第28部分(第6/7 頁)

　read　by　the　fireside　the　Christmas　stanzas　of　〃In　Memoriam。〃　To…night　I　have　taken　down　the　volume；　and　the　voice　of　so　long　ago　has　read　to　me　once　again……read　as　no　other　ever　did；　that　voice　which　taught　me　to　know　poetry；　the　voice　which　never　spoke　to　me　but　of　good　and　noble　things。　Would　I　have　those　accents　overborne　by　a　living　tongue；　however　wele　its　sound　at　another　time？　Jealously　I　guard　my　Christmas　solitude。

XX

Is　it　true　that　the　English　are　deeply　branded　with　the　vice　of　hypocrisy？　The　accusation；　of　course；　dates　from　the　time　of　the　Round…heads；　before　that；　nothing　in　the　national　character　could　have　suggested　it。　The　England　of　Chaucer；　the　England　of　Shakespeare；　assuredly　was　not　hypocrite。　The　change　wrought　by　Puritanism　introduced　into　the　life　of　the　people　that　new　element　which　ever　since；　more　or　less　notably；　has　suggested　to　the　observer　a　habit　of　double…dealing　in　morality　and　religion。　The　scorn　of　the　Cavalier　is　easily　understood；　it　created　a　traditional　Cromwell；　who；　till　Carlyle　arose；　figured　before　the　world　as　our　arch…dissembler。　With　the　decline　of　genuine　Puritanism　came　that　peculiarly　English　manifestation　of　piety　and　virtue　which　is　represented　by　Mr。　Pecksniff……a　being　so　utterly　different　from　Tartufe；　and　perhaps　impossible　to　be　understood　save　by　Englishmen　themselves。　But　it　is　in　our　own　time　that　the　familiar　reproach　has　been　persistently　levelled　at　us。　It　often　sounds　upon　the　lips　of　our　emancipated　youth；　it　is　stereotyped　for　daily　impression　in　the　offices　of　Continental　newspapers。　And　for　the　reason　one　has　not　far　to　look。　When　Napoleon　called　us　a　〃nation　of　shop…　keepers；〃　we　were　nothing　of　the　kind；　since　his　day　we　have　bee　so；　in　the　strictest　sense　of　the　word；　and　consider　the