Io8 Four-in-Hand in Britain. 



I think it certain that the candle will never again be 

 put out. The bigots of to-day can annoy only in 

 Britain. In other English-speaking communities even 

 that power has passed away, and persecution for opin- 

 ion's sake is unknown. " A man may say the thing he 

 will " — there is a further and a higher stage yet to be 

 reached when a man will consider it a man's part to 

 have an opinion upon all matters and say what he thinks 

 boldly, concealing nothing. 



We left Oxford with just a sprinkle of rain falling, 

 but we had scarcely got fairly out of the city when it 

 ceased and left the charming landscape lovelier than 

 ever. Banbury Cross was our destination, and on our 

 route lay magnificent Blenheim, the estate given by the 

 nation to the Duke of Marlborough. See what the 

 nations do for the most successful murderers of their 

 fellows ! and how insignificant have ever been the re- 

 wards of those who preserve, improve, or discover — for 

 a Marlborough or a Wellington a fortune, for a Howard 

 or a Wilberforce a pittance. It is only in heathen China 

 that the statesman, the man of letters, heads the list. 

 No military officer, however successful as a destroyer, 

 can ever reach the highest rank there, for with them the 

 victories of peace are more renowned than those of war ; 

 that is reserved for the men who know — the Gladstones 

 and the Disraelis, the Darwins and the Spencers, the 

 Arnolds and the Ruskins. It is only in civilized coun- 

 tries that the first honors are given to butchers. 



