Accordingly, the Bretons and Alsatians have come to feel themselves a
part of France, and to feel pride in bearing the French name; while
the Welsh and Irish obstinately refuse to amalgamate with us, and
will not admire the Englishman as he admires himself, however much
the Times may scold them and rate them, and assure them there is
nobody on earth so admirable.

And at what a moment does it assure them of this, good heavens! At a
moment when the ice is breaking up in England, and we are all
beginning at last to see how much real confusion and insufficiency it
covered; when, whatever may be the merits,--and they are great,--of
the Englishman and of his strong sense and sturdy morality, it is
growing more and more evident that, if he is to endure and advance,
he must transform himself, must add something to his strong sense and
sturdy morality, or at least must give to these excellent gifts of
his a new development. My friend Mr. Goldwin Smith says, in his
eloquent way, that England is the favourite of Heaven. Far be it
from me to say that England is not the favourite of Heaven; but at
this moment she reminds me more of what the prophet Isaiah calls, 'a
bull in a net.' She has satisfied herself in all departments with
clap-trap and routine so long, and she is now so astounded at finding
they will not serve her turn any longer! And this is the moment,
when Englishism pure and simple, which with all its fine qualities
managed always to make itself singularly unattractive, is losing that
imperturbable faith in its untransformed self which at any rate made
it imposing,--this is the moment when our great organ tells the Celts
that everything of theirs not English is 'simply a foolish
interference with the natural progress of civilisation and
prosperity;' and poor Talhaiarn, venturing to remonstrate, is
commanded 'to drop his outlandish title, and to refuse even to talk