DOMESTIC SCENEEY OF ]SrEW ENGLAND. 



When journeying in New Englaiid you cannot fail to be 

 charmed with those old roads that pass through the ruder 

 parts of the early settlements which have not been changed 

 by the improvements that follow any sudden increase of com- 

 mercial prosperity. Many of them, which at first were high- 

 ways, are at present only by-roads to some little hamlet, 

 situated apart from the great thoroughfares of commerce, and 

 retaining the simplicity of a former era. It is delightful to 

 enter by chance upon one of these old roads, when it wiU 

 carry you half a day's journey on foot, without the intrusion 

 upon your sight of a steam-factory or a railroad station. Some 

 of these ways are not traversed enough to obliterate the two 

 rows of grass in the middle of the road, so suggestive of quiet 

 and homely retirement. The farm-houses that meet your 

 sight are among the few remaining examples of the simple 

 style of building that prevailed here during the last century. 

 These and the objects connected with them form the most 

 interesting and representative scenery of New England, and I 

 mark and admire them as distinguishing this country from all 

 the rest of the world. 



Some people look- upon these scenes as points where pro- 

 gress and civilization are at a stand, and turn away from them 

 with displeasure. But there is another view that is more 

 rational and nearer the truth. These objects, though not 

 borne on the great tide of civilization, are some of its most 

 beneficent results. If you watch a river flowing impetuously 

 over plains and through valleys, you may suppose its moving 

 mass of waters to represent the great highways and thorough- 



