The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-06-11

whore the sons Of farmers and laborers
spend their evenings instead OF at public
house. Then. again. thereis hardly acounty
In England where there Ia not museum OF
library, in which books and objects OF local
Interest are collected. In Sir HARRY 3
younger days the absence OF institutions OF
this kind In his own county caused the ioss
OF some interesting Roman pottery, aug up
by laborers making railway In his neigh
borhood. Such improvements as these
noticed by the nonagenarlan observer
are noteworthy. but there are other signs
OF progress which he ovcrlooks.
One Of the most remarkable OF these
Is the diminution of savagery In Eng
land. the humanizing OF the commn-
nifty. Deliberate cruelty perpctrated Tor
gain In tho management OF factories and
mines. In the training Of apprentices. and
In the treatment OF the whole body OF child
laborers. has not only disappeared, but has
become abhorrent TO the public conscience.
There has been sweeping change In the
administration Of prisons. insane asylums.
and warehouses. Tho old callousness TO
the suffering OF the poor and unfortunate
has been replaced by lively and deep sym
sal. In the early part Of this century there
were whole communities of hereditary and
professional law breakers. to wit. the
smugglers; these have become extinct.
The kind Of disorder which was the result
OF savagery has almost vanished. and all
England Is now safer than tho streets OF
London were when Sir HARRY VERNEY
began life.
Intelligence. so far rs this Is the outcome Of
instruction and information. has become
wonderfully dffused since the opening Of
the century. 80 that tho artisans Of to-day
may be said to have more knowledge than
the middle class Of ninety years ago. On
the other hand. the hopeessly ignorant.
who used to constitute a large fraction OF
the English population. have now become
80 few that they shock the educated per-
sons who encounter them. The apathy
and torpor which are born Of hopelessness
are now exceptional instead Of being char
acteristic Of whole classes. In q word. the
whole English people, In every class except
the very lowest. have advanced in their
ideas Of physical comfort. and it is a health
full social symptom that the universally &C.
copied standard Of tolerahle mode OF life
keeps little in advance ofthe means for
attaining it.
or course there arc some drawbacks to an
estimate Of progress on the whole SO favor
able. Sir HARRY VERNEY does not fail to
note the tendency Of the rural populati on
to leave the country and flock to the large
towns. 1t is true also that class hatred.
though it now seldom takes tho form OF
menaces addressed to life. vents itself in at
tacks on property. There Is less reverence
and more envy. but perhaps the presence
Of envy bears witness to the birth Of hope.
If the apprentice can no longer be tortured.
neither can he be any longer trained with
the old efficiency. The applications Of ma
chinery. however. are tending to render
supertiuous tho long training OF appren-
tees. 1t may be possible that education. In
dissipating stupidity. is developing cum
ming: but. Of course. you cannot acquire
qualities without their incidental defects.
The very shortcomings in the present sit
uaton of England. so far as these are the
outcome Of the new state Of things. are ev-
licences OF activity and fermentation. of
craving and Of striving. They provo that
the desire Of lettering ones condition and
OF rising in the world is far more nearly
universal in England than it used to be:
and that the opportunities Of gaining ones
desire are incomparably greater than they
were at the beginning OF the century.