220 — 
ance, and imparted a diffusive feeling 
of benevolence, whilst it opencd a me- 
- ditative train of thought. 
This, I exclaimed, is the retreat 
where , during the intensity of summer 
heats,’ I was; wont to