, he rather
preferred vegetables and fruit. "Why,