ENGLAND AND THE ENGLISH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19563, 16 February 1927, Page 8

ENGLAND AND THE ENGLISH.

Sir, —At the last meeting of tho Society of St. George, Lord Birkenhead said before the Great War England supplied 90 per cent, of the whole manning of the Navy and 88 per cent. of the Army and in tho Great War for every two men from the rest of the Empire, including Scotland, Ireland and Wales, England sent eight, yet we were hardly allowed to use the word English. If you use the word English in a speech at Edinburgh tho audience calls out "British" ; but if you described Edinburgh as a "British" city you would hardly leave it alive. We do well, lie said, to occasionally meet together and remember England, St. Georgo. and the stories of our great ancestors and our great traditions. One of the greatest authorities in Great Britain, a man who has spent a lifetime in examining and excavating the ancient British Roman, Celtic and Saxon towns, ports and roads, says: "The arms, utensils, ornaments and implements found show that the Angles, Danes, Saxons and Jutes overran the whole of Great Britain except Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland, the Scottish Lowlands and the east coast of Scotland are inhabited by the same race as the north of England, leaving out such counties as Westmoreland and lands which are half Celtic." Nbmo. Sir, —The various letters on the above question have been vastly entertaining and have afforded a great deal of amusement. Most of tho writers have "played the game" by refraining from any personal animus, but I am afraid the letter signed William R. Keay in your issue of Thursday last can hardly be considered as judicious, even if the statements contained in it were true. Mr. Keay's nationality perhaps precludes him from seeing the joke of accusing the English of tlie very fault sticking out so largely in bis own letter. "They have a discourteous, and seemingly inexcusable habit of sneering at other nationalities" is rich. I do not know what class of Englishmen Mr. Keay has been in the habit.of meeting if this is his opinion. It would Appear as if his ideas have been gathered from the comic papers, with their " I say, Bill, 'cre's a Frenchman, 'ene a brick at f im" stories. Mr. Keay goes on to say "The traditional belief in Scottish meanness, etc," This is, I think, inviting the question. Mr. Keay evidently misses the point again. The English do not and never have regarded the Scotch as "mean." "Thrifty" or j "canny" thev generally attribute to our ' Celtic brethren, and even then only in j joke, but "mean," certainly not. lit .any j case "thrift" is a virtue, bat meanness | \ a vice. For the credit of the Scots 1 i think Mr. Keay is entirely "in a minority of one" in voicing the opinion he has of the English. Generally speaking I think the Scots have very nearly as good ■ art : opinion of the English as the latter have.of them. As regards the main pomt I at issue, what does it matter after all j whether every member of the firm is I mentioned " or only -the " senior j partners ' " English" or " British" are j to' all intents and purposes- synonymous terms. If you follow out the argument ] it; would be just as logical for a raan from Ayr or Dumfries to object to being called ."Scottish-" For the sake of - the great Empire to which we belong, let ws , link all these petty feeling# awl, in tho •j •words of' Scotland's immortal bard, let f us "Gently scan our fellow man." "For { therein lieih the whole of the law aod 1 the prophets." E-scusbka*.