... Marlowe's plays had the advantage of being performed by the greatest of Elizabethan actors, then coming to the fore in his youthful prime. Simila… - A. L. Rowse

I consoled myself with a rare bout of gossip with the piano-tuner, rather a dear little man, with up-turned, waved mustaches, bright bird-like eyes, a slightly lisping manner of speech, which recalled his great days in London and rubbing shoulders with celebrities. He had been piano-tuner to some well-known pianist — I think — of a previous generation. From him I heard the gossip of county society, and life at , our cathedral city.

The fact of our being an island has been a great advantage all through our later history. It has given us the benefit of a time-lag, imposed a bulwark between us and the too violent impact of forces from outside. We were given time to work out our own solutions, to absorb the shock of new ideas and movements, to bide our own time and interpose with effect in Europe when the moment was ripe. Since the last war people have got into the habit of underestimating the importance of our insularity; they have been apt to say that the development of air power has annihilated it. Air power has, of course, made an immense difference; but it has not annihilated it. It was our insularity that saved us in 1940.

So we were launched by the Elizabethan seamen upon our long career of adventure across the seas: adventure leading to discovery, discovery to exploration, exploration to colonisation and settlement, and so to Empire. So that you might say the British Empire was a product — almost a by-product — of adventure. It certainly was not planned; it came into being naturally, gradually, as the result of the adventurous spirit, the stout heart and courage of our forefathers looking for a livelihood and an outlet for their energy and spirits across the ocean.