A NOBLEMiu'g SEAT , 49A 



qf corn mpke a haj:d market foi; many of the tenant farmers of Eng- 

 land.,, ,Yet,as the interests of the landlprd and tenant run in paral- 

 lel lines, it is clear that rents niust be mqdi^ed accordingly. Upon 

 this estate, this has been 'done most wisely and judiciously. The 

 good understanding that exists between both parties is therefore very 

 great ; as a proof of which, I will mention that the !Earl gives a din- 

 ner twice a year, to which all his tenants are invited. At the last 

 festival of this sort, he .took oeo9sion tp speak publicly of the low 

 prices of bread-stuffs, and the complaint so frequently made of the 

 high rents at which farms , are still held. To meet the state of the 

 times, he addepl, that he had, frorn lime to time, altered the scale 

 pf his rents ; and had now resolved to make a still further reduction 

 of a certain number of shillings per acre to all who would apply for 

 the same after that day. He now mentioned to me, that although 

 nearly two months had now elapsed, iiot a single application had 

 been made ; and this, perhaps, solely because the tenants appreci- 

 aited the justice and liberality with which the estate had been man- 

 aged, and knew the free trade policy, where this is the case, falls as 

 heavily on the landlords as on themselves. 



Nothing can well be inore complete, of its kind, than this highest 

 kind of country life in England. I leave out of the question now, 

 of course, all republican reflections touching the social or political 

 bearing upon other classes. Taken by itself, it has been perfected 

 here by the long enjoyment of hereditary right, united to high cul- 

 tivation and great natural taste for rural an(J horde pleasures, till 'it 

 is difficult to imagine any thing (except, perhaps, a little more sun- 

 shine out of doors) that would. add to the picture. In the first 

 place, an Englishman's park, on one of these great estates, is a spe- 

 cies of kingdom by iteelf — a vast territorial domain, created solely 

 for Ms own enjoyment, and within the bounds of which his family 

 and guests may ride, drive, walk, or indulge their tastes, without in 

 the least interfering with any one, or being interfered with,' by tie 

 presence of any of the'rest of the world. In the next place, the cli- 

 mate not only favors the production of the finest lawns and pleasure- 

 grounds in the world, but promotes the out-of-door interest in, and 

 enjoyment of them. Next, th^e great domestic establishments (so 

 immense and complete that we have nothing in America witb which 



