MELLOW ENGLAND. 173 



been made by hand, and with care and affection, as 

 they have been. The land of caste and kings, there 

 is yet less glitter aud display than in this country, 

 less publicity, and, of course, less rivalry and emula- 

 tion also, for which we pay very dearly. You have 

 got to where the word homely preserves its true sig- 

 nification, and is no longer a term of disparagement, 

 but expressive of a cardinal virtue. 



I liked the English habit of naming their houses ; 

 it shows the importance they attach to their homes. 

 All about the suburbs of London and in the outlying 

 villages I noticed nearly every house and cottage had 

 some appropriate designation, as Terrace House, 

 Oaktree House, Ivy Cottage, or some Villa, etc., 

 usually cut into the stone gate post, and this name is 

 put on the address of the letters. How much better 

 to be known by your name than by your number ! 

 I believe the same custom prevails in the country, 

 and is common to the middle classes as well as to the 

 aristocracy. It is a good feature. A house or a 

 farm with an appropriate name, which everybody rec- 

 ognizes, must have an added value and importance. 



Modern English houses are less showy than ours, 

 and have more weight and permanence no flat roofs 

 and no painted outside shutters. Indeed, that pride 

 of American country people, and that abomination 

 in the landscape, a white house with green blinds, I 

 did not see a specimen of in England. They do 

 \iot aim to make their houses conspicuous, but the 

 contrary. They make a large, yellowish brick that 



