His attention was soon drawn to some
very beautiful new cottages.
"These," said he, "are no doubt erected at the expense,
and for the gratification of some great landed proprietor.
They are not the abodes of ordinary labourers, but designed
for some favoured dependant or aged servant. They are
expensive toys, but still they are not without their use.
They diffuse a taste among the peasantry--they present
them with models, which, though they cannot imitate in
costliness of material or finish, they can copy in
arrangement, and in that sort of decoration, which flowers,
and vines, and culture, and care can give. Let us seek
one which is peculiarly the poor man's cottage, and let
us go in and see who and what they are, how they live,
and above all, how they think and talk. Here is a lane,
let us follow it, till we come to a habitation."
We turned into a grass road, bounded on either side by
a high straggling thorn hedge. At its termination was an
irregular cottage with a thatched roof, which projected
over the windows in front. The latter were latticed with
diamond-shaped panes of glass, and were four in number,
one on each side of the door and two just under the roof.
The door was made of two transverse parts, the upper half
of which was open. On one side was a basket-like cage
containing a magpie, and on the other, a cat lay extended
on a bench, dozing in the warmth of the sun. The blue
smoke, curling upwards from a crooked chimney, afforded
proof of some one being within.
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