APRIL 79 



one's neighbour to remember those border 

 fences ! 



And now that by chance I have found 

 myself in an old front yard, I shall stay there 

 a bit, and shall make what plea I may for a 

 return to the sweet old ideals which make 

 them possible. They belonged to the days 

 when children arose from their seats when 

 their elders entered the room, and when even 

 big girls would have blushed with shame at 

 the idea of going about the streets ungloved 

 and unbonneted. They were a part of the 

 time when reverence for sacred things ; when 

 belief in reserve and courtesy ; in leisure and 

 thoughtfulness ; in hospitality and unselfishness, 

 were a part of the common heritage : and who 

 shall say that these high things were not, in a 

 way, dependent upon the fences, and upon the 

 gates which shut out the world from the de- 

 mesne which belonged to the family ? To 

 step into a man's private grounds without the 

 preliminary formality of opening his gate 

 with a clicking latch certainly, and with a 

 rusty hinge perhaps is it not as offensive 

 to the highest breeding as it would be to call 

 him by his Christian name ? 



