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Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 8, No. 48, October, 1861
The Project Gutenberg eBook, Atlantic Monthly, Volume 8, No. 48, October,
1861, by Various
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Title: Atlantic Monthly, Volume 8, No. 48, October, 1861
Author: Various
Release Date: February 28, 2004 [eBook #11358]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ATLANTIC MONTHLY, VOLUME 8, NO. 48, OCTOBER, 1861***
E-text prepared by Joshua Hutchinson, Tonya Allen, and Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY.
A MAGAZINE OF LITERATURE, ART, AND POLITICS.
VOL. VIII.--OCTOBER, 1861.--NO. XLVIII.
NEAR OXFORD.
On a fine morning in September, we set out on an excursion to Blenheim,--the sculptor and myself being seated on the box of our four-horse carriage, two more of the party in the dicky, and the others less agreeably accommodated inside. We had no coachman, but two postilions in short scarlet jackets and leather breeches with top-boots, each astride of a horse; so that, all the way along, when not otherwise attracted, we had the interesting spectacle of their up-and-down bobbing in the saddle. It was a sunny and beautiful day, a specimen of the perfect English weather, just warm enough for comfort,--indeed, a little too warm, perhaps, in the noontide sun,--yet retaining a mere spice or suspicion of austerity, which made it all the more enjoyable.
The country between Oxford and Blenheim is not parti