ent, and things o' that kind; for he is an
out and out old Tory, and thinks nothin' can be changed here for the
better, except them that don't agree with him.

"He was a warnin' you t'other day not to take all I said for Gospel
about society here; but you'll see who's right and who's wrong afore
you've done, I know. I described to you, when you returned from Germany,
_Dinin' out_ to London. Now I'll give you my opinion of "Life in the
Country." And fust of all, as I was a sayin', there is no such thing as
natur' here. Every thing is artificial; every thing of its kind alike;
and every thing oninterestin' and tiresome.

"Well, if London is dull, in the way of West Eend people, the country, I
guess, is a little mucher. Life in the country is different, of course,
from life in town; but still life itself is alike there, exceptin' again
_class difference_. That is, nobility is all alike, as far as their
order goes; and country gents is alike, as far as their class goes; and
the last especially, when they hante travelled none, everlastin' flat,
in their own way. Take a lord, now, and visit him to his country seat,
and I'll tell you what you will find--a sort of Washington State
house place. It is either a rail old castle of the genuine kind, or a
gingerbread crinkum crankum imitation of a thing that only existed in
fancy, but never was seen afore--a thing that's made modern for use, and
in ancient stile for shew; or else it's a great cold, formal, slice of a
London terrace, stack on a hill in a wood.

"Well, there is lawn, park, artificial pond called a lake, deer that's
fashionablized and civilized, and as little natur in 'em as the humans
have. Kennel and hounds for parsicutin' foxes--presarves (not what we
call presarves, quinces and apple sarce, and green gages done in sugar,
but preserves for breedin' tame partridges and peasants to shoot at),
H'aviaries, Hive-eries, H'yew-veris, Hot Houses, and so on; for they put
an H before every word do these critters, and then tell us Yankees we
don't speak English.

"Well, when you have seen an old and a new house of these folks, you
have seen all. Featurs differ a little, but face of all is so alike,
that though p'raps you wouldn't mistake one for another, yet you'd say
they was all of one family. The king is their father.

"Now it may seem kinder odd to you, and I do suppose it will, but what
little natur there is to England is among these upper crust nobility.
_Extremes me