covered
stair. The monastic charities founded by men of the old religion are now
in the hands of the corporation for distribution among the poor of the
town, and besides the old grammar-school founded by Henry VIII., with a
yearly exhibition to each of the universities, and open to all boys, rich
and poor, of the town, there are five other public schools and forty
almshouses. The old generous, helpful spirit survives, in spite of new
economic theories, in these English country towns, and landlords and
merchants have not yet given up the old-fashioned belief that where they
make their money they are bound to spend it to the best advantage of their
poorer and less fortunate neighbors. Many local magnates, however, have
departed from this rule. Country gentlemen no longer have houses in the
county-town, but flock to London for the purposes of social and
fashionable life. They have decidedly lost in dignity by this rush to the
capital, and it is doubtful how far they have gained in pleasure, though
the few whose means still compel them to stay at home, or only go to town
once or twice in a lifetime for a court presentation, would gladly take
the risk for the sake of the experiment. The feeling which made the Rohans
adopt as a motto, "Roy ne puis--Prince ne veux--Rohan je suis," is one
which is theoretically strong among the country squires of England, the
possessors of the bluest blood and longest deeds of hereditary lands; but
the snobbishness of the nineteenth century is practically apt to taint the
younger branches when they read of garden-parties given by the royal
princes or balls where duchesses and cabinet ministers are as plentiful as
blackberries. Their great-grandmothers, it is true, were sometimes
troubled with the same longings, for among the many proclamations against
the residence in London of country gentlemen in unofficial positions is
one of James I., noticing "those swarms of gentry, who, through the
instigation of their wives, do neglect their country hospitality and
cumber the city, a general nuisance to the kingdom;" and the royal
Solomon elsewhere observes that "gentlemen resident on their estates are
like ships in port--their value and magnitude are felt and acknowledged;
but when at a distance, as their size seemeth insignificant, so their
worth and importance are not duly estimated." There is a weak point in
this simile, however; so, to cover it with a better and more unpretentious
argument, I will qu