Year: 1876

Countrymen-perhap because they know


comparatively little about other matters


are severely critical on all who aspire to
distinction in their own walk OF life; and
| Lord Bcaconsfeld is hardly endowed with
the temperament proper to q country
squire. 4 lenient landlord and highly pop


ular among the few whom he favors with


his friendship, he is hardly looked upon


by his people as the ruler OF the little
| community over which he holds terrific


rial dominion, or by the county magnates
| about him as one Of themselves. With
| the foX-hunting squires and game preservers
he has no community Of tastes. Living IN
the midst Of pleasant woodlands, he has


none Of the ordinary attractions Of country
life to offer his visitors. No CHEEKY cackle


OF pheasants is ever heard in his coverts,


and the sound Of breech-loaders never wakes


the echoes over the many acres of his up


land stubble. At his country house his life
is one of almost complete seclusion, to


which only few select guests are admitted,
who care more for brilliant literary compan-


ionShip and the attractions of o well-ordered


table than for the relaxation of rural plea


sures. The rest and retirement which he
finds here are welcome and pleasant after


protracted labor, but they are enjoyed at


long intervals, and then somewhat sadly.
i 8


to solitary wandering among the woodland
paths which the taste of the late Lady Bea-
constield did so much to beautify; and prob


ably he is not far wrong in preferring this


communion with nature to an interchange


of thoughts with his neighbors on parochial
politics. In the woods themselves there is
much to justify the preference. The tall
and noble beech-treeS that crown the knobs
above Hughenden and flank the house on
either hand with delightful, shadowy groves
have long furnished material for the industry


whereby the people of Wycombe mainly eX-
ist: and the owner, as he walks through the


apparently interminable paths, has the proud
knowledge that these woods are not beauti-
ful wildernesses growing simply for his
selfish indulgence, but as much means OF


giving food to the toilers as the bright corn-
fields that are charmingly set in their fringe


of dark foliage. So cunningly are the mar


row paths cut along the contours OF the
hills-now jutt1ng out with aswelling spur,
now running back into sudden hollow
and so thick the screen Of foliage on either
hand that the visitor seems to wander


through endless avenues Of vast woodlands,
while he is really traversing narrow curve.
II he catches once a glimpse OF some
sunny upland, or the gable OF afarn-house


rising above tree-tops, his next view OF the


same object will be from point


which so alters the aspect OF things


that he seems to be looking on an entirely


different scene. Thus hundred or two


acres of woods, a noble park and manor
farm swell, by the aid OF subtle art, into the
proportions of grand forest, surrounded
by smiling homes set in the midst of rich
fields and diversified by charming pleasure


grounds. Not that the beech woods are OF
mean extent even when the trick that mag
mites their proportions has been discovered,


and they have points Of attraction which the
lover OF nature would willingly linger to
contemplate in serene leisure. Tall, straight


shafts OF ruddy pine, crested with rustllng


needles, alternates with the swelling gray
boles and delicate foliage Of the beeches
here and there the narrow, twisting paths
widen into open glades, where only few


piant trees are left standing to give a
cbeouered shade to the yerdant sward OF a
trim lawn, and then close again into delight
ful shady avenues.


In these woods it was Mr.. Disraeli's
| pleasure to wander, when Lady Beacons-
| field would superintend the planting OF
trees and the cutting OF paths; and there


he delights to wander still, with head bent
| contemplatively, hands thrust into the deep
|
| hat shading his brow. But deep in thought
though he may be, his step is iaunty and
his eve is quick to note all that passes
around him. Except the path that leads
from the town to the little rural church
wing under the shadow Of the great house,
all are closed against the vulgar herd by the


stern i" "TrespasSers will be prosecuted" " !;


and when the lord OF the manor is


known to be at home few venture there.
Still. when he meets any OF the country
neo,,le. on his own domain or in the neigh
boring byways, he seldom omits an oppor-
tunity of acquiring some information about
their calling that may serve him for happy
illustration. His visits to the farms down
in the hollow and away over the hills are


freuuent, and the outcome Of the long con-


versat:ons with the shrewdly practical ten
onts NAV be marked in his next speech at q
Ruckinghamshire agricultural gathering,
when he discourses learnedly OF Oxford


down sheep or the proper succession OF


crops. One source of information he mas


neglected; some Of his cottagers, VINO nave


lived on the estate for many years, nave


never received O visit from him up TO the


present hour.


Hughenden House, promising much from


its towering situation on the crest OF Dolu


knoll. where il rises high above the ranges


OF level terraces, and from the dignihed ex-


panse OF It's broad front, is somewhat DIS


appointing. The renaissance ornamental


tion that incr1lsts windows and parapets is


the veneer Of very prim elghteenth-cen-


tury mansion; within there is no renats-


snnce yastness or richness OF decoration in


which the exuberant Oriental fancy OF the


owner might be expected to reyei. A mar


row hall leads, on the one hand, TO dining


room that is almost severe In the simpncty


of its bare pannelled walls, strais nt-paeked


chairs, and colorless drapery; on tne 9tner' aa