But one was always coming
upon illustrations of the loyalty of sentiment with which of
course one could have no quarrel, for their patriotism seldom
concerned us, except rather handsomely to include us. The French
have ceased to be the hereditary enemy, and the Russians have now
taken their place in the popular patriotism. I always talked with
the lower classes when I could, perhaps because I felt myself
near them in my unworthy way, and one evening in a grassy lane I
made the acquaintance of a friendly man letting his horse browse
the wayside turf. He was in the livery-stable line, but he had
been a soldier many years. Upon this episode he became freely
autobiographical, especially concerning his service in India. He
volunteered the declaration that he had had enough of war, but he
added, thoughtfully, "I should like to go out for a couple of
years if there was any trouble with Russia."
The love of England comes out charmingly in the swarming of
English tourists in every part of their country. Americans may
sometimes outnumber them at the Continental shrines, but we are
in a pitiful minority at the memorable places in England; in
fact, we are nowhere beside the natives.
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