50	.	ENGLISHSAGA
at night. But England cannot expect long such a reign of inward
quiet as to suffer men to dwell so easily to themselves."
For lie knew that It could not last. The portents of change
were already blazing in the northern and midland sky. "The
sun shines very bright, and there Is a kind of bustle in these
clean streets, because there is to be a grand True Blue dinner
in the Town Hall. Not that I am going: in an hour or two I
shall be out in the fields rambling alone. I read Burners History—
ex pede Herculem. Well, say as you will, there is not, and never
was, such a country as old England—never were there such a
gentry as the English. They will be the distinguishing mark
and glory of England In history, as the arts were of Greece, and
war of Rome. I am sure no travel would carry me to any land so
beautiful as the good sense, justice, and liberality of my good
countrymen make this. And I cling the closer to it, because I
feel that we are going down the hill, and shall perhaps live
ourselves to talk of all this independence as a thing that has
been."