The face of our villages expresses their soul, if the
word is allowable ; and the C.P.R.E. builds even better than it knows in preserving the external beauty. It is the one social unit where neighbourliness, in the strict sense of the word, is a real thing, where, as in Clough's hexameters, " great is juxtaposition," where differences of class and pursuit are a cause of friendly feeling, not a barrier to it. And as "The Village" says (from the pulpit of the Hertfordshire Society, 152 Fore Street, Hertford) "tic villages are going to be more important in our national life," possibly even in finding employment, certainly in discovering the fullest and freest use of leisure. To be librement occupe is a great ideal most naturally reached in country places where work and leisure are not separated by distinct and ruthless barriers.
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