A Noble Charity. 223 



old age, and there is scarcely a branch of industry which 

 does not follow this example. 



One cannot travel far without seeing that the British 

 are a people most mindful of the unfortunate. These 

 pretty homes of refuge and of rest we see scattered 

 everywhere over the land, nor are they the least glori- 

 ous of the many monuments of England's true worth. 



A Mr. Ripley, of Lancaster, left his fortune for an 

 orphanage, open to all orphan children born within fif- 

 teen miles of Lancaster. Three hundred are now pro- 

 vided for, but so rapidly has the fund grown that it has 

 been found practicable to extend the boundaries of its 

 beneficence, and children from distant Liverpool are now 

 admitted. Bravo ! Mr. Ripley. What is an earldom 

 for your eldest son to this ! His father's name will 

 carry him farther with the best, and he should be 

 prouder of it. Show me the earl who has done as much 

 for his neighborhood ! 



Lancaster Castle is a noble one. Here John o' 

 Gaunt hundreds of years ago put his finger upon the 

 dire root of England's woes, as far as the land goes : 



"This dear, dear land, 

 Dear for her reputation through the world, 

 Is now leas' d out," 



There you have it — this England is leased out. The 

 soil is not worked by its owners, and never, till England 

 changes its practice and can boast a peasant proprietary 



