By Benito Mussolini
Let's clarify from the outset that this terrible question does not concern the Italians, but the British. Reverend Inge, former dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, launched it from the pulpit of Winchester Cathedral. Mr. Inge is, therefore, quite an important figure and therefore his sermon against the new English generation has a certain importance.
He said:
"We are becoming a soft, pleasure-loving race, without a spirit of enterprise, running to the big cities, abandoning enormous uncultivated tracts of good land... The only thing everyone wants is to work less. The increasing hours of leisure available are spent in entertainment that does not involve any physical or mental effort."It may be that, for pedagogical purposes, there is some exaggeration in this image painted by the Rev. Inge, but there is some truth in it. Representatives of a number of domains who attended the sermon were apparently a bit sickened. For that reason, the Morning Post was quick to give Rev. Inge a voice with a leading article entitled 'Are We Decadent?'. But he did so without much conviction, almost out of requirement. The fact remains that, despite the coronation and the rest, the discussion on decadence in England has been opened.
