HINDRANCES AND HELPS. 291 



"What if such walks be not nicely gravelled what 

 if you come upon no grubbing gardeners ? If only 

 they be easy and serviceable, I love their rain stains, 

 und their fine mosses creeping into green mats ; I 

 love their irregular borders, with a fern or a gentian 

 nodding over the bounds a pretty sylvan welcome 

 to your tread. There are little foot-paths I know, 

 only beaten by the patter of young feet winding 

 away through lawn or orchard to some favorite apple 

 tree, frequented most, after some brisk wind-storm 

 has passed over, that I think I admire more than any 

 gravelled walks in the world. 



And there are other simple foot-paths, which I re- 

 member loitering through day after day, in the rural 

 districts of England, with a sense of enjoyment, that 

 never belonged to saunterings in the alleys of Ver- 

 sailles. 



A man does not know England, or English land- 

 scape, or English country feeling, until he has broken 

 away from railways, from cities, from towns, and 

 clambered over stiles, and lost himself in the fields. 



Talk of Chatsworth, and Blenheim, and 



Eaton Hall ! Does a man know the pleasure of 

 healthy digestion by eating whip-syllabub ? Did 

 Turner go to Belvoir Castle park for the landscapes 

 which link us to God's earth? 



What a joy and a delight in those field foot-paths 



