14 NOVEMBER 1931, Page 13

GREEN THOUGHTS.

We like the word green in England. Many of our favourite quotations are built on it. Marvell's " Annihilating all that's made

To a green thought in a green shade "

perhaps comes first ; and Blake's

" England's green and pleasant land "

has never had such a vogue as to-day. A pretty phrase (of which I have written elsewhere) " the green hand " in some counties, " the green thumb " in others, is used as the highest term of praise. It means a gardener who has the gift of making things grow, of best fulfilling Swift's ideal of making two blades grow where one grew before. So for mere pleasure in the word I would call some attention to the Green Elder Society (47 Victoria Street) on its amalgamation with the Roads of Remembrance. We have had too many such societies, though each is a tribute to our English love of the land ; and these too may easily cover all the ground they desire. My hope is that they will specialize (as they begin to) on children.

W. BEACH TROIKAS.