I REMEMBER WITH WHAT ADROITNESS several years ago a distinguished
dramatist explained to a pressing interviewer what was his intention in
writing a certain play of his which was being widely discussed in many
directions. It was merely to show how dangerous it was for any man to
wander off the beaten track, he said: “A man must keep in line with his
fellow-men if he hopes to avoid disaster”--and so forth. The explanation
was no doubt accounted quite satisfactory by such persons as had been
perturbed on the matter to which it referred.
It certainly would have been accepted with every token of assent by the
majority of the inhabitants of the lesser English country towns. They
regard as highly dangerous to the community the least departure from the
primrose path of the commonplace. They have a hymn which goes--
“We are travelling home to God
In the way our fathers trod,