CHAPTER I.
MY BIRTHPLACE AND PARENTAGE.
Dolce sentier,Colle, che mi piacesti,Ov'ancor per usanza amor mi mena!PETRARCH.
Sweet, secluded, shady Saxonholme! I doubt if our whole England contains another hamlet so quaint, so picturesquely irregular, so thoroughly national in all its rustic characteristics. It lies in a warm hollow environed by hills. Woods, parks and young plantations clothe every height and slope for miles around, whilst here...
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