ENVIABLE POSITION OF THE ENGLISH COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, AS REGARDS ALL THE PLEASURES AND ADVANTAGES OF LIFE.
Alexander of Macedon said if he were not Alexander, he would choose to be Diogenes; Alexander of Russia also said if he were not Alexander, he would choose to be an English gentleman. And truly, it would require some ingenuity1 to discover any earthly lot like that of the English gentleman. The wealth and refinement2 at which this country has arrived, have thrown round English rural life every possible charm. Every art and energy is exerted in favour of the English gentleman. Look at the ancient castle, or the mansion3 of later ages, and then at the dwelling4 of the private gentleman now, and what a difference! The castle with its dungeon-like apartments, its few loop-holes for windows, its walls, mounds5, moats, drawbridges, and other defences to keep out the hostile prowlers which a semi-savage6 state of society brought, ever and anon, around it. Look at its naked walls, its massy, lumbering7 doors, its floors spread with rushes, and the rude style in which bed and board were constructed and served; and then turn your eyes on the modern mansion of the country gentleman. What a lovely sight is that! What a bright and pleasant abode8, instead of that heavy, martial9 pile! What a fair country—what a peaceful, well-ordered population surround it, instead of dreary10 forests, and savage hordes11! And look again at the mansion of the feudal12 ages; see its large, cheerless, tapestried13 halls, its ill-fitting doors and windows, through which the wintry winds come whistling and[12] careering. What naked, or rush-strewn floors still; what rude fashion of furniture, and vessels14 for the table; what a rude style of cookery; what a dearth15 of books; what a miserable16 and scanty17 display of portraits on the walls, making those they are intended to represent, look grim and hard as a generation of ogres. Then again, look at the modern mansion. What a snug18 and silken nest of delight is that. See what the progress of the arts and civilization has done for it. How light and airily it rises in some lovely spot. How it is carpeted, and draped with rich hangings and curtains. What soft and elegant beds; what a superior grace in the fashion of furniture, and all household utensils19. Silver and gold, brass20 and steel, porcelain21 and glass, into what rich and beautiful shapes have they been wrought22 by skilful23 hands for all purposes. See what a variety of rooms; what a variety of inventions in those rooms, which artificial and refined wants have called into existence. What books enrich the fair library; what glorious paintings grace its delicately-papered walls. Hark! music is issuing from instruments of novel and most ingenious construction. And all around what a splendidly cultivated country! What lovely gardens, in which flowers from every region are blowing. Here is a vast change!—a vast advance from the rude life of our ancestors; and the more we look into the present state of domestic life, the more we shall perceive the admirable perfection of its economy and arrangements. What was the life of our great nobility formerly24 in their country halls? With little intercourse25 with the capital; in the midst of huge forests, and almost impassable roads; hunting and carousing26 were their chief pleasures and employments, amid a throng27 of rude retainers. Look now at the mode of life of a private gentleman of no extraordinary revenue. When he comes down in a morning, he finds on his breakfast-table the papers which left London probably on the previous evening, bringing him the news of the whole world. There is nothing which is going on in Parliament, in the courts of law, in public meetings in the capital, or in any town of the kingdom; no birth, marriage, death, or any occurrence of importance, but they are all laid before him; there is nothing done or said in the mercantile, the literary, the scientific world, nothing which can affect the interests of his country in the most remote degree; nothing, indeed, which can thoroughly28 affect the well-being29 of men[13] all the world over, but there it is too. He sits in the midst of his woods and groves30, in the quietness of the country a hundred miles from the capital, and is as well acquainted with the movements and incidents of society as a reigning31 prince could have been some years ago, by couriers, correspondents, spies, fast-sailing packets, and similar agencies, maintained by all the aid and revenues of a nation. And for his morning meal, China and the Indies, east and west, send him their tea, coffee, sugar, chocolate, and preserved fruits. Lapland sends its reindeer32 tongues; Westphalia its hams; and his own rich land abundance of rural dainties. When breakfast is over, if he ask himself how he shall pass the day, what numerous and inexhaustible resources present themselves to his choice. Will he have music? The ladies of his family can give it him, in a high style of excellence33. Does he love paintings? His walls, and those of his wealthy neighbours, are covered with them. There are said to be more of the works of the great masters accumulated in our English houses than in all the world besides. Is he fond of books? What a mass of knowledge is piled up around him! Greece, Rome, Palestine, Arabia, India, France, Germany, Italy, every country, ancient or modern, which has distinguished34 itself by its genius and intelligence, has poured into his halls its accumulated wealth of heart and imagination. There is hoarded35 up in his library, food for the most insatiate spirit for an eternity36. In the literature and science merely of this country, he possesses more than the enjoyment37 of a life. Think only of the works of our historians and divines, of our travellers,—our natural, moral, and scientific philosophers; of the wit, the pathos38, the immense extent of inventions and facts in our general literature; of the glorious and ennobling themes of our great poets. What a mighty39 difference is there between the existence of one of our old baronial ancestors, who could not read, but as he sate40 over his winter fire solaced41 his spirit with the lays of a wandering minstrel; and of him who has at his command all the intellectual splendour, power and wit, the satire42, the joyous43 story, the humour, the elegance44 of phrase and of mind, the profound sentiment and high argument of such men as Chaucer, Spenser, Ben Jonson, Shakspeare, Beaumont and Fletcher, Milton, Dryden, Addison, Steele, Pope, Sam Johnson, Goldsmith, Cowper, and the noble poets of the present day. Is it[14] possible that ennui45 can come near a man who can at any moment call to his presence our Jeremy Taylors and Tillotsons, our Barrows, Burnets, and Stillingfleets—our travellers from every corner of the earth, and our great novelists with their everlasting46 inventions? Why, there is more delight in one good country library, than any one mortal life can consume. If a man’s house were situated47 in a desert of sand, the magic of this divine literature were enough to raise around him an elysium of perpetual greenness.
