A Genej^ous Squire. 67 



were vast, that whenever they saved eleven stamps he 

 would give the last one to complete the shilling. In 

 this way he hopes to instil into the young the impor- 

 tance of beginning early to save something for a rainy 

 day. The still younger girl had also her stamp paper. 

 The English are an improvident race, not given to 

 denying themselves to-day that they may feast later 

 on. " Do not put off till to-morrow what can be done 

 to-day " is generally construed to mean, that the cake 

 may as well be eaten at once, so that upon the whole 

 we were not displeased to see these children trained to 

 accumulate ; but nevertheless it did seem pitiful that 

 the dear little lambs, instead of sporting without a care, 

 should have so early to learn that life is to the mass 

 mainly a struggle for subsistence. Civilization is a fail- 

 ure till all this be changed. What a pity the name 

 and address of that squire are mislaid. He evidently 

 feels that property has its duties as well as its rights. 

 The village and the inn and all the surroundings 

 showed that the Hall was, in this instance, as it is 

 in so many others, the centre and source of good influ- 

 ences. *' He has a good wife and earnest thinking and 

 working daughters," said one of the party. Surely he 

 has and they do their part or he could not succeed. It 

 was quite safe to infer this, was the verdict. Man is 

 a poor agency for such work, left to himself. It needs 

 woman's patience and glowing sympathy to work im- 

 provement in the manners and customs of the rural 



