of bowls. We copied these with some trouble in the fading light. At the time we deemed them rather good; probably it was that we were in a mood to be easily pleased, for on reading them over on our return home, we quite reversed our first opinion. The landlady told us that they had been written by the village schoolmaster in 1849, and said moreover that they were considered very clever, many people having copied them. It would seem that after all 'a prophet has' sometimes honour in his own country.'

We had not the green all to ourselves; there was a townsman there smoking a churchwarden contentedly, who watched the copying of the verses with evident interest. He was manifestly, as the Americans express it, 'spoiling for a gossip.' At last he ventured to address me, and having broken. the ice gave me the full benefit of his opinions. 'You be a copying them verses, I see, sir; they be much admired, that they be. I never read no poetry I likes better, that I never did. He must have been a great scholard who wrote them, that he must. The lots of people as I've seen a copying those lines, to be sure! You see, sir, I ain't had no grand schooling, there wern't no school boards in my time, but I can read, and I knows what I likes.' And so the remarks followed each other apace, concluding with Supposes you bain't a poet, bees you, sir?' I smilingly replied that I had never written a line of poetry in my life. 'Ah, sir,' he continued, 'it takes a clever man to write poetry, that it do.' Manifestly he thought that I was not clever

M

enough, which, though true, was hardly flattering. Having finished my copying and my pipe, I bade my companion 'good night' and beat a hasty retreat indoors, for he appeared to be about to recommence his remarks on poets and poetry, and 'one can have too much even of a good thing.'

One meets at times very curious characters at these country inns, and many an interesting evening have I spent in the bar of such, chatting with and studying the peculiarities of the rural folk, hearing their opinions, political and otherwise, and listening to the mild scandal of the neighbourhood.

Perhaps, as I have said so much about the verses in the bowling-green of the Angel at Halesworth, I may have raised the curiosity of my readers to know what they are like. I have therefore transcribed them below; should they not care for the schoolmaster's poetry, they have full licence to skip it. You may be obliged to listen to a dull sermon or an uninteresting lecture; an author, fortunately, however, cannot compel you to read any of his work unless you are so minded, and for this very reason I often prefer printed books to spoken lectures. Books never weary me; when they become tedious I simply shut them up. But I am wandering; here are the verses:—

Life, like the game of bowls, is but an end,
Which to play well this moral verse attend.
Throw not your bowl too rashly from your hand,
First let its course by reason's eye be plann'd,

Lest it roll useless o'er the verdant plain,

Thus sanguine life is often spent in vain.

Bowling too short you but obstruct the green,
Like those who loiter on life's public scene.

Know well your bias: here the moral school
Scarce needs a comment on the bowling rule.
Play not too straight: in life observe the same,
The narrow-minded often miss their aim.

Nor yet too wide; with caution eye your cast;
Use not extent of green or life to waste.
One bowling trick avoid in moral play,
Ah! never block your neighbour's way.

These rules observed, a man may play his game

On this small spot or through the world with fame.

But to return to the characters one comes upon now and again at country inns, the tradesmen of the place generally assemble in the bar in the evening; it is their club, and they chat and argue over all matters, from the affairs of the state down to the weather; on market days you may meet with a few farmers who have stayed on to have a little gossip by way of change. In such gatherings politics seem to be a standing topic, always available when other matters fail; a local cricket match, a wedding, or a death, however, is by far the favourite subject for discussion. Thus a quiet listener may gather a good deal of local information in no other way obtainable. In one case we heard a heated argument as to the respective advantages of free trade and fair trade. During the discussion one of the disputants scored' with the following anecdote, though what authority he had for his statement I know not; possibly he evolved it from his inner consciousness. The other day the Spanish minister of finance asked a Protectionist deputation why he should be compelled to purchase his clothes in Spain when he could get them better and cheaper in England. The deputation replied, why should