But it is not merely within doors that the singular privileges of an English gentleman lie. He need only step out, and he sees them surrounding him on every side. His gardens—by the labours and discoveries of centuries, by the genius of some men who have blended the spirit of nature most happily with that of art, and by the researches of others who have collected into this country the vegetable beauty and wealth of the whole world—have been made more delightful48 than those of Alcinous or Armida. Look at his glazed49 walls, his hot and green houses, which supply his table with the most delicious dessert. But go on—advance beyond the boundaries of his gardens, and the pleasant winding50 walks of his shrubberies, and where are you? In the midst of his park, his farms, his woods, and plantations51. Now every one knows the healthful and perpetual recreation to be found in any one of these places; the intense delight which many of our country gentlemen take in them, and the beauty and pre-eminence of our English parks, farms, and woods, in consequence. We shall speak more particularly of them presently; but it must not here be forgotten what a boundless52 field of enjoyment, and increase of wealth, science has of late years opened to the amateur farmer, and to the country gentlemen in general. To their fields, agricultural chemistry, mineralogy, botany, vegetable physiology53, entomology, etc., have brought new and inexhaustible charms. They have, in a manner, enlarged the territories of the smallest proprietor54 into kingdoms of boundless extent and interest. In the study of soils, their defects and remedies; in the selection of plants most consonant55 to the earth in which they are to grow, or the adaptation of the earth to them; in the inquiry56 into the mineral wealth that lies below the surface; in cultivating an acquaintance with the various animals, and especially insects, on whose presence or absence depends in a great degree the proper growth or destruction[15] of crops and young woods: in all these the country gentleman has a source of noble and profitable employment for the main part unknown to his ancestors, and worthy57 of his most earnest pursuit.
But, if all these means of happiness were not enough to satisfy his desires, or did not chime in with his taste, see what another field of animating58 and praiseworthy endeavour lies before him still, in the official service of his country. Retaining his character of a country gentleman, he can accept the office of a magistrate59, and become, if so disposed, a real benefactor60 and peacemaker to his neighbourhood. But he need not stop here. There is no country, not excepting British America, where the path of public service lies so open to a man of fortune, or is so wide in its reach. He can enter Parliament; and residing part of the year in the country, can during the other part take his place in an assembly, that for the importance of its discussions and acts has no fellow; for there is no other legislative61 assembly in the whole world where, with similar freedom of constitution, the same mighty mass of human interests is concerned—to which the same vast extent of influence is appended. I need do no more in proof of this, than merely point to the position of England amid the nations of the earth; her wealth and activity at home; her enormous territories abroad. Over all this,—over this extent of country, over these millions of beings, there is not a single country gentleman who has the ambition, but who may be called to exercise an influence. Here is a field of labour, enough of itself to fill the amplest desires, and by which, if he have the talent, any man of fortune may rise to the highest pitch of rank and distinction.
