30 OCCASIONAL HAPPY THOUGHTS. 



The conclusion of this is, without adducing further painful 

 instances, the Less of the Sea the Better. 



The idea of a Tunnel is charming, if quite safe, and carried 

 out with taste. 



Happy Thought. — On the model of the Burlington Arcade. 

 Train up and down the middle : promenade on both sides 

 with shops. To make the Tunnel itself quite secure, it 

 should be the central part of an enormous building, a sub- 

 marine palace, as big as the Royal Exchange, and the top 

 should be elevated several feet above the level of the Channel 

 forming a handsome bridge, across which pedestrians, who 

 preferred this route, could, in fine weather, walk, merely 

 paying at one end, as at Waterloo bridge, for example. I 

 make a present of this suggestion to the English and French 

 authorities who have the scheme in hand. I cannot see why 

 this can't be done. Why isn't it feasible .? 



Chinton says, " My dear fellow, if you were an engineer, 

 you'd soon see its utter impracticability." 



But I am not an engineer, and, if it were left to me I 

 should begin it — in my own way, I admit— but at once. 



An engineer has his profession to think of, his rules to go 

 by, his precedents, and so forth. * None of these considera- 

 tions would have a pin's weight with me. I have often 

 found that knowing nothing of gardening, I have made such 

 suggestions to Gardeners as have perfectly staggered them 

 by their originality, and they have hastened to adopt them. 

 I recollect one instance about grapes. A Professional 

 Gardener, very high up in his art, and always on a ladder 



