The decline and fall of the British Empire - University of Oregon

of the British Empire 9
life, whatever economic advantages
it may possess, is bound in the end,
unless vigorously counteracted, to
have a blighting effect upon our
sense of the sublime, that avenue
through which we approach our God.
Let the Japanese beware lest in
their growing love for town amusements
they forget this mighty truth.
With the enfeebled health and
physique of the English I shall deal
later. Another grave result of the
decay of Agriculture is so well de-
scribed by Gibbon that I shall avail
myself of his words. ''Since the age
of Tiberius,'' he writes, "the decay
of Agriculture had been felt in Italy ;
and it was a just subject of complaint
that the life of the Roman people
depended on the accidents of the
winds and waves." Vol. iv, p. 104.
The same with little alteration
may be said of the English. As the
thought, to political experiment, financial recklessness,
improvidence, vaingloriousness."— An
Australian writer, author of Tommy Co7'nstalk,
(See Spectator^ Aug. 19, 1905.)