AN OCTOBER ABROAD. 



have been. The land of caste and kings, there is yet 

 less glitter and display than in this country, less public- 

 ity, and, of course, less rivalry and emulation also, for 

 which we pay very dearly. You have got to where the 

 word homely preserves its true signification, and is no 

 longer a term of disparagement, but expressive of a 

 cardinal virtue. 



I liked the English habit of naming their houses ; it 

 shows the importance they attach to their homes. All 

 about the suburbs of London and in the outlying vil- 

 lages I noticed nearly every house and cottage had 

 some appropriate designation, as Terrace House, Oak- 

 tree House, Ivy Cottage, or some Villa, etc., usually cut 

 into the stone gate post, and this name is put on the 

 address of the letters. How much better to be known 

 by your name than by your number ! I believe the 

 same custom prevails in the country, and is common to 

 the middle classes as well as to the aristocracy. It is 

 a good feature. A house or a farm with an appropriate 

 name, which everybody recognizes, must have an added 

 value and importance. 



Modern English houses are less showy than ours, 

 and have more weight and permanence — no flat roofs 

 and no painted outside shutters. Indeed, that pride of 

 American country people, and that abomination in 

 the landscape, a white house with green blinds, I did 

 not see a specimen of in England. They do not aim 

 to make their houses conspicuous, but the contrary. 

 They make a large, yellowish brick that has a pleasing 



