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Show 800 A DAY SPENT Ai' edged in England. The calm stillness of the after· noon, the seclusion of the whole place, tl1e silence only broken by the cawing of the rooks, the ancient church, the mossy graves with their flowers and green grass, the sunshine and the tree shadows, all seemed to mingle together in a kind of hazy ch·cam of peace· fulness and rest. IIow natural it is to say of some place sheltered, simple, cool, and retired, here one might find peace, as if peace came from without, and not from within. In the shadiest and stillest places may be the most tmbulent hearts, and there are hearts which, through the busiest scenes, carry with them unchanging peace. As we were walking back, we passed many cottages of the poor. I noticed, with particular pleasure, the invariable flower garden attached to each. Some pansies in one of them attracted my attention by their peculiar beauty, so very large and richly colored. On being introduced to the owner of them, she, with cheerful alacrity, offered me some of the finest. I do not doubt of there being sufi'ering and misery in the agri· cultural population of England, bu~ still there are multitudes of cottages, which are really very pleasant objects, as were all these. The cottagers had that PLAYFORD IlALL. 301 bright, rosy look of health which we seldom see in America, and appeared to be both polite and self. respecting. In the evening we had quite a gathering of friends from the ncigllborhood-intclligcnt, sensible, earnest, people-who hatl grown up in the love of the anti· slavery cause ns into religion. rl,he subject of conver· sation was: "'rhc duty of English people to free themselves from any participation in American slavery, by taking means to encourage the production of free cotton in the British provinces." It is no more impossible or improbable that some· thing effective may be done in-this way, than that the slave· trade should have been abolished. Every great movement seems an impossibility at first. ~'here is no end to the number of things declared and proved impossible, which have been done already, so that this may do something yet. Mrs. Clarkson had retired from the room early; after a while she sent for me to her sitting· room. 'l'he faithful attendant of whom I spoke was with her. She wished to show me some relics of her husband, his watch and seals, some of his papers and mann· scripts; among these was the identical prize essay |
