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enjoyed. With what ardour does the young rustic desire to 

 visit the neighbouring town, of which he has heard such ex- 

 aggerated tales ; and how much does the gratification of his 

 curiosity add to its vigour. The distant capital invites him 

 to a feast still more splendid ; and if his appetite is not 

 palled by the banquet, this impulse may render it still more 

 insatiable after novelty. On the other hand the child bred 

 up in cities, and breathing their unwholesome atmosphere, 

 feels as if he were imprisoned in an uncongenial element, 

 and secluded from enjoyments for which he was constituted 

 by nature. He longs to breathe in freedom the pure air of 

 the country. His imagination carries him to every green and" 

 luxuriant spot in the prospect, of which, through interposing 

 roofs and towers, he can obtain a glimpse ; and he entertains 

 the ambition of climbing the mountains which bound his hori- 

 zon, from whose summit he fancies he shall behold a fathom- 

 less abyss, or a dreary ocean, constituting the last verge of na- 

 ture. The love of novelty thus finds a firmer footing in the 

 mind. Indulgence strengthens this passion, as it strengthens 

 every other. If it ripens into habit, it becomes necessary 

 to the existence with which it is interwoven. Excursion 

 after excursion, scene after scene, at once gratify the mindi, 

 and stimulate it to fresh gratifications. And by this process, 

 a basis is laid for an insatiable thirst of novelty, such as led 

 Park over the terrible desarts, or through the more terrible 

 population, of Africa; or instigated Columbus to the glory of 



