130 RURAL ECONOMY OF ENGLAND. 



of the nation all the more to the peace and security of 

 rural life. When revolutions disturb the world, it is then 

 especially that the mind seeks to breathe the freshness of 

 natural scenery. England enjoys long draughts of this 

 happiness ; a common feeling of disapprobation and 

 security leads her back to conservative ideas and agri- 

 cultural habits. 



Among others, hear what Coleridge says of this national 

 felicity, defended by the ocean : 



ft Albion ! my mother isle ! 

 Thy valleys, fair as Eden's bowers, 

 Glitter green with sunny showers ; 

 Thy grassy uplands' gentle swells 



Echo to the bleat of flocks ; 

 (Those grassy hills, those glittering dells, 



Proudly ramparted with rocks), 

 And ocean, mid its uproar wild, 

 Speaks safety to his island- child.' 



A traveller in England, forty years ago, facetiously re- 

 marked, " I would not advise the cottages there to attack 

 the mansions, for as the latter are twenty to one, the 

 former would soon be overwhelmed." With still greater 

 truth might the same remark be made at the present day, 

 for the wealthier habitations have gone on increasing. 

 The same individual remarked, that in England the poor 

 are swept like a heap of rubbish into a corner. The ex- 

 pression, though harsh, conveys a true picture of the 

 appearance of the country in England, for poverty ap- 

 pears to have been all swept into the towns. Just as 

 elsewhere great attention is paid to the handsome parts 

 of large cities, so in England it is the country from whence 

 everything that may offend the eye is removed, that the 

 mind may have only peace and contentment to dwell 

 upon. 



In travelling through England, one cannot help being 

 constantly impressed with the contrast between town and 



