32 o Four-in-Hand i7i Britain. 



Coaching brings us close to Nature's sweetest charms, 

 and the good universal mother is always so gracious to 

 her children ; the cawing of the rook or the crowing of 

 the cock awakens us ; the green things and the pretty- 

 flowers about the inn, which greet the eyes as we pull 

 up the blinds, and the sniff of fresh morning air which 

 a short stroll before breakfast gives us, make a splendid 

 start for the day, so different from the usual beginning 

 of city life. The whole day is spent in the open air, 

 walking or driving, or lolling upon sunny braes at 

 luncheon, amid brooks and wild flowers, and the hum 

 of bees, the songs of birds, and the grateful scent of 

 new-mown hay. And when night comes we fall asleep, 

 with the sense of dropping softly upon banks of flowers 

 without a thorn. Tell me if such a life for a few weeks 

 now and then is not the best cure for most of the serious 

 ills of this high-pressure age ! Every man who can 

 afford it should give it a trial. If overworked, he 

 should go to find the cure — if well, he should certainly 

 go in order to keep so. 



We all need to learn what the poet says : 



" Better that man and nature were familiar friends ; 

 That part of man is worst which touches this base life ; 

 For though the ocean in its inmost depths be pure, 

 Yet the salt fringe which daily licks the shore 

 Is foul with sand.'' 



I think the last line worthy of Shakespeare, even if 

 it be the product of a poor young Glasgow poet. In 



