418 f^SE AND BEATJTT. 



To him it was merely a haunt of wild animals, and a ground 

 out of which roots might be dug. What have become for 

 us places of relaxation and enjoyment — places for afternoon 

 strolls and for gathering flowers — were his places for labour 

 and food, probably arousing in his mind none but utilitarian 

 associations. 



Ruined castles afford an obvious instance of this meta- 

 morphosis of the useful into the beautiful. To feudal 

 barons and their retainers, security was the chief, if not the 

 only end, sought in choosing the sites and styles of their 

 strongholds. Probably they aimed as little at the pic- 

 turesque as do the builders of cheap brick houses in our 

 modern towns. Yet what where erected for shelter and 

 safety, and what in those early days fulfilled an important 

 function in the social economy, have now assumed a purely 

 ornamental character. They serve as scenes for picnics ; 

 pictures of them decorate our drawing-rooms ; and each 

 supplies its surrounding districts with legends for Christ- 

 mas Eve. 



Following out the train of thought suggested by this 

 last illustration, we may see that not only do the material 

 exuviffi of past social states become the ornaments of our 

 landscapes ; but that past habits, manners, and arrange- 

 ments, serve as ornamental elements in our literature. 

 The tyrannies that, to the serfs who bore thqm, were harsh 

 and dreary facts ; the feuds which, to those who took part 

 in them, were very practical life-and-death affairs ; the 

 mailed, moated, sentinelled security that was irksome to 

 the nobles who needed it ; the imj^risonments, and tor- 

 tures, and escapes, which were stern and quite prosaic 

 realities to all concerned in them ; have become to us 

 material for romantic tales — material which when woven 

 into Ivanhoes and Marmions, serves for amusement in leis- 

 ure hours, and become poetical by contrast with our daily 



