Without and Within." By
arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, Houghton, Mifflin
Co. Copyright, 1881.]

BY RICHARD GRANT WHITE

Now I will tell you a little--it can be but a little--about life in the
"great houses," as they are called here. When you are asked to come to
one, a train is suggested, and you are told that a carriage will be at the
station to meet you. Somehow the footman manages to find you out. At ----
which is a little station at which few people get out, I had hardly left
the train when a very respectable-looking person, not a footman, stept up
to me and said, "Lord ----'s carriage is waiting for you, sir." The
carriage and the footman and coachman were, of course, on the other side
of the building. My drive from the station to ---- took quite as long a
time as it took me to come down by rail from London, altho we went at a
grand trot. The country was beautiful, stretching off on both sides in
broad fields and meadows, darkened in lines by hedges, and in spots by
clumps of trees. The roads were very narrow--they seemed rather like
lanes--and this effect was increased by the high walls and hedges on
either side. Two carriages had hardly room to pass in some places, with
careful driving. Being in Lord ----'s well-known carriage, I was quite in
state, and the country folk, most of them, bowed to me as I went on; and
of course I followed the apostolic injunction, and condescended unto men
of low estate.

And, by the way, yesterday afternoon (for a day has passed since I began
this letter, and I am now at ----) Lady ---- drove me through their park
and off to ----, the dowager Lady ----'s jointure house, and I had the
honor of acknowledging for her all the numerous bobs and ducks she
received from the tenants and their children. So, you see, I shall be in
good training when I come into my estate. When and where I entered the
park, either here or at ----, I could not exactly make out. There were
gates and gates, and the private grounds seemed to shade off gradually
into the public. I know that the park extended far beyond the lodge. The
house at ---- is very ugly. It was built by Inigo Jones, and, never
handsome, was altogether spoiled by tasteless alterations in the last
century. The ugliness of English country houses built at that time is
quite inexpressible.

I ought to have said that the ----s are in mourning;... and it was very
kind of them to invite me. I was met at the door by a d