Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1839-09-25
III isc ellaneOHS
RURAL LIFE IN ENGLAND.
By WASHINGTON IRVING.

The taste of the English il the cultiva-
ton OF the land, and in what is termed
landscape gardening, is unrivalled. No
thing is more imposing than their Park
scenery. But what most delights me is
the creative talent with which the Eng
lish decorate the unostenlatious abodes of
middle life. The rudest habitation, the
most unpromising and scanty portion of
land, in the hands of an Englishman of
taste, becomes little paradise. The 1es-
ldence of people Of fortune and refinement
in the country has difused degree of
taste and elegance in rural economy, that
descends TO the lowest class. The very
laborer, with his matched cottage and mai :
row slip of ground, attends to their en-
Enlistment. The trim hedge, the grass
plat before the door, the little hower-bed
bordered with snug box, the woodbine
trained up against the wall, and hanging
ITS blossoms about the lattice; the pot Of
flowers in the window; the holly provi-
dentially planted about the house to cheat
winter of It's dreariness, and throw in a
CLEAN OF green summer to cheer The fire.
side; all these bespeak the influence Of
taste, flowing down from high sources.
and pervading the lowest levels of the
public mind. fever lover, as poets sing,
delights to visit cottage, it must be the
cottage of an English peasant.
The proneness to rural life amono the
higher class has had salutarv effect up-
on the natural character. do not know
Inner race of men than the English gen.
tlemen. Instead of the softness and eff
ienlnacy which characterize the men Of
rank IN some countries, they exhibit a
union Of elegance and strength, robust
ness OF flames and freshness of complex
ION. which am inclined to attribute to
their living so much in the open air, and
pursuing so eagerly the invigorating re-
creations of the country.
The effect of this devotion of elegant
minds TO rural occupations has been won
derlal on the face of the country. A great
part OF the island is level, and would be
lnoaolonous. were it not for the charms of
culture; but it is studded and eemmed.
as 1t were, with castles and palaces, and
embroidered with parks and gardens. II
does not abound in grand and sublime
prospects, but rather in Little home scenes
of-rural repose and sheltered quiet, Ey-
cry antique farmhouse, moss-grown cot
tage is picture; and as the roads are
continually winding, and the view shut
IN by groves and hedges, the eye is de-
lighted by continual succession of small
landscapes of captivating loneliness.
The great charm, however, of Enc
iish scenery is the moral feeling that
seems TO pervade it. 1t is associated in
the mind with ideas of order, of quiet, of
ease and settled principles, of hoary usage,
and Fevered custom.
1t is a pleasing sight, on Sunday
morning, when the bell is sending its So
Der melody across the quiet fields, to be-
hold the peasantry in their inery, with rud
dy faces, and modest cheerfulness, throng.
ing TRANQUILITY along the green lanes 10
church but it is still more pleasant to
see them in the evening. gathering about
their cottage doors, and appearing 10 ex-
uH in the humble comforts and embeliish-