ENGLAND
That evening we moved slowly up the Mersey and at nine o’clock anchored
out in the stream in full view of the city of Liverpool. We could not
see it very well, for throughout the city the lights were dimmed and
windows were darkened.
All along the Irish coast the impression was one of peace and quiet, a
spiritual something. But England seemed to give one the idea of a great
machine, working slowly, steadily, untiringly. One was spiritual; the
other material. That was my first impression of England as a nation,
and that impression remained with me during my stay in the country.
Every time I returned on leave from France I found it always the same.
England, as a nation, seemed to be wonderfully organized, and that
whole organization seemed to run smoothly, powerfully, and heavily.
Each individual had his special work to do in that colossal workshop
called England. He knew how to do that, and he did it, quietly,
methodically, and well. But, taken away from his own work, he seemed
to lack resource--the resource and initiative of the men from the New
World.
We entrained early in the morning. For most of us it was our first
experience with the compartment cars of the Old World--little
compartments running the width of the car, a door opening from each
side of the car, with two seats running from one side to the other,
each holding from three to five people, who sat facing each other.
We passed through many quaint towns and many large cities, and it was
evening when we came into the quiet little station of Liphook. We were
due there at two o’clock, but there had been many delays along the way.
Sometimes the lads had pulled the rope and had stopped the train; and
each time a stolid brakeman had opened the door of compartment after
compartment, asking solemnly: “’oo pulled the reope?” Of course no one
gave him the information he asked; whereupon he closed each door and
went patiently on to the next compartment.