Towards democracy, page 72

58 Towards Democracy

I see the huge warehouses of Manchester, the manystoried mills, the machinery, the great bale-laden drays, the © magnificent horses ; I walk through the Liverpool Exchange ; the brokers stand in knots; the greetings, the frock-coats, the rosebuds ; the handling and comparing of cotton samples.

Leeds lies below me; I hear the great bell; I see the © tush along Boar Lane and Briggate. I enter the hot machine shops, smelling of oil and wooldust. I see Sheffield among her hills, and the white dashing of her many water-wheels, and the sulphurous black cloud going up to heaven in her midst.

Newcastle I recognise, and her lofty bridge; and I look out over the river gates of the Mersey.

XXXIX

I see a great land poised as in a dream—waiting for the word by which it may live again.

I see the stretched sleeping figure—waiting for the kiss and the re-awakening.

I hear the bells pealing, and the crash of hammers, and see beautiful parks spread—as in toy show.

I see a great land waiting for its own people to come and take possession of it.

XL The clouds fly overhead still, and the waves curdle in

the blue beneath; the smell of the newmown grass comes, and the tall white cliffs stand up.