42 Hark Away. 



And thus the time passes pleasantly away until the 

 neighbouring clocks strike the hour of two, when the 

 multitude disperse for a while, in order to take rest 

 and refreshment to fit them for the remaining plea- 

 sures of the day. During an experience extending 

 over half a century, I have never witnessed a 

 larger attendance at this fashionable resort. Doubt- 

 less society has undergone a considerable change, and 

 is no longer so aristocratic or exclusive as it was in 

 days of yore. But, nevertheless, there is abundant 

 evidence of there being no decrease in the wealth of 

 the country, or signs of degeneracy amongst the 

 many who make up the total of the fashionable 

 world of the present day. After some hours of 

 refreshment and repose, I once more bend my steps 

 in the direction of Apsley House, and, re-entering • 

 the Park, the hour being somewhere about five 

 o'clock, I find that an unusual state of excitement 

 exists. 



Whichever way the eye turns, whether in the 

 direction of the Marble Arch, the banks of the Ser- 

 pentine, or the road passing the Knightsbridge 

 Barracks, the pathways are crowded with pedes- 

 trians, and the roadways thronged with carriages of 

 every shape and kind. The aristocratic barouche, 

 filled with the youthful members of a noble family ; 

 the country-built heavy landau, dating many years 

 back, containing two elderly ladies, once as pretty 

 and as much admired as that handsome girl seated 

 by the side of her father in the well-appointed 

 phaeton ; or that smiling face that may be observed 

 within the shelter of a brougham, drawn by two 

 compact, clever, short-tailed brown horses, who is 



