New-York tribune., 1879-08-26

tnese delicate rustic scenes. With us the thrifty
farmer strips his acres bare Of trees divides the
small fields with hdeous rail fences. and leaves the
Scared hillsides to parch and brown in the August
heats. There is cruel glare upon the shadeess
roads. The horses feet sink deep in the fine dust
the hot cloud which rises behind the passing buggy
settles down over the dirty grass and disfgured
bushes Of the wayside. Mani mean the American
man-meddles with the natural beauty Of the coun-
try only to spoil it, and there is often something in
descrbaby harsh in the rural scenery, even Of the
oldest and best cultivated paris Of the States, SUCH
Tor instance as the neat and thriving towns of New
England. In Old England nature has been treated
with much gentler and more careful hand.
Almost everywhere the corn-felds and pastures are
adorned with clusters Of superb trees, the close
hedgerov are neatly trimmed, the smooth macad-
amized highways shaded like private avenue,
broad foot-path runs beside the road brick and
stone walls are hung with ivy, and almost every
iaooreTs cottage is powered in roses. You might
walk all day English country road and fancy
you were strolIing through a nobleman's estate.
GOODRICH CASTLE.
A few miles below Ross the river makes a sharp
bend, the right bank suddenly becomes high and
| precipitous, and among the trees which the
hills from the watersde TO the summit appear the
towers and batiements Of a dark stone castle. This
is Goodrich Court-not q relic OF feudal times. as
one might supp55e, but modern copy of the
military architecture of the fourteenth century-a
raak. Sd go speak OF the late distinguished anti
quarry Sir Samuel Rush Mcyricl IN whose lifetime
/ the Cont contained unrivaIled collection of
ancient arm0r But only little way below Good
rich Court on the point If a difficult chfl. stand
the picturesque remains of Goodrich Castle. older,
10 d said, than the Norman Conquest. and still
showing M the keep portion of the Saxon walls.
I nd barn nd eIf p,
after you have paid sIXpence 10 a tidy aHd hand
-ot'e old woman VINO keeps the gate, yOu may roam
at VIII over the grassy interior. good part of the
masonry Is yet strong: the fine arched gateway Of
I the principal entrance Is almost entire; the ground
plan s easily traced in its completeness, and the
disposition Of many of the upper rooms is sufi-
GENTLY indicated By the remains Of walls and the
corbe!s and beau-holes The Caslle. indeed never
tell into decay, but i5 was dismantled during the
Civil War after iU had resisted the Parliamentary
forces for nearly six weeks. IL almost the last
stronghold of tine Cavaliers. 1t I8 rather surprising
to- fad how ample was the number Of the dungeons
some Of which may stiil be explored; but there
was e reason ior tnese subterraneau accommoda-
tIous for we read that Lord Talbot, who owned the
Castle m the Fourteenth Century " obtained a
license from kmg Edward III. to have a prison
here" aad he earned a very pretty income by
squeezing rausOms ont of his French captlves. 1t
is not OF knights and of sieges however, that we
tmuh tne most as we sit underline great trees which
have grown up in jle runs, for 10 here, in the
! courtyard OF Goodrich Castle, that Wordsworth
met the little qrl whose artsss answers are COM
memorateI u the poem We are Severn
One OF the greatest charms OF the river scenery
for the next few miles lies in the sudden aud ire
/ queut change from the rugged 70 the soft. As we
passed Goodrich we seemed to be about raining
U
raised itself high across our course. The slope-if
anything SO steep can be called a sope-disclosed
beautiful alteration Of forest anu orchard, titled
fields, meadows, audtrim gardens and dotted over
the landscape were the cottages of l.ttle hamlet.
A sharp bend in the river not visible until we were
close upon it, brought Us around the point Of the
ridge and into the midst of rough and lofty rocks,
which reminded me a little Of the Palisades Of the
Hudson There Is PERCEPTIONS height called Sy-
mOnds Yat, where the stream describes an elongated
horseshoe of about four miles IN order TO get around
promOntOry which Is only three-quarters OF a mile
across and here it is customary for the aOle-boded
tourist TO scale the hill and meet his boat the
the forsde. 4 panorama Of surprising extent and
fairness rewards the labor.
We rested for an hour at q little waterside inn,
luncling on bread and cheese and home-brewed
ale; and in an hour more, after shooting through
ing the great forest OF Dean, floating under the
shadow Of groves Of frs, and below rude cliffs,
where legends placed King Arthurs Cave, we came
To- the opening OF the Valley OF the MOnnOw on the
right and there, in the cleft OF the river, nestIes
the compact little town OF Monmouth.
MONMOUTH.
There is not much to detan the tourist IN this
ancient place, where Joan of Gaunt had his favorite
residence and Henry V. was born, end where
Captain Fluellen doubtless dscoursed of "the dis
cipIues of the Roman wars. look YOU" Most Of its
historic relies have disappeared, and the modern
town is not attractive. There Is mighty hill on
the other side of the river, where promenade has
Leen laid out, and naval temple" erected to the
honor of the noble British Admirals,' who have
served their country in various realms and ages.
Monmouth is almost Welsh and there is surely a
-oucn OF Welsh pride in ,hIs dedication. which
leaves for more peJeian towns 10 celebrate the
rrawess Of the British Almirals who were not
mobiles. and tie noble sailors who were less than
Admirals.
The voyage lasted until late in the afternoon, and
there wa. some novel delight at every turn. On
round ull near the bank stood tall May-po,e,
where the tlme-houored meIry-uakIug (which an
act of Parliament once declared, apropos Of the
Mav-pole iu the strand, TO be a last relic of vile
heathe4sm'l y is still annually observed A few
PAGES from the opposite bank, half hidden in vines
ana trees, We saw the prettIest imaginable Gothic
cottage 10 the most aIlGrlug 0t landscapes. forget
whether there were roses clambeung over the walls,
but 1t seems to me that the whole place full of
sweet seen ld brilliant color Men and women
we're tossing the hay ~ a strip Of meadow between
the house and the rIver. \ lady was walking among
them, while several dogs frisked around her. As
our boat hoated from under the trees a comical
Scotch terrier-surely the busiest body IN all the
and about-Ieiached himself from the group
and cane down to the brink ID high ex-
.yI rarort Tho ayami-