The English police, taken as a whole, is unquestionably the most efficient and best disciplined in the world.  A policeman’s authority is never questioned in England and his raised hand is a signal that never goes unheeded.  He has neither club nor revolver and seldom has need for these weapons.  He is an encyclopedia of information, and the cases where he lent us assistance both in directing us on our road and informing us as to places of interest, literally numbered hundreds.  He is a believer in fair play and seldom starts out of his own accord to make anyone trouble.  It is not the policeman, but the civil officials who are responsible for the police traps which in many places are conducted in a positively disreputable manner, the idea being simply to raise revenue regardless of justice and without discrimination among the offenders.  Graft among British policemen is unknown and bribery altogether unheard of.  Of course their task is easier than that of the average American policeman, on account of the greater prevalence of the law-abiding spirit among the people.  One finds policemen everywhere.  Even the country districts are carefully patrolled.  The escape of a law-breaker is a difficult if not impossible thing.  One seldom hears in England of a motorist running away and leaving the scene of an accident that he has caused.  Another thing that greatly helps the English policeman in his work is that a captured criminal is not turned loose again as is often the case in this country.  Justice is surer and swifter in England, and as a consequence crime averages less than in most parts of the States.  The murders committed yearly in Chicago outnumber many times those of London, which is three times as large.  The British system of administering justice is one that in many particulars we could imitate to advantage in this country.

After bidding farewell to my friend the police captain and assuring him I was glad that our acquaintance terminated so quickly and happily, we proceeded on our way towards Chichester.  The road for a distance of twenty-five miles led through an almost constant succession of towns and was frightfully dusty.  The weather was what the natives call “beastly hot,” and really was as near an approach to summer as we had experienced so far.

The predominating feature of Chichester is its cathedral, which dates from about 1100.  It suffered repeatedly from fires and finally underwent complete restoration, beginning in 1848.  The detached bell-tower is peculiar to the cathedral.  This, although the most recent part of the building, appeared to be crumbling away and was undergoing extensive repairs.  The cathedral is one of lesser importance among the great English churches, though on the whole it is an imposing edifice.

[Illustration:  A Surrey landscape.

From Painting by D. Sherrin.]