THE SMITHY AT ALDERLEY 
THE CHARM OF THE ENGLISH COUNTRY 
By CLIFTON JOHNSON 
T O one who has known only America the 
first acquaintance with England is a 
revelation for which the pictures one may 
have seen and one’s reading have given no 
adequate preparation. Even in the towns, 
there is a very definite change from what we 
are accustomed to on this side of the At¬ 
lantic ; and the country is suggestive of 
fairyland. You recognize a region you 
have hitherto viewed only in dreams. Its 
scenes had been vaguely absorbed from 
literature and art, and you had its main char¬ 
acteristics imprinted in the recesses of your 
imagination. Yet the reality more than 
fills the fondest expectations. 
The ideal time for a visit is between the 
first of April and midsummer. Earlier than 
April you get the chill discomfort and com¬ 
parative barrenness of the winter. Later 
than July the fields are shorn, and the vernal 
tide of blossoms which, until then, had been 
on the rise, begins to recede and leave be¬ 
hind a touch of somberness. The limits I 
have mentioned are for the consideration of 
those who can only see England for a few 
weeks. Any person with more leisure, and 
to whom tranquillity is happiness, could not 
do better than find some rustic English 
Eden and hire a house for a year. Life and 
nature both seem gentler there than with us. 
There is greater ease and less of strenuous¬ 
ness—less of nervous haste. Conditions on 
our continent have not yet lost their new¬ 
ness and rawness ; we are still in a state of 
transition. But in England the channels of 
human activity are deep-worn and the cur¬ 
rents flow smoothly without turmoil. 
One’s first interest is naturally in the hab¬ 
its and homes of the people, and these can 
nowhere be observed to better advantage 
than in the little country places with their 
thronging, rosy-cheeked children. It is 
noticeable that the habitations gather in 
much snugger groups than they do in 
America, and that outside of the villages 
the broad farmlands are almost uninter¬ 
rupted. The village concentration is no 
doubt an heirloom of the feudal days when 
proximity for mutual defense was a neces¬ 
sity ; but it is also desirable from the land¬ 
lord’s point of view, for the tenantry can be 
more easily managed in closely built ham¬ 
lets than if they were scattered. 
Every village has its church, even though 
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