HOME-LIFE. 125 



and liow is it to be remedied? Tlic cause at least, 

 if not the cure, is easy euougli for any one to 

 perceive. The aboriginal England, the merry 

 England of other days, tlie England from which 

 our Puritan ancestors emigrated, the actual Eng- 

 land of the unsophisticated agricultural counties, 

 consisted or consists of small settlements, each 

 clustered round its ancient manor-lfouse and ivy- 

 clad parish church, and inhabited by families all 

 of whom were born and will die upon the same 

 spot. In such a state of society, everybody, of 

 course, knows everybody. There are few set par- 

 ties or clubs or meetings, it is true ; but there is a 

 constant natural stream of social intercourse from 

 morning to night, from year's end to year's end, 

 from birth to death. As every man, boy, girl, and 

 woman walk down the little village street, every- 

 body they meet on their way has a ready smile 

 and a nod of recognition with which to greet them. 

 Baker Brown and Gardener Gee — as they still 

 pleasantly call one another in more than one old- 

 fasliioned country-town that we know of — stop 

 continually to chat with Grocer Smith and Fiddler 

 Jenkins, as they move about their every-day avo- 

 cations. Neighbors drop in, as they themselves 

 naively put it, " quite promiscuous like " ; and, if 

 they stop to tea or supper, no further prejjaration 

 is considered necessary for their entertainment 

 than an extra spoonful "for the good of the pot," 



