The Natural Refreshers of Human Life.
Manchester and Lyons.
Paris.
Dismal London.
Whether a life of little pleasures is a successful life or not, it seems plain that, from the simply rational point of view, a life of felt privations is a failure. The ordinary gifts of nature are sunlight, pure air, pure water, and some degree of natural beauty. These are the natural refreshers of human life, and without them it is impossible for it to be complete. The establishment of the industrial system is not a true success, because it has deprived great populations of these benefits. In this sense Manchester and Lyons are unsuccessful; they have not solved the problem of healthy and pleasant existence. Paris is apparently successful, because there is much external brilliance, if not beauty, but when we come to examine Parisian life in its details we find that it is wanting in space and freedom, that only the rich have elbow-room, and that ordinary existence is fatiguing as well as narrow. Londoners are rather more at ease, as their town covers more territory; but it is a dismal place, and if its inhabitants never left it they would not know the natural colour of the sky, or that of a flowing river.
Dulness of French Provincial Life.
Lancashire and Yorkshire.
If we compare the two countries, the most successful quiet life, with moderate expenditure and some enjoyment of unspoiled nature, combined with the conveniences of advanced civilisation, is to be found, I think, in the French provinces. There is, however, a drawback to that success, otherwise unquestionably considerable, in the intellectual dulness which afflicts French provincial life as with a kind of torpor. There is nothing in the French provinces answering to the intelligence of the English manufacturing districts, with their mechanics’ institutes, their lectures, concerts, and picture exhibitions. In Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire people are scarcely more cut off from the intelligent world than if they lived at a short distance from a metropolis. That perfect life which is so difficult to attain in modern times would require the union of natural beauty (including unsullied skies and healthy vegetation) with intellectual society and opportunities.
Public and Private Success.
Mental Condition.