. Our Philadelphia. enley and the National Observer, carrying on the tradi-tion of Thackeray, made it the fashion to profess for thesuburbs of London. West Philadelphia and Germantownwere no less terms of opprobrium in my mouth than Clap-ham and Brixton in Henleys. But Henley, though it wasa mistake to insist upon Clapham with its beautiful Com-mon and old houses and dignified air, was expressing hissplendid scorn of the second-rate, the provincial, in art andin letters. I was only expressing, parrot-like, a pose thatdid not belong to me, but to my Father in whose outlookupon life and things t
. Our Philadelphia. enley and the National Observer, carrying on the tradi-tion of Thackeray, made it the fashion to profess for thesuburbs of London. West Philadelphia and Germantownwere no less terms of opprobrium in my mouth than Clap-ham and Brixton in Henleys. But Henley, though it wasa mistake to insist upon Clapham with its beautiful Com-mon and old houses and dignified air, was expressing hissplendid scorn of the second-rate, the provincial, in art andin letters. I was only expressing, parrot-like, a pose thatdid not belong to me, but to my Father in whose outlookupon life and things there was a whimsical touch, and whocarried off his prejudices with humour. I was the more foolish in this because few towns, ifany, have lovelier suburbs than Philadelphia. Their loveli-ness is another part of our inheritance from William Pennwho set no limits to his dream of a green country town, andfrom the old Friends who, in deference to his desire, linednot only their streets but their roads with trees. This is. CLIVEDEN, THE CHEW HOUSE THE ROMANCE OF WORK 297 only as it should be, I thought when, reading the lettersof John Adams, I came upon his description of the roadto Kensington and beyond, straight as the streets ofPhiladelphia, on each side . . beautiful rows of trees,button-woods, oaks, walnuts, cherries, and willows. Inour time, scarcely a road out of Philadelphia is withoutthe same beautiful rows, if not the same variety in thetrees, and while much of the open country it ran throughin John Adams day has been built up with town andsuburban houses, the trees still line it on each side. Every-body knows the beauty of the leafy roads of the MainLine, quite a correct thing to know, the Main Line beingthe refuge of the Philadelphian pushed out of Chestnut,Walnut, Spruce and Pine by business and the RussianJew combined. But the Main Line has not the monopolyof suburban beauty, though it may of suburban Main Street in Germantown, with its peaceful oldgrey ston
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