f84 Four-i7i-Hand in Britain, 



This is its touch upon the blossomed rose, 

 The fashion of its hand-shaped lotus leaves ; 

 In dark soil and the silence of the seeds 

 The robe of Spring it weaves." 



We had rare enjoyment at the lake, and envied Lord 

 Vernon his princely heritage. The old forester who 

 once showed me over a noble estate in Scotland was 

 quite right. I was enchanted with one of the views, 

 and repeated. 



" Where is the coward who would not dare 

 To fight for such a land ! " 



"Aye," said the old man, "aye, it's a grand country, 

 for the lairds!' It will be a grander country some day 

 when it is less " for the lairds " and more for the toiling 

 masses; but may the destroying angel of progress look 

 kindly upon such scenes of beauty as Sudbury Park. 

 The extensive estate may be disentailed and cultivated 

 by a thousand small owners in smiling homes, with edu- 

 cated children within them, and the land bring forth 

 greater harvests touched by the magic wand of the 

 sense of ownership — for it makes an infinite difference 

 to call a thing your own — and yet the mansion and park 

 remain intact and give to its possessor rarer pleasures 

 than at present. I think one of the greatest drawbacks 

 to life in Britain in grand style must be the contrast 

 existing between the squire and the people about him. 

 It is bad enough even in Chester Valley, where the 

 average condition and the education of the inhabitants 



