The gentility of bishops, the propriety of parsons,
even the irapressiveness of a restored cathedral, give
less of a charm to life than that. I used to be furi-
ous with the bishops and parsons, with the hum-
buggery of the whole afiair, which every one was
conscious of, but which people agreed not to expose,
because they would be compromised all round. The
convenience of life over here, the quick and simple
arrangements, the absence of the spirit of routine, are
a blessed change from the stupid stiffness with which
I struggled for two long years. There were people
with swords and cockades who used to order me
about; for the simplest operation of life I had to
kootoo to some bloated ofl&cial. When it was a ques-
tion of m)** doing a little differently from others, the
bloated official gasped as if I bad given him a blow



288 THE POINT OF VIEW,

on the stomach ; he needed to take a week to think
of it On the other hand, it 's impossible to take an
American by suiprise ; he is ashamed to confess that
he has not the wit to do a thing that another man
has had the wit to think of Besides being as good
as his neighbor, he must therefore be as clever, —
which is an afSiction only to people who are afraid
he may be cleverer. If this general efl&ciency and
spontaneity of the people — the union of the sense
of freedom with the love of knowledge — isn't the
very essence of a high civilization, I don't know what
a high civilization is. I felt this greater ease on my
first railroad journey, — felt the blessing of sitting in
a train where I could move about, where I could
stretch my legs and come and go, where I had a seat
and a window to myself, where there were chairs and
tables and food and drink. 