MELLOW ENGLAND. 187 



This fact did not harmonize with the general drift of 

 the rest of my observations, for one of the first things 

 that strikes an American in Europe is the mellow- 

 ness and rich tone of things. The European is 

 softer voiced than the American and milder mannered, 

 but the bird voices seem an exception to this rule. 



While in London I had much pleasure in strolling 

 through the great parks, Hyde Park, Regent's Park, 

 St. James Park, Victoria Park, etc., and in making 

 Sunday excursions to Richmond Park or Hampden 

 Court Parks or the great parks at Windsor Castle. 

 The magnitude of all these parks was something J 

 was entirely unprepared for, and their freedom also ; 

 one could roam where he pleased. Not once did I 

 see a sign-board, " Keep off the grass," or go here or 

 go there. There was grass enough, and one could 

 launch out in every direction without fear of tres- 

 passing on forbidden ground. One gets used, at 

 least I do, to such petty parks at home, and walks 

 amid them so cautiously and circumspectly, every 

 shrub and tree and grass plat saying " hands off," 

 that it is a new sensation to enter a city pleasure 

 ground like Hyde Park a vast natural landscape, 

 nearly two miles long and a mile wide, with broad, 

 rolling plains, with herds of sheep grazing, and for- 

 ests and lakes, and all as free as the air. We have 

 some quite sizable parks and reservations in Wash- 

 ngton, and the citizen has the right of way over 



