The Portland daily press., 1882-02-01
English Lanes and Fields.
IN. Y. Times.l

N. L. 1lInes.I
The American tourist who upon his arrival
in Liverpool is in hurry to get glimpse of
real English life and scenery may easily be
gratified. Indeed, to have his desire it is only
necessary for him to take a cab at his hotel, or.
say from the Exchange-one of the finest build
ings of its class in all Europe-aud drive away
from the hum and buzz of the busy city, which
seems to him in many respects SO much like
New York and Boston; drive through the
beautiful Seton Park, past the lodge gates,
the solid walls and stately houses of the mer-
chant arstocracy, ON to the lane which leads
toward Chillwall Abbey. Having reached this
he will doubt no longer that he is in a strange
country, a country which is as lovely as it is
strange. For where out of the British islands
could he see the like of that same Chillwall
Abbey lane. Later on in his trip he may be
called upon to admire and loudly praise the
really remarkable alley of oak trees in the park
of Herrenhausen, at Hanover; he may be
greatly impressed by the far-famei Partisan
boulevards, by the poplar-framed highroads of
Belgium, or the straight, white, wonderfully
smooth landStrdsSeR of Prussia; but he need
expect to find nowhere street, avenue, path,
or road. which in quiet beauty can excel a vel
kept English, Irish or Scotch lane. The one
of which write is only typical of hundreds of
others, yet to adequately describe the elements
which go to make up its beauty is no easy
task. In word, the peculiar charm of an Eng
lish lane must be made apparent by personal
visit. 1t is one of the things which cannot be
properly conveyed by any pen, no matter how
eloquent. Indeed, eloquence would be rather
bindrance to the man who would attempt to
sHa A hI.nxr -
a soft, bright day in June. The scene which
it then presents is too subtle, II / may be per-
mitted the expression, too haZy, too full of the
mild, sweet, peculiar atmosphere of England,
to be really appreciated by any except those
who have felt its beauty, breathed in its charms
The wayside is lined with hedges, thick green
and white barriers which have blossomed and
grown stout through q score of years. Beyond
these stretch fields of rolling green, with here
and there clump of giant-limbed over-hang-
ing trees which seem to be specially designed
as the meeting-p place of the herds of red-backed
seepy-eyed COWS which are beneath them. In
the distance here and there at long intervals
through groves of towering oaks, are seen the
turEets of some baron's hall, or the all brick
chimneys of a squire's narrow house. dwellings
which add much to the picture by well con-
trasting with the snug red-walled and tiled, or
sometimes thickly thatched, cottages which
dot the roadside. And everywhere on Chill
wall lane there are hawthorn trees, not shrubs,
not DuSnoS, nOI tn6 poor, Inln, SJfaggl1ng
plants which may be occasionally seen strug-
CLING AGAINST the uncongenial climate of Ameri-
ca, but strong blooming trees which grow high
in the moist English air, and like monster
bouquets of pure white and deep bright pink
hang over the cottage roofs, or break the mo-
notony of the trim hedges.
They have much bad weather in England
bat it is a great mistake to suppose sunshine is
altogether novelty there. The French am
bassador who, in writing home from London,
asked his friend to greet for him the sun which
never shone "on the barbarian British" may
have been a witty person, but he was not
truthful. In London during the months of
October and November have seen thick
fog, of deep yellow color growing into black,
come over the city like veil, putting out the
light Of day, and at high noon making it i'm
possible, even with the help of many lamps
and shop windows filled with gas-jets, to see
across street. But such an occurrence is ex-
ceptional. There are months in London when
good weather, sunshine, and soft delightful
moonlight, are the rule, while in the country
during the spring and summer the people are
blessed with days of a mild, delicious sort
which are altogether unknown in other parts of
the world. The home-loving resident of Liv-
erpool who on such day has driven over
Chlllwall-lane; who after summer shower
has seen the bright blue break through soft,
gray Clouds who has seen the bright sun
shine on green lawns whose smoothness can
not be described who has seen the hedges
sparkling with diamond drops, the hawthorns
glowing and everywhere scenting the air with
their wondrous fragrance, the brook glistening
on the roadside, and the oak trees clothed with
fresher and deeper verdure-the man who
has been fortunate enough to witness such
scene may well be pardoned if in his enthusi-
asm he declares that no road in the world is to
be ikened to Chillwall-lane.