ESCOTT'S " 1.7.TGLAND."*
A CRITIC disposed to paradox might say of Mr. Escott's book, that it would have been better if it had not been quite so good. It is laborious, accurate, and conscientious ; it is written in good and competent English, and as a book of reference it will be- * England : Its People, Polity, and Pursuits. By T. II, S. Eseott. London: Outsell,. Patter, Galvin, and Co. undoubtedly useful, even more useful, perhaps, to foreigners than to Englishmen themselves. If any French or American philosopher who should hereafter feel impelled to lecture England on her shortcomings, and to moralise on her imminent decay, were first to explore Mr. Escott's volume, his strictures would, at least, have to base themselves on a more intelligible foundation than has always been the case heretofore. The daily novelist, whose " characters " have hurried him into social, political, or commercial regions with which he happens to be unfamiliar, may find security and instruction in these pages. The journalist whose notions on this or that point of the governmental or administrative structure should chance to be temporarily hazy, may clear his atmosphere by a consultation of Mr. Escott's muse ; and might oven think it worth his while (were such a thing physically possible) to keep the volumes habi- tually in an accessible pocket. We make the reservation inevitably, because civilisation has not yet evolved the pocket which could contain two such portly tomes as Mr. Escott has here given us. If we might offer a suggestion on this head, it would be that the future editions of the work which will undoubtedly be called for should be cast in some such mould as, for example, that of Mr. Dickens's Dictionary of London,—three columns of fine type to each page of small octavo. There is, of course, a certain conventional etiquette in these matters ; but it may confidently be affirmed that a half-crown volume of the descrip- tion suggested, if less imposing, would be vastly more popular, as well as more profitable, both to author and reader, than the present twenty-four shillings'-worth of paper and binding.
In intimating that Mr. Escort's book was too good, however, we referred to its interior rather than to its material quality. It is too impartial, too dispassionate, too deliberate; it advances no dogma, contains no special pleadings, and at most asks questions in a courteously suggestive manner, leaving the reader to make his own answer thereto, according to his private lights, predispositions, and prejudices. It is not, therefore, a book to enlist partisans, either for or against itself ; neither Liberal nor Conservative will find it either friendly or hostile to his views, save in so far as the simple presentation of facts may act as arguments. It would be as difficult to discover the writer's particular attitude with regard to the topics which he discusses from the internal evidence of the dis- cussions themselves, as it has sometimes been supposed to construct the character of the man Shakespeare from his plays. We hear a voice, fluent, polite, and punctilious ; but it is destitute of inflections, and never speaks more loudly or hurriedly at one time than at another, When Buckle wrote his Motor?, of Giviiieation, his every reader could form an idea of what Mr.- Buckle was like; his theories were warmly espoused or vehemently opposed, and his work was known and dis- cussed from one end of civilisation to the other. Mr. Escott's chief aim, on the other hand, is to organise and impart a large amount of unexceptionable but colourless information, which he has derived from sources open to ()very student of social and political economy, and the main value of which lies in the fact of its organisation. He does not assume the tone of a social reformer ; he has no far-reaching theories, or if he has, he is careful not to put them prominently forward. His book, consequently, in spite of its careful and intelligent arrangement, somehow fails to produce a coherent and sustained effect upon the reader's mind. Here is plenty of material, but it does not move ; it lies fallow, so to speak, for any one to get what crop he pleases out of it. It is for this reason that we have expressed the opinion that the book will be used for occasional reference, rather than be continuously perused. Mr. Escott says in his preface that those who honour him with a continuous perusal of his paper will, he ventures to think, perceive that its chapters are closely and logically con- nected by a pervading identity of purpose. No doubt, Mr. Escott is quite right ; nevertheless, most readers will be content to take the pervading identity of purpose for granted, and to gather what they need from his pages, from time to time, and without any regard to what has gone before, or to what is to come after. Mr. Escott must—and no doubt he will—be content to enlighten his generation ; it does not belong to him, at least in his present capacity of author, to influence, either for good or ill, the current on public opinion on any subject whatever.
It would obviously be impossible, in the limits at our dis- posal, to enter upon anything like a detailed examination of Mr. Escott's work. Beginning with the village, which he maiu- tains to be "a microcosm, not only of the English nation, but
of the English Constitution," he carries us on to a considera- tion of the great landlords, and of the manner in which they manage their estates. He adduces evidence to prove that the position of a wealthy English nobleman is anything but a sine- cure; and after having given examples of the internal economy of three or four of the largest properties in England, he ob- serves that "the strictest method is the very soul of the organisation, and the archives of the property are preserved as carefully, and in their way are as important, as those of a department of the public service." Further on, Mr. Escott gives us two long chapters on the working- classes, and in the secoud volume there are treatises on "The Structure of English Society," "Crown and Crowd," &c., in which is discussed the contact and gradual fusion of the upper and lower classes of England. "There is a story," says Mr. Escott," of a certain Duke of Norfolk who was anxious to give a great entertain- ment to all.his kinsfolk. It was found that his blood relations com- prised upwards of five hundred persons of both sexes, of whom one was earning a livelihood as keeper of a toll-bar on a turn- pike road." In all this, it will be perceived, are materials for an interesting forecast of the future of English society ; but Mr. Escott has no definite theory on the subject to enunciate, he contents himself with putting some possibilities in a hypo- thetical form. The burden is thrown upon the judgment of the reader. Doubtless Mr. Escott has a perfect right to be thus reserved, and his introduction forewarns us what we are to anticipate in this respect ; but we cannot help thinking that a little less reticence would have been advisable, if only in order to set the reader's opinions on the move.
There are chapters on municipal administration, on towns of business and of pleasure, on pauperism, crime, law, and religion ; on Parliament, philosophy, literature, and amuse- ments. The topics are uniformly well chosen, and few im- portant ones are omitted. It seems to us, however, that more might have been said about the great Universities, which are only incidentally alluded to ; and there will probably be not a few readers who will look in vain, under the head of "Popular Amusements," for some analysis of the condition and prospects of the English Turf. But it im only fair to Mr. Escott to re- member that he disclaims, in his preface, any attempt to give a "historical retrospect, when it did not appear absolutely neces- sary for a right understanding of our present state."- What he intends is to show England as she is at this moment,—a figure without a background. This method of treatment, while it necessarily puts the writer at a manifest disadvantage on many points, is, nevertheless, the only practical one to follow ; since an account of England which should give not only the present aspect of the various features of • the country, but also a history of their origin in the past and progressive develop- ment, would be an undertaking more likely to extend through twenty volumes than two. In the eases above mentioned—of the Universities and the Turf—something in the nature of his- torical allusion would be unavoidable ; the subject would be incomprehensible without it. It may, besides, be Mr. Escott's opinion that the Universities and the Turf are not likely to be permanent English institutions ; that the march of civilisation may come upon other means of obtaining instruction and en- tertainment on a large scale. Upon this, and upon many other of the matters whereof he treats, we hold views upon which we should like to enlarge, were there a present opportunity of doing so. As it is, we must close this brief synopsis of Mr. Escott's work by sincerely recommending it to all those who have not the chance of getting at first-hand the information which it contains, and even persons thus instructed may find it con- venient to keep by them so well-arranged a digest of what they know. There was an opening for a book of this kind, and Mr. Escott has met the demand fairly well. The value of the volumes is much enhanced by a copious and careful index.
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