" BRITAIN "
SIR,—Like Mr. Steel Maitland, I was intrigued by Mr. Corbett's saying that he doesn't " use that word ever." Unlike him, I am not pained, only filled with admiration. What I should like to know is, how does Mr. Corbett do it?
For one thing, he can never sing " Rule Britannia " (unless, like some people in church, he begins with the second line). And no doubt he has forbidden them at school to let his little boy read Julius Caesar, lest he should some day ask why, when that worthy landed in England, there was not a single Englishman to meet him. As for coins of the realm, how Mr. Corbett must loathe the sight of them! (Or perhaps he holds that " BR : OMN: " is just short for England in some foreign tongue.) As to the typical Englishman's curious lack of popularity in other lands, we know how it is. The English are a proud race: they think themselves superior to every other people. We Scots, on the contrary, are not proud. (We get on not so badly with other peoples.) We only consider ourselves superior to the English. But Mr. Steel Maitland knows very well that it is no use telling the English about their pride. It only confirms them in it. Taken firmly, they are a lovable race ; our ancient enemies and our eternal friends. Meanwhile, as we used to say in the last war, don't let them be worried ; we shall not make a separate peace.—Yours
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