side I would wander, for his
bread I would beg."

"Young man," exclaimed Montagu, "from this hour I admit thee to my
heart! Give me thy hand. Beggar and outcast?--No! If the storm come, the
meaner birds take to shelter, the eagle remains solitary in heaven!" So
saying, he relapsed into silence, and put spurs to his steed. Towards
the decline of day they drew near to the favourite palace of the
Archbishop of York. There the features of the country presented a more
cultivated aspect than it had hitherto worn. For at that period the
lands of the churchmen were infinitely in advance of those of the laity
in the elementary arts of husbandry, partly because the ecclesiastic
proprietors had greater capital at their command, partly because their
superior learning had taught them to avail themselves, in some
measure, of the instructions of the Latin writers. Still the prevailing
characteristic of the scenery was pasture land,--immense tracts of
common supported flocks of sheep; the fragrance of new-mown hay breathed
sweet from many a sunny field. In the rear stretched woods of Druid
growth; and in the narrow lanes, that led to unfrequent farms and
homesteads, built almost entirely either of wood or (more primitive
still) of mud and clay, profuse weeds, brambles, and wild-flowers almost
concealed the narrow pathway, never intended for cart or wagon, and
arrested the slow path of the ragged horse bearing the scanty produce
of acres to yard or mill. But though to the eye of an economist or
philanthropist broad England now, with its variegated agriculture, its
wide roads, its white-walled villas, and numerous towns, may present a
more smiling countenance, to the early lover of Nature, fresh from the
child-like age of poetry and romance, the rich and lovely verdure which
gave to our mother-country the name of "Green England;" its wild woods
and covert alleys, proffering adventure to fancy; its tranquil heaths,
studded with peaceful flocks, and vocal, from time to time, with the
rude scrannel of the shepherd,--had a charm which we can understand
alone by the luxurious reading of our elder writers. For the country
itself ministered to that mingled fancy and contemplation which the
stirring and ambitious life of towns and civilization has in much
banished from our later literature.

Even the thoughtful Montagu relaxed his brow as he gazed around, and he
said to Marmaduke, in a gentle and subdued voice,--

"Methinks, young cousin, th