THE SPOILING OF SCENERY

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if you will; and railways do not meet you by the roadside generally; distance disguises most of their shortcomings-in verity it 'lends enchantment to the view'; and at a long way off I am not sure if the white trail of steam of a moving train, or the view of an extended viaduct, are not rather a gain than a loss to the landscape. The first lends life to the scene, and the latter with its many arches repeating themselves may, without a great strain upon the imagination, be converted into a Roman aqueduct or viaduct. The effect of the two at a distance is almost identical; and the long straight line at the top of the structure, with the contrasting circular forms below, is pleasing to the eye, and the combined whole a valuable feature in any landscape.

Manufacturing towns you may avoid; and though railways have gridironed the land all over, their existence, more often than not, is a matter of knowledge rather than of observation to the wanderer by road; they do not assert themselves everywhere. But with man the case is different: he builds his houses on every side, close by the roadway, up hill and down dale, generally selecting the choicest spots. You thus cannot ignore or escape from him; even the enchanting hand of distance fails to help you here.

C

Caterham --A Fine Panorama-Scenic Surprises-An Ancient Milestone -The Forsaken Highway-Godstone--An Evening StrollOur Churches-Picturesque Almshouses-The Old-fashioned Inn and the Modern Hotel-Curious Titles to Rooms-Old SignsPast Recollections.

CONTINUING on our way, we presently reached the village of Caterham-evidently a prosperous little place, judging from the many new buildings springing up all around. Caterham is pleasantly situated in a sheltered valley with swelling downs around, and doubtless its present prosperity-which, by the way, has not added to its picturesqueness-is due to the facilities of the railway, and the number of people seeking for country residences within easy reach of London-still just far enough from town to be in the real country and to enjoy rustic pursuits. Yet these very advantages bid eventually to spoil the spot; for how long, we could not help asking ourselves, will it retain its rural attractions after the speculative builder has found it out? From what I can judge of his doings,

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this will only be a matter of time. If you desire to live in the real country in undisturbed tranquillity, you will wisely select some retired spot well out of touch of the iron way. Verb. sap.

Leaving Caterham behind, the road gradually grew more and more rural till, nearing Godstone, it became pretty in the extreme, just before reaching which a glorious far-spreading panorama opened out to the left before us, both surprising and delighting us by its unexpectedness. One of the great charms of road travel is the delightful uncertainty of what lies before you. Each turn in the way reveals something fresh; you are thus led on and on with an irresistible attraction. Coming unawares, and without any foreknowledge of the good things that are in store for you, enhances wonderfully the effect of even the finest prospect. How often have I (and doubtless many others have experienced the same feeling) been disappointed with the fairest scenes by being fully prepared for all their beauties beforehand. Glowing guide-book accounts, written. to order, as a rule, lead the imagination to expect too much; but to come suddenly and wholly unexpectedly upon a scene of great natural beauty is quite another matter: the quality of pleasant surprise causes one to thoroughly appreciate and enjoy its living loveliness. It comes upon the traveller as a revelation; and, besides, does it not possess the added charm of self-discovery? I am not one of those unfortunate individuals who require the beauties of a country to be pointed out to me; rather do I resent such dictation.

Pulling up at the side of the road, in order the better to admire the view, on its grass-grown margin we observed an old moss-encrusted milestone, half hidden by trailing brambles and surrounded by flourishing docks, chipped, crumbled, and neglected, the lettering upon it almost undecipherable. Poor old milestone! now that road travellers are so few and far between, your services are but seldom required. Brushing aside the bramble-stalks and overgrown weeds, we inspected this old battered relic of the king's highway, on the possible chance of discovering the distance we were from our night's destination; but though we were unable to procure the information we desired, we came across the date 1745 cut thereon, and still traceable. Nearly a century and a half had that once useful milestone stood there. How different must the highway have appeared when it was first erected! Then all the traffic went by road, and the now lonely thoroughfare was a scene of constant bustle, hardly, if ever, free from the clatter of horses' hoofs, the rumbling of carriage-wheels, or the steady crunching sounds of goods-laden waggons. In some parts of the country you may journey far and long upon the old mail-roads, and, save when near a village, very probably not meet a soul, or, if you do, it is ten chances to one that individual will be a solitary shepherd or field labourer going to or returning from his work. These ancient highways, erst so thronged, are nowadays but little traversed. They were planned mainly for through communication between far distant towns, not for local convenience, and this accounts for their little use, save in those

parts where they adapt themselves to the requirements of the district. Strangely enough, judging from our experience, the comparatively narrow bylanes are the most frequented, the needs that caused them still existing.

Proceeding onwards, in due course we came to Godstone; and, pulling up at its quiet old-fashioned inn, we received that best of all receptions for a tired traveller-a hearty welcome. It was the landlord's niece who came out to greet us with a pleasant smile, and we felt sure that our 'lines had fallen in pleasant places.'

The ostler was quickly summoned, and, driving into the roomy courtyard of our hotel, we handed the horses over to his keeping. Having inspected their quarters for the night-for we always made it a point to see after our animals' comforts as well as our own-we strolled out to have a look at the place.

Godstone - Godstone Green, our road-book (Paterson's, published in 1829) has it—pleased us much, not because of its beauty-for it is not beautiful-but on account of its simple naturalness. Considering its distance from town-only nineteen miles, reckoning from Westminster Bridge (I am quoting from Paterson)-it has certainly wonderfully preserved its old-world flavour: it looks unsophisticated enough to be some remote hamlet far away in the distant shires. Most probably, the reason why Godstone still maintains its unaffected homeliness is because it is unblest with a railway. Doubtless the worthy inhabitants thereof would deem one a great improvement to the place, and would consider its certain