X 1 N T K O D U C T I O N. 



like, leaving his family naked and unfed for several 

 years but that is doubtless due to his poetical tem 

 perament and intense love of nature. In the same 

 spirit, therefore, no matter how frequently I may re 

 fer to money matters in the course of the following 

 pages, even if I should occasionally condescend to 

 speak of food and raiment those commonplace ne 

 cessities it must be understood to be with no sordid 

 view; and if I keep these matters before the read 

 er s attention, it will be for the sole purpose of bene 

 fiting and enlightening him, and pointing out clearly 

 the financial consequence of investing in rural resi 

 dences. 



The country how beautiful it is! To a man 

 wearied with the cares of city life ; who has pursued 

 an exhausting profession for several years with vig 

 orous energy ; who has taken a hand in politics, at 

 tended caucuses and Conventions, and helped to &quot; run 

 the machine ;&quot; who has a philanthropic turn of mind, 

 and gone on committees and made public collec 

 tions ; and who, moreover, has abundant means this, 

 though last, is by no means least the country, with 

 its green leaves, its lovely flowers, its waving grass, 

 its early vegetables, and its luscious fruits, is most at 

 tractive ; and where a residence can be obtained 

 which combines all these luxuries with pure air, and 



