“In Vraibleusia” (I quote from his early satire of _Popanilla_) “we have so much to do that we have no time to think--a habit which only becomes nations who are not employed. You are now fast approaching the great shell question; a question which, I confess, affects the interest of every man in this island more than any other.... No one, however, can deny that the system works well; and if anything at any time go wrong, why, really Mr. Secretary Periwinkle is a wonderful man, and our most eminent conchologist--he no doubt will set it right; and if by any chance things are past even his management, why, then, I suppose, to use our national motto, _something will turn up_.” It further served as antidote to the self-complacence and retail outlook of the _bourgeoisie_. The “Middle-Middles,” healthfully and powerfully as they symbolise decency, order, and common sense, too often lack, even in their educated varieties, perception and sympathy. At present they pervade Parliament, while the Press--which since 1867 appeals more and more to the gallery--controls opinion. Hence the dearth of accord between the prate of Parliament and a nation that realises its unity. Hence springs the momentary decay of Parliament itself--not from party spirit, but from the inanition of parties representing principles, without which party sinks into faction. Of the anti-middle class attitude of “Young England,” a notable instance occurs in “Angela Pisani,” the brilliant fiction of George Smythe, afterwards seventh Lord Strangford (in Disraeli’s words), “a man of brilliant gifts; of dazzling wit, infinite culture and fascinating manners,” who “could promulgate a new faith with graceful enthusiasm.” The tirade is placed on the lips of Napoleon, denouncing the “puddle-blooded” whom he had “made great men, but could not make gentlemen,” and its reproaches--certainly not characteristic of Disraeli--apply, of course, in an infinitely less degree to England.