nd the watchful
mother. These distant out-works must be mastered before there is the
slightest chance of communicating even a summons to the citadel. English
travellers, therefore, express surprise at the artless confidence with
which unmarried ladies in America commit themselves to the solitary chat
with a comparative stranger, take his hand or his arm after a few hours'
acquaintance, and expose themselves to the surprise of a _declaration_
before the extent of his means or the respectability of his connexion have
been discussed and settled. Between the merits of these different modes of
procedure, the present writer has neither the wish nor the ability to
arbitrate. They have their growth in such widely different states of
society, that the reformer must be bold who should attempt to transpose or
change them. It is sufficient for our present purpose to remark, that if
the visitor at Tonbridge should have failed to make those preliminary
advances just spoken of, his pleasures here, as an admirer of female
loveliness, will most probably be limited to seeing the fair creatures
ride on diminutive donkeys (such is the custom of Tonbridge) to the wells,
there to drink the chalybeate and promenade the _pantiles_. But what then?
If he have not the _entree_ of society, the charms of nature and the
attractions of English scenery are spread before him. His guide-book will
tell him of grotesque rocks upon lonely heaths where Druids may have
worshipped; and of Bayham Abbey, with its mouldering walls and 'antiquary
ivy,' which still attests amidst its ruins the luxury and wealth of its
ancient masters. He may look in one direction over the broad lands and
towering spires of Eridge Castle, or turning in another, soon lose amidst
the recollections of Penshurst and in the homage which the heart renders
to departed virtue, all sense of the vexatious forms and frivolous though
perhaps inseparable distinctions of modern society.

Approaching Penshurst from Tonbridge, we alight at the ancient church
which stands in close contiguity with the family mansion. A ramble amidst
its graves, a walk through its solemn aisles, a moment's pause among its
darkened monuments, seems to be but a suitable preparation for our farther
researches. It is scarcely possible to enter one of these venerable
religious edifices of the old world, which form so striking a feature in
its scenery, without feeling in some degree an impression as if the dim
and solemn fa