Towards democracy

Empire 463

See, on the land, where at least there should be courage fand grit and sinew, 2 A thin-legged slouching apatneie population, ignorant seven of agriculture, :

And in the mines and coal-pits, instead of lusty power, qpoor rickety limbs and ill-built bodies ;

And ask yourself the searching question straight,

How out of such roots shall a strong nation grow?

And then look upward, at the surface show and flaunt of 2society,

Those that are well-fed, and (out of the labor of the eothers) have plenty of chink in their pockets—

The club and drawing-room life—

Look well, look well, and see the feebleness and in@sincerity of it:

The scores and scores of thousands of titled and moneyed qpersons—a yast and ever-growing multitude—living the lives aof idiots,

Faiblesse oblige their motto :

Of men scarce fit even to be good officers, much less good seadministrators ; of women hardly worthy to be mothers ;

A society wielding enormous wealth and privilege, skilled 9 chiefly in the finesse of personal gain and advancement, and {honeycombed by cynicism and unbelief:

And for the rest, the hundreds and hundreds of thousands 2 swarming in commercial dens and exchanges,

The life of the successful business man, the company j promoter, the. lawyer; the manufacturer, traveller, factor,