Mr. N. Ay, but the owner of an estate has so many that depend upon him; his first duty must be to do the best he can for them. Mr. W. The shopkeeper, too, owes a duty to his neighbour; and it is never very safe to talk much of other men's duties, lest we forget our own. It is quite true that, the larger the means and the higher the station, the greater is the responsibility; but at any rate, you will allow that up to this time an immense deal of good has been done in the parish? Mr. N. Oh, yes, I was hasty in what I said. I know he is a good man, and he certainly has as much right to repair his house as I have mine. Still, I cannot help wishing he would spend his money in another way he would do more good. Mr. W. I am not quite so sure of that. If he repairs the Hall, it is most likely that he means to furnish it, and keep more servants, and have visitors; surely this will bring money to the place, and I do not think you will be the last to profit by it. Mr. N. Well it may be so in the end. But what vexes me in the matter is, that the builder is to come down from London, and he will bring his own workmen, and all the money will go away from our village. Mr. W. Not all, for many of the workmen must live here for a time, and they must eat and drink, so that they will be sure to spend some of their earnings in the place. But is there any one in Banton that could do the work? Mr. N. No, not now. If our old friend Harris had been here, he could have done it; and if he had had the job, I am sure everybody in the place would have been glad. Mr. W. You must remember that Banton is not the only place in the world. If good and respectable workmen are employed, good is always done to somebody that deserves it: and in this case there seems no choice. Mr. N. None: for old Joe Moody, the wheelwright, when he heard that the London builder had been inquiring if any carpenter lived in the place, told me he would never work under that stranger. Mr. W. That was not a very wise speech. But I think, myself, Joe had better stick to his own business. Of course it will be the interest of the builder to employ any one in the neighbourhood likely to suit him, rather than to have to pay the travelling expenses of a man from a distance. I should not much wonder if Joe's son Thomas who is a very handy fellow, got a good turn out of this business before long; but even if he does not, when the house is put in order there will be constant small repairs wanted, and the Squire will be sure to employ the nearest carpenter he can find. Besides, these London workmen will show the countryfolks how to do the work well, and so they ought to be of great service to the young men in the neighbourhood. It is very useful to country workmen, especially to young men, to have an opportunity of seeing work done by those who are more skilful than themselves. And workmen hereabouts seem to me to require some teaching. Mr. N. I daresay you are right, Mr. Wilson. I don't want to think hardly of the Squire, though I did speak hastily. The Squire had in fact (for he was a thoughtful man), considered all the points which Mr. Newman had mentioned, and had come to the conclusion that it was in every way best to call in a builder who thoroughly knew his business. He had, however, given him a hint, that he wished him, if possible, to employ some of the villagers; and the builder at once told him, that if he could find any equal to the work, it would answer his purpose better than bringing all his own men from London. After some inquiry, Thomas Moody seemed likely to suit, and his father soon forgot his anger, and was pleased enough that his son should be engaged. A very respectable bricklayer whom the builder knew, agreed to come and take up his abode at Banton, as there was no bricklayer in the village, and now that things were so much improved, there seemed an opening for one. Employment was also found for several in inferior departments, and with the aid of experienced London workmen, the builder mustered a good staff of labourers. He took care that all the work was thoroughly well done, and Thomas Moody and the new bricklayer both learnt much in the course of the repairs. At the end of a year all was complete. The London workmen left, much to the regret of Mr. Newman and many more, who by this time had found out the advantage of having men resident among them who were in constant employ, and had good wages. Thomas Moody (who had now become a very good carpenter) and the bricklayer remained, and, as Mr. Wilson predicted, found constant work about the Hall and its buildings. The farmers, too, were glad to have resident workmen to employ; and as it was known that the carpenter and bricklayer at Banton had worked under a London builder, they obtained employment in the neighbouring villages. Indeed, it was not long before both of them had so much to do that they engaged foremen, besides employing two or three common labourers in unskilled work. Meantime, the Squire having furnished his house (even Mr. Newman did not object to the furniture coming from London and the county town), married, and kept an establishment of servants upon an adequate though not extravagant scale. He continued to improve his land, and gave every encouragement to the honest and industrious. Banton is at this day a thriving and improving village, CHAPTER XIII. KANGAROOS, AND OTHER MARSUPIAL THE order of quadrupeds called Marsupial, from the Latin word marsupium, which signifies a pouch, is very remarkable. These animals are proyided with a bag or pouch beneath the stomach, which is used by the mother to carry her young ones for some time after their birth, and by the young ones as a place of shelter when tired or alarmed, even after they are well-grown and able to feed themselves. Sixty-seven species of marsupial animals have already been discovered; and of these, by far the greater number are peculiar to Australia, where forty-three species have been found, varying in bulk from the size of a mouse to that of a deer. Some marsupial quadrupeds exist in New Guinea, and in other countries which are included in the chain of islands which form a connecting-link between Australia and Asia; the remainder of the class belong to America. It was in America that animals of this description first became known to Europeans; the English who went to settle in Virginia were amazed at the sight of "a beast which," said they, "carries her little ones in a piece of her own skin, as in a bag, which she can open and shut, to let them out or take them in, as she pleaseth." This was the Common Opossum, which, like all the marsupial animals of America, has very much the look of a rat, only it is much larger. Its tail is long, and curls itself round everything that it lays hold of, and by it the creature swings itself from bough to bough. Its abode is the woods, but it comes forth sometimes to rob the poultry-yard. The largest, and all the most curious and beautiful, marsupial animals belong to Australia, and at the head of them we must place the Kangaroo. All the kangaroo tribe are distinguished by their hindlegs being very large and strong, and thus well-fitted for leaping, which is the motion by which the animal advances. The fore-legs are extremely short; the kangaroo goes on "all-fours" while grazing, but the leaps which it then makes are short and awkward: when flying from pursuit or ranging over the plains and forests at its own will, it uses the hind-legs only, and springs much higher and farther than a horse could leap. Sometimes it stands erect, partly supported by its tail which it uses on those occasions as a sort of third leg; but it is generally seen sitting upright and resting on the hind-feet, the soles of which are furnished with a hard pad, to enable them to bear the weight of the body without inconvenience. In this position the fore-legs hang down by the side, and the animal exhibits very much the shape of a cone, the lower part of the body being broad, and the upper part slender and tapering. Its head is very pretty: the erect ears and large soft eyes are like those of the deer or the antelope. It has large cutting teeth in both jaws, belongs to the class of grass-eating animals, and some kinds have been observed to chew the cud. A writer who had often watched these creatures in their native haunts, says of them: Yet, notwithstanding this seeming disagreement of one part of the body with another, he adds: "Better-proportioned animal, Was never followed by the hound, |
