International Miscellany of Literature, Art and Science, Vol. 1,: No. 3, Oct. 1, 1850Various
Science
International Miscellany of Literature, Art and Science, Vol. 1,: No. 3, Oct. 1, 1850
Various
Art -- Periodicals; Literature -- Periodicals; Science -- Periodicals
Long and loud were the applauses which this announcement occasioned. The
young people turned out upon the green for a dance, and in the evening,
after an excellent tea, the whole company descended the river to
Stockington in boats and barges decorated with boughs and flowers, and
singing a song made by William Watson for the occasion, called "The
Health of Sir Simon, last and first of his Line!"
Years have rolled on. The groves and river banks and islands of Rockville
are still greatly frequented, but are never known to be injured: poachers
are never known there, for four reasons. First, nobody would like to
annoy the good Sir Simon; secondly, game is not very numerous there;
thirdly, there is no fun in killing it, where there is no resistance; and
fourthly, it is vastly more abundant in other proprietors' demesnes, and
it is fun to kill it there, where it is jealously watched, and there is a
chance of a good spree with the keepers.
And with what different feelings does the good Sir Simon look down from
his lofty eyrie, over the princely expanse of meadows, and over the
glittering river, and over the stately woods to where Great Stockington
still stretches farther and farther its red brick walls, its red-tiled
roofs, and its tall smoke-vomiting chimneys. There he sees no haunts of
crowded enemies to himself or any man. No upstarts, nor envious
opponents, but a past family of human beings, all toiling for the good of
their families and their country. All advancing, some faster, some
slower, to a better education, a better social condition, a better
conception of the principles of art and commerce, and a clearer
recognition of their rights and duties, and a more cheering faith
in the upward tendency of humanity.
Looking on this interesting scene from his distant and quiet home, Sir
Simon sees what blessings flow--and how deeply he feels them in his own
case--from a free circulation, not only of trade, but of human relations.
How this corrects the mischiefs, moral and physical, of false systems and
rusty prejudices;--and he ponders on schemes of no ordinary beauty and
beneficence yet to reach his beloved town through them. He sees lecture
halls and academies, means of sanitary purification, and delicious
recreation, in which baths, wash-houses, and airy homes figure largely;
while public walks extend all round the great industrial hive, including
wood, hills, meadow and river in their circuit of many miles. There he
lived and labored; there live and labor his sons; and there he trusts his
family will continue to live and labor to all future generations: never
retiring to the fatal indolence of wealth, but aiding onward its active
and ever-expanding beneficence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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