68 REMINISCENCES, ETC. 



should not be any complaint of the want of foxes. Daring 

 the panic created by the introduction of free trade, a worthy 

 farmer remarked to Mr. Smith, at its commencement, 

 that the cultivation of corn would soon cease. " So much 

 the better," observed the squire, smiling at his tenant's 

 apprehension ; "for then I shall hunt over a grass 

 country." On a similar occasion. Lord Southampton said to 

 a farmer who was too fond of over-riding his hounds, " I 

 think, Sir, that Sir Robert Peel's Bill will stop you, though 

 I cannot." 



The cottages in the village of Tedworth were models of 

 neatness and comfort. These Mrs. Smith used herself to 

 overlook, and the healthful and cheerful faces of the inmates 

 well testified the care taken of them. No one could notice 

 the tidy garden around each homestead, with the honey- 

 suckle or rose festooning around its porch,* and the scarlet 

 Pyracantha climbing its walls, without feeling that here 

 that truly English picture was fully realized, of a country 

 gentleman living in the midst of his people, spending his 

 money, where it ought to be spent, upon his own estate, 

 and winding himself closely into the attachment and 

 hearts of his dependants. 



At the time we speak of, the schools did not exist in the 

 condition they are in now. These were added to the 

 village in 1857. Not many hundred yards from the Hall 

 is the old church, lying under the Downs, and with scarcely 

 a habitation near it, except the house of the minister. 

 From the churchyard, the eye, passing over the mansion, 

 and the trees surrounding it in the valley, takes in a range 

 of hills, stretching themselves one above another in the 

 direction of Marlborough, and which the horseman may 

 traverse for many miles without ever leaving the turf. On 

 this extensive domain there was scarcely a man, woman, or 

 child, who could not receive employment if they wanted it, 



* There is scarcely a cottage without its porch and double seat 

 within. 



