644 



ENGLAND. 



tance, and put on only at, or near the place of destination, the feet being first washed in a 

 brook. 



H. Language. The EngHsh language is, in many parts of England, so perverted, that it 

 can hardly be understood by one who knows it only as it is written ; in Wales, the Welsh 

 language is the medium of comnmnication between the common people, many of whom un- 

 derstand no other. In general, the English language is preserved in greater purity as spoken 

 in the United States, than in England itself. We have, as has been elsewhere remarked, no 

 patois, and our Americanisms are generally words to express something peculiar in our state 

 of society, and for which there was no previous English word ; while in London, the com- 

 mon class of people wantonly perpetrate more outrage upon the orthodox English, than is 

 committed from necessity in the United iStates. The language of the common people in 

 dilTerent counties in England, varies so much, that the inhabitants can with difficulty understand 

 each other. An American, in Yorkshire, or Lancashire, cannot much better understand the 

 common people than if they spoke a foreign language. Besides these dialects, the Jlasli lan- 

 guage, as it is called, is extensively used by gentlemen of the Fancij ; and it is afl'ecled by 

 many others. It consists in new, and often ludicrous, or witty names, given to everything 

 that relates to horseracing, boxing, gambling, drinking, and other modes of dissipation. Thus 

 the worst crimes have often a pleasant name, and the most shocking scenes are deprived of 

 their revolting character by the light language in which they are described. 



12. Manner of Building, &c. The manner of building among the rich in England, is not 

 so much national, as it is a collection of all that is national in other countries, or of what 

 remains of former ages. Costly and magnificent piles of architecture are spread over the 

 whole country, and there is scarcely a neighborhood that has not some edifice that attracts the 

 visits of travelers. The Grothic, the Grecian, the Chinese, the Saracenic, llie Egyptian, 

 and various other styles of building for which art has no name, are found in England. The 



convenience of an English- 

 man's house is unrivalled ; 

 everything is perfect in its 

 kind ; convenience is more 

 studied than economy, and 

 there is not a door or a win- 

 dow that is not jointed with 

 the nicest art. The very 

 farmhouses have an air of neat- 

 ness and comfort, that makes 

 no part of the picture of the 

 farmer's dweUing in the Unit- 

 ed States. The walls are 

 covered with creeping and 

 flowering plants. The roofs 

 are frequently thatched with 

 straw, and in some of the old- 

 er towns, whole streets of 

 thatched houses may be seen. 



England is the country of 

 unequal wealth, and the cot- 

 tage of the poor is strongly 

 contrasted with the mansions 

 of the rich, yet if there is luxury in one, there is often comfort in the other. The cottages 

 are both of brick and stone, and though small, they are neat. The villages are generally old 

 and dingy. Every family occupies a separate house, and a traveler may go far, without seeing 

 an old hat in a broken window. On the houses of the rich no expense is spared. Their 

 country seats are generally at some little distance from the road, and they are often approached 

 through plantations of trees. The grounds are not fancifully laid out, but art only appears, 

 the better to display nature and not to do violence to it. It is in the country mansion that 

 the wealthy part of the English are sern to the best advantage, and here they lead a life, that 

 mav well be envied 



English Farm-House 



