CHAPTER III 



RURAL ENGLAND IN THE PAST 



" MEN come to build stately sooner than to gar- 

 den finely, as if gardening were the greater per- 

 fection." When those words were written, there 

 was lack neither of stately buildings nor of fine 

 gardens in England amongst the wealthy. The 

 small farmers, the tillers of the soil, and those 

 in their employ, had long been and still were, 

 even in Francis Bacon's time, in very different 

 case. 



The beauty of the rustic cottage, bowered in 

 roses and woodbine, has now for many a genera- 

 tion been the pride of England. Its praises have 

 been sung by foreigners visiting our shores, who 

 are never weary of discoursing on the charms of 

 the country garden and the flower-begirt homes 

 of a contented and happy peasantry, even when 

 they find our country a trifle dull on other accounts. 

 It is no less true that when we go abroad ourselves, 

 we find French and Swiss and Netherlanders work- 

 ing hard indeed in gardens and fields, toiling at 

 husbandry with far greater industry than we as a 

 people ever display; but the soil as a rule is 

 too precious to be wasted on flowers unless for 

 some purpose of gain. We miss the charm of 



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