One of the three bears clambered to the top of a high
pole, whence he invited the spectators to hand him bits of cake on the
end of a stick, or to toss them into his mouth, which he opened widely
for that purpose. Another, apparently an elderly bear, not having skill
nor agility for these gymnastics, sat on the ground, on his hinder end,
groaning most pitifully. The third took what stray bits he could get,
without earning them by any antics.
At four o'clock there was some music from the band of the First
Life-Guards, a great multitude of chairs being set on the greensward in
the sunshine and shade, for the accommodation of the auditors. Here we
had the usual exhibition of English beauty, neither superior nor
otherwise to what I have seen in other parts of England. Before the
music was over, we walked slowly homeward, along beside Regent's Park,
which is very prettily laid out, but lacks some last touch of richness
and beauty; though, after all, I do not well see what more could be done
with grass, trees, and gravel-walks. The children, especially J-----,
who had raced from one thing to another all day long, grew tired; so we
put them into a cab, and walked slowly through Portland Place, where are
a great many noble mansions, yet no very admirable architecture; none
that possessed, nor that ever can possess, the indefinable charm of some
of those poor old timber houses in Shrewsbury. The art of domestic
architecture is lost.
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