I am ashamed to think how flippant they must have seemed. But, indeed, while I dwelt upon the ridiculous side, thinking it might amuse you in your temporary blindness, you will not think so ill of me as to suppose that I am unable to appreciate the most wonderful people in history--bar one! though the best in that one came out of this little island. As the writer of the Epistles to the Hebrews might have said: "America was in the loins of England when the foundations of democracy were laid!" We Americans see the humorous side of the feudal system which survives in the domestic life of England, but no thoughtful man can fail to be filled with admiration for the way England has guarded the "rights of man" far better than they are guarded with us. The rights of the minority are disregarded with us, but in England it is not so. It is not so much a deliberate spirit of compromise which is the source of England's strength, but rather an automatic arrangement which nature directs toward compensation. Just as--I think I have said this before, but no matter--in a pendulum there are metals of different expanding degrees, so in England the individual is merged in the family to an extent we can hardly imagine, because with us the intense individuality of the people shows itself in the family in such a way that it is a question how long the family can exist. On the other hand, in England, when the individual does emerge from the family, he becomes far more of a political personality than with us. Then see how much we have to learn from them in the matter of education. I have no doubt our public schools are superior to the English board schools. But when it comes to the education of those who ought to be the leaders of the people, we cannot compare with them. Boys sent to Winchester, Eton, Harrow, Rugby and other great "public" schools may not have the variety of studies of which our boys get a smattering, but how much better are their minds trained than are our boys'! There is a popular outcry just now about the time wasted on the "dead" languages. But it is forgotten that, apart from the benefit that comes from knowing the best that the ancient world thought, the public school man has learned to use his Greek and Latin as "top dressing" to enrich his style, and so is able to express himself in a clear and concise way which is the envy of all students of speech. Undoubtedly, this education has been too much the privilege of the favored few, but on the other hand it has tended to instil a sense of responsibility to the community which has given England the services of her most cultivated men, while we have had to put up with the "professional politician."