Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
235
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
·
George Gissing
104
Yet
it
is
so
difficult
to
reconcile
this
indisputable
fact
with
that
other
fact,
no
less
obvious,
that
your
common
Englishman
seems
to
have
no
geniality.
From
the
one
point
of
view,
I
admire
and
laud
my
fellow
countryman;
from
the
other,
I
heartily
dislike
him
and
wish
to
see
as
little
of
him
as
possible.
One
is
wont
to
think
of
the
English
as
a
genial
folk.
Have
they
lost
in
this
respect?
Has
the
century
of
science
and
money-making
sensibly
affected
the
national
character?
I
think
always
of
my
experience
at
the
English
inn,
where
it
is
impossible
not
to
feel
a
brutal
indifference
to
the
humane
features
of
life;
where
food
is
bolted
without
attention,
liquor
swallowed
out
of
mere
habit,
where
even
good-natured
accost
is
a
thing
so
rare
as
to
be
remarkable.
Two
things
have
to
be
borne
in
mind:
the
extraordinary
difference
of
demeanour
which
exists
between
the
refined
and
the
vulgar
English,
and
the
natural
difficulty
of
an
Englishman
in
revealing
his
true
self
save
under
the
most
favourable
circumstances.
So
striking
is
the
difference
of
manner
between
class
and
class
that
the
hasty
observer
might
well
imagine
a
corresponding
and
radical
difference
of
mind
and
character.
In
Russia,
I
suppose,
the
social
extremities
are
seen
to
be
pretty
far
apart,
but,
with
that
possible
exception,
I
should
think
no
European
country
can
show
such
a
gap
as
yawns
to
the
eye
between
the
English
gentleman
and
the
English
boor.
The
boor,
of
course,
is
the
multitude;
the
boor
impresses
himself
upon
the
traveller.
When
relieved
from
his
presence,
one
can
be
just
to
him;
one
can
remember
that
his
virtues--though
elementary,
and
strictly
in
need
of
direction--are
the
same,
to
a
great
extent,
as
those
of
the
well-bred
man.
He
does
not
represent--though
seeming
to
do
so--a
nation
apart.
To
understand
this
multitude,
you
must
get
below
its
insufferable
manners,
and
learn
that
very
fine
civic
qualities
can
consist
with
a
personal
bearing
almost
wholly
repellent.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
