of the reign of Henry VIII., when the hall was occupied by the very ancient and historical family of de Barlow, allied by marriage to the still more celebrated Stanleys, as shown by the heraldry of the window. [Illustration: Barlow Hall.] No chapter of the original little volume of 1858 calls for so many obituary notices, now in 1882, as this one descriptive of Gatley Carrs. The magnificent, not to say unique, Didsbury sycamore was cut down a year or two after the publication. The great horse-chestnut, near Singleton has disappeared.[13] Mr. Callender died in 1872. Mr. Stone, sen., is also "with the majority," and the Carrs themselves no longer deserve the ancient appellation, having been crossed by a railway embankment. A good deal remains no doubt that is pretty and pleasing, but the picture drawn above exists no longer. That a locality once so beautiful should have been thus rudely dealt with is unfortunate, few will deny. But nothing that contributes to the prosperity of a great nation, or to the public welfare, is at any time to be deplored. Such changes simply illustrate anew the primæval law that great purposes shall always demand some kind of sacrifice. [Illustration] Footnotes [12: The epitaph, Mr. Kelly kindly points out to me, is veritably Pope's, but was originally written for the Hon. Robt. Digby and his sister Mary. It was altered and abridged to suit the monument which now bears it,--one to the memory of the Hon. Penelope Ducie Tatton, who died Jan. 31, 1747.] [13: It may be well to say that this grand old tree stood by the lodge gates of Polefield Hall, a few hundred yards through the village of Holyrood, or Rooden Lane, on the right towards Besses-o'-th'-Barn. Unlike the Didsbury sycamore, which was in the prime of its princely life, the Singleton horse-chestnut had become decrepid, and during the rigour of the winters beginning in 1878 received injuries from which it could not possibly recover.] [Illustration] CHAPTER VI. BY THE NORTH-WESTERN LINE THROUGH STOCKPORT. Oh, my lord, lie not idle: The chiefest action for a man of great spirit Is never to be out of action. We should think The soul was never put into the body, Which has so many rare and curious pieces Of mathematical motion, to stand still. WEBSTER.