But if the country gentleman have not the ambition, or the love of so active a life; if he desire to enjoy himself in a different way, there is yet abundant choice. He may travel, if he please; and what a rich expanse of pleasures and interests lies before him in that direction. In our own islands there is a variety of scenery not to be rivalled in the same space in any other part of the world. The mountains, the lakes, the rivers of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, those of Cumberland and Derbyshire; the rich plains; the busy cities, with all their arts and curious manufactures; our ports, with all their interesting scenes; the various historical and antiquarian objects; the numerous breeds of cattle, sheep, and horses;[16] the varied62 kinds of vegetable products, and modes of farming;—these, to a mind of any taste and intelligence, offer plentiful63 matter of observation in short summer excursions. And what splendid roads, fleet horses, convenient carriages, and excellent inns, are ready to convey him on the way, or receive him for refreshment64. If he is disposed to go abroad, who has the money, or the education, to give facility and advantage to travel in every region like the English gentleman?—Such are the privileges and pleasures attendant on the country gentleman of England. In all these he has, or may have, the society of women whose beauty and intelligence are everywhere acknowledged; and for the ladies of England living in the country, there are books, music, the garden, the conservatory—an abundance of elegant and womanly occupations. There are drives through woods and fields of the most delicious character; there is social intercourse with neighbouring wealthy families, and a host of kind offices to poor ones, which present the sweetest sources of enjoyment.
I think the extraordinary blessings65 and privileges of English rural life have never been sufficiently66 considered. It is only when we begin to count them up that we become aware of their amount, and surpassing character. What is there of divine sentiment or earthly knowledge, of physical, intellectual, or religious good; what is there of generous, social, reflective, retiring or aspiring67; what is there of freshness and beauty; of luxurious68 in life, or preparatory to a peaceful death; what is there that can purify the spirit, ennoble the heart, and prompt men to a wise and extensive beneficence, which may not be found in English rural life? It has every thing in it which is beautiful, and may become glorious and godlike.
Such golden deeds lead on to golden days,
Days of domestic peace—by him who plays
On the great stage how uneventful thought;
A thousand incidents that stir the mind
To pleasure, such as leaves no sting behind!
Such as the heart delights in—and records
Within how silently—in more than words!
On the fresh herbage, near the fountain-head.[17]
With quips and cranks—what time the woodlark there
What time the kingfisher sits hushed below,
Where silver-bright the water-lilies blow:—
A Wake—the booths whitening the village green,
Where Punch and Scaramouch aloft are seen;
Sign beyond sign in close array unfurled,
Picturing at large the wonders of the world;
And far and wide, over the Vicar’s pale,
All, all abroad, and music in the gale:—
A Wedding Dance—a dance into the night,
When the young bride receives the promised dower,
And flowers are flung, herself a fairer flower:
A Morning-visit to the poor man’s shed,
(Who would be rich while one was wanting bread?)
Where all are emulous to bring relief,
And tears are falling fast—but not for grief;—
A Walk in Spring—Grattan, like those with thee
By the heath-side (who had not envied me?)
When the sweet limes, so full of bees in June,
And thou didst say which of the great and wise,
Could they but hear and at thy bidding rise,
Thou would’st call up and question.
Graver things
Come in their turn. Morning and evening brings
Its holy office; and the sabbath bell,
That over wood and wild, and mountain-dell,
Wanders so far, chasing all thoughts unholy,
With sounds most musical, most melancholy76,
Not on his ear is lost. Then he pursues
Nor unattended; and when all are there,
Pours out his spirit in the House of Prayer,—
That House with many a funeral-garland hung,
The last yet fresh when marriage chimes were ringing,
And hope and joy in other hearts were springing;—
That House where age led in by filial love,—
Their looks composed, their thoughts on things above,
The world forgot, or all its wrongs forgiven—
Who would not say they trod the path to Heaven?
Rogers’ Human Life.
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收听单词发音
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1
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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mounds
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| 土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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lumbering
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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hordes
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| n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落 | |
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feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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tapestried
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| adj.饰挂绣帷的，织在绣帷上的v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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dearth
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| n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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porcelain
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| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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carousing
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| v.痛饮，闹饮欢宴( carouse的现在分词 ) | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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reindeer
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| n.驯鹿 | |
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excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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hoarded
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| v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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40
sate
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| v.使充分满足 | |
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solaced
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| v.安慰，慰藉( solace的过去分词 ) | |
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satire
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| n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品 | |
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joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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ennui
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| n.怠倦，无聊 | |
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everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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47
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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49
glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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50
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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51
plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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52
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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53
physiology
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| n.生理学，生理机能 | |
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54
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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55
consonant
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| n.辅音；adj.[音]符合的 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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animating
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| v.使有生气( animate的现在分词 )；驱动；使栩栩如生地动作；赋予…以生命 | |
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magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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legislative
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| n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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67
aspiring
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| adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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69
fraught
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| adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的 | |
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frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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71
scatters
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| v.（使）散开， （使）分散，驱散( scatter的第三人称单数 )；撒 | |
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hoods
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| n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩 | |
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73
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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74
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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75
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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76
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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77
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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78
yews
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| n.紫杉( yew的名词复数 ) | |
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79
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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