The old county town is thriving. It is a place to which all the neighbourhood gravitates. There is now a setting of the tide into towns, and ebb in the country places. Servants will not go to the country. Meat, dairy produce, fowls, are as dear in the country as in the towns. In the towns it is not necessary to keep a pony carriage; in the towns there is escape from those village parasites who fall on and eat up those who settle in the country; and in the towns there is more going on. In the towns educational advantages are to be had which are lacking in the country. So, not only do old ladies go to towns, but also families fairly well off; and the country is becoming deserted. Small, pretty houses do not let well there; great houses not at all. So the country towns are eating up the country. "Clean, airy, and affluent; well paved, well lighted, well watched; abounding in wide and spacious streets, filled with excellent shops and handsome houses;--such is the outward appearance, the bodily form, of our market town," says Miss Mitford concerning Belford; and the description applies to every other county town in England. As for the vital-spark, the life-blood that glows and circulates through the dead mass of mortar and masonry, that I have neither space to describe, nor would one description apply to every other. [Illustration] _December, 1889._ MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST. By the Author of "MEHALAH," "JOHN HERRING," &c. _Now ready at all Libraries._ ARMINELL: A Social Romance. 3 vols. Crown 8vo, 31_s._ 6_d._ _By the SAME AUTHOR._ OLD COUNTRY LIFE. By S. BARING GOULD, M.A. With numerous Illustrations and Initial Letters by W. Parkinson, F. D. Bedford, and F. Masey. Large crown 8vo, 10_s._ 6_d._ A Limited Edition on Large Paper has also been printed, 21_s._ net. [_Just out._ CONTENTS:--Chaps. 1. Old County Families.--2. The Last Squire.--3. Country Houses.--4. The Old Garden.--5. The Country Parson.--6. The Hunting Parson.--7. Country Dances.--8. Old Roads.--9. Family Portraits.--10. The Village Musician.--11. The Village Bard.--12. Old Servants.--13. The Hunt.--14. The County Town. _By the SAME AUTHOR._ HISTORIC ODDITIES AND STRANGE EVENTS. By S. BARING GOULD, M.A. Demy 8vo, 10_s._ 6_d._ [_Now ready._ "A collection of exciting and entertaining chapters. The whole volume is delightful reading."--_Times._ "The stories are well retailed, with admirable conciseness and point."--_Athenæum._ "The work, besides being agreeable to read, is valuable for purposes of reference. The entire contents are stimulating and delightful."--_Notes and Queries._ _By the SAME AUTHOR._ SONGS OF THE WEST: Traditional Ballads and Songs of the West of England, with their Traditional Melodies. Collected by S. BARING GOULD, M.A., and H. FLEETWOOD SHEPPARD, M.A. Arranged for Voice and Piano. In 4 Parts (containing 25 Songs each), 3_s._ each net.