654 



ENGLAND. 



It is only in a country where property is secure, that such could exist. It is surely a noble 

 disposition of wealth to leave it to charitable corporations, where the testator may live forever, 

 if it be life to do as much posthumous good to the end of time, as he could have effected had 

 he really been immortal. On the whole, in the English character, if there is not a little to 

 censure, there is much to praise ; and nations must be judged in the same indulgent spirit as 

 mdividuals ; neither can arrogate perfection ; and of England we may well say, 



" England, with all thy faults, I love thee still." 



The manners and customs of Wales, are somewhat dissimilar to those of England. The 

 Welch are extremely national, and though their country is not fertile, they are greatly attached 

 to their barren hills. It is not common to see in America, the great centre of emigration, a 

 native of Wales. The temperament of a Welchman is somewhat ardent. He is industrious 

 and frugal, and history attests that he is persevering and brave. The vale of Clwyd, which is 

 one of the most charming on earth, is several miles in extent ; and it is remaikable for being 

 the residence of only the wealthy. The laborers that dress it like a garden come to their toil 

 a distance of several miles, for the lords of the soil, it seems, are unwilhng thai the cottage of 

 the poor should rise near the palace of the rich. The improvements of modern life make their 

 way in some parts of Wales more slowly than in any other corner of the island. The Welch 

 have retained, also, their own language, and a few harpers are yet still found wandering about 

 the country. 



It is impossible to pass through Wales, however, without the conviction, that it is one of the 

 happiest countries in the world ; the people give the traveler a cheerful nod, and they are ex- 

 tremely neat in their personal appearance and dwellings. Every cottage is white-washed till it 

 is of a resplendent whiteness. Every cottage, loo, has its roses, honey-suckles, vines, and 

 neat walk to the door. There is no doubt that the same grade of people in the United States 

 have more wealth, but it is certainly an indication of a mind at ease, and of habits of neatness 

 and order, as well as of comfort, to have the humble dwellings of so much studied neatness 

 as in Wales. 



17. Amusements. The English are not a cheerful people, though they have many amuse- 

 ments, and some of them are peculiar. Some ancient sports that used to be pursued with 

 zeal, are now disused, and others have grown into favor. The invention of gunpowder has 

 destroyed hawking and archery ; and pugilism, that was unknown in the days of Robin Hood, 

 has now risen to the dignity of a science, with a nomenclature of its own. Hunting has in 

 some sort been neglected, for racing ; though there are still many Nimrods of the manor, who 

 urge the chase at full speed for 30 miles. The English are good horsemen, and much of 

 their training comes from the chase. The smaller game, such as pheasants, woodcocks, and 

 partridges, are now chiefly killed by the sportsmen of England, who have wonderful skill with 

 the fowling-piece. There are books printed with blank columns for a sportsman's chronicle, 

 in which he notes the number and description of game, when and where killed, &c. Hunt- 

 ing is so common in all nations, that men hardly regard it as a cruel sport. 



But there are many popular sports in England which an English traveler must forget, before 

 he can censure the bull fights of Spain. A bull baiting is little better than a bull fight. The 

 animal is in England tied to a ring, and dogs are set upon him. They fasten upon his nostrils, 

 and he gores them, or tosses them in the air. In the arenas of Spain, the bull has in some 

 sort, fair play, which, even the English proverb admits, is a jewel. He is allowed space for 

 action and means of defence, and he sometimes mingles the blood of his persecutors with his 

 own. In England he is tied to the rack and tortured. 



Pugilism or boxing is pursued with incredible zeal. A match is announced in the papers 

 for weeks before it is held, and the champions are put in a regular course of diet or training. 

 At the fight, every sort of vehicle to which horse was ever attached, is put in requisition, and 

 on the field these are formed in a circle round the space allotted for the ring, and the specta- 

 tors stand upon them. The contests are sometimes fatal, and always sanguinary. When the 

 flesh of one of the pugilists is beaten to a jelly, he is said to be much " punished " ; a blow 

 in the stomach is termed a hit in the "bread-basket ; " to draw blood is to " tap claret ; " 

 and a report of a fight relates, that a champion having knocked out one of his antagonist's eyes, 

 " made continual play at the other." Well may the amateurs of this " science " be called 

 " the Fancy " This sportive language on such a subject, is as bad as the practice it de 



