,r^ 



CONTENTS XV 



CHAPTER VIII 



i'AGE! 



An eccentric country gentleman — Egyptologist and astronomer 

 — Singular political career — Rural pursuits — His marriages — 

 Establishment of prize gooseberry shows — Practices of ex- 

 hibitors — Names of noted gooseberries — J as. Carter, landlord 

 of the 'Bugle' Inn — Teetotal festivities — Dr. Lee in exce/sis — 

 Elihu Burritt — Drunken orgies of the visitors to the Teetotal 

 banquets — The historic career of the Lee family — Their 

 remarkable influence — Admiral Smyth — Old Wiggs, the 

 parish clerk — '^-Edes Hartwellianae' — The museum — Hartwell 

 House, the seven years' residence of Louis XVIIL . . 73 



CHAPTER IX 



A, prize farm — A Yankee fellow traveller — American and Englisli 

 farmers compared — Turning the tables — An English farmer's 

 bill of fare — A farmer's ' pretty turn-out ' — Discomfiture of 

 the Professor — Wheat-growing in England and the United 

 States — The Professor's apology 89 



CHAPTER X 



Hereford cattle — Early history of the breed — Report of the United 

 States Government — Grazing capabilities — Quality of beef — 

 Curious anecdote — Mr. Westcar, of Creslow — Foundation of 

 the Smithfield Club — Introduction of the breed into the Mid- 

 lands — Duke of Bedford — Lord Berners — Remarkable cattle 

 — Great value of ' Hereford ' beef at Christmas — Beauty of 

 the animals — Colour, grandeur, and carriage — General apti- 

 tude to fatten 95 



CHAPTER XI 



Old inns — Politics— Inn signs and their origin — Posting and 

 coaching — The 'White Hart' at Aylesbury — The extensive 

 gardens, the offices, and appointments of the 'White Hart' 

 • — County importance of the grand old inn — Names of the 

 rooms — The 'Old Bell' in Holborn— Customs of the dinner- 

 table — To Drury Lane Theatre after dinner — Other old inns 

 — Rise of the modern hotel — Bacon's Hotel, Great Queen 

 Street — Railway hotels — Present managers and past pro- 

 prietors contrasted .105 



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