Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/70

44 only in moments of astounding calamities (the present war is an instance) that people take a due cognizance of the sufferings of their fellowmen; but everyday and every hour there are sufferers around us by hundreds and thousands. The civilization of ages has done much to mitigate the privations of mankind, but how much more has it yet to do!

Devonshire is one of the most beautiful counties in England, and in the richness of its verdure and the luxuriance of its vegetation far surpasses most other places in England. We passed some very happy days in Torquay, a sea-side town in Devonshire, and had plenty of strolling among the "rich woods of Devon," the sombre and luxuriant glens, and the green hills and vales of the country. A trip to Totness whence we came down to Dartmouth by the Dart was very pleasant indeed. The beautiful and meandering Dart after flowing beneath wooded hills and scenes of excessive beauty and richness empties itself into the sea near Dartmouth. Nor must I forget to mention our sailing on the Torbay on a delightful sunny day, nor the hearty dinners that we had here every evening in which the rich Devonshire cream occupied no contemptible a place.

Before leaving England we visited two very interesting places, the ruins of the Kenilworth Castle, and the classic town of Stratford-on-Avon. In the last-mentioned place we saw the house in which Shakespeare lived and the very room in which he was born. The walls