COUNTRY LIFE. 133 



fox they hunt at Melton Mowbray, in Leicestershire; at 

 other times they shoot grouse on the most inaccessible 

 of the Highland mountains. All England is taken up 

 with these amusements ; the newspapers publish the 

 names of the best shots and the most skilful riders, also 

 the number of head of game killed. When the shoot- 

 ing season begins, Parliament breaks up. Women even 

 prefer these amusements to all others : give a young 

 English girl her choice between a ride on horseback and 

 a soiree or a ball, there is no doubt about which she will 

 prefer ; and there is nothing delights her more than a 

 gallop across the country. 



When a man has not the good fortune to possess a 

 country place of his own, he will at least have it in ap- 

 pearance. Every town has its public park, which is just 

 a large grass field with fine trees in it. In London, cows 

 and sheep are to be seen quietly grazing in the Green Park, 

 or Hyde Park, amidst the incessant noise of carriages 

 passing along Piccadilly. The man constantly occupied 

 in business may at least see, in passing, a corner of Eden. 

 It is the desire of all to have their place of residence as 

 far as possible from the heart of the town, so as to be 

 nearer the fields ; and in the summer all escape as soon 

 as they can, to visit a friend at his farm, or to make a few 

 days' tour in some pretty part of the country. Wherever 

 the scenery is at all picturesque, there the people flock to 

 enjoy that quiet happiness peculiar to the English. The 

 favourite trip is into Scotland, where one may breathe 

 the pure air of the heather hills, and picture to himself 

 the roving life of the caterans, as described by Sir Walter 

 Scott. 



The English sovereigns show the first example for 

 this universal predilection, living as they do as little as 

 possible in town. The fancy farm of Trianon was but a 



