Arnold. I rather think this way of relatives living together is more
common here in England than it is in America; and there is more idea of
home permanence connected with the family dwelling-place than with us,
where the country is so wide, and causes of change and removal so
frequent. A man builds a house in England with the expectation of living
in it and leaving it to his children; while we shed our houses in
America as easily as a snail does his shell. We live a while in Boston,
and then a while in New York, and then, perhaps, turn up at Cincinnati.
Scarcely any body with us is living where they expect to live and die.
The man that dies in the house he was born in is a wonder. There is
something pleasant in the permanence and repose of the English family
estate, which we, in America, know very little of. All which is apropos
to our having finished our walk, and got back to the ivy-covered porch
again.

The next day at breakfast, it was arranged that we should take a drive
out to Speke Hall, an old mansion, which is considered a fine specimen
of ancient house architecture. So the carriage was at the door. It was
a cool, breezy, April morning, but there was an abundance of wrappers
and carriage blankets provided to keep us comfortable. I must say, by
the by, that English housekeepers are bountiful in their provision for
carriage comfort. Every household has a store of warm, loose over
garments, which are offered, if needed, to the guests; and each carriage
is provided with one or two blankets, manufactured and sold expressly
for this use, to envelope one's feet and limbs; besides all which,
should the weather be cold, comes out a long stone reservoir, made flat
on both sides, and filled with hot water, for foot stools. This is an
improvement on the primitive simplicity of hot bricks, and even on the
tin foot stove, which has nourished in New England.