No where has this mode of life attained so high a degree of perfection
and refinement. We will allude to two circumstances, amongst many
others, in illustration. The first of these is, the very great number of
valuable libraries belonging to our family seats. It has been sometimes
remarked as singular, that England should possess so few great public
libraries, while a poorer country, like Germany, can boast of its
numerous and vast collections at Vienna, Prague, Munich, Stutgard,
Goettingen, Wolfenbuttel, &c. The fact is partly explained by the many
political divisions and capitals, and by the number of universities in
Germany. But a further explanation may be found in the innumerable
private libraries dispersed throughout England--many of them equal to
public ones in extent and value, and most of them well furnished in
classics, and in English and French literature.
The other peculiarity we would name about our English country-houses is,
that they do not insulate their residents from the society and business
of active life; which insulation is probably a cause, why so many
proprietors in other countries pass their whole time in the metropolis
or larger towns.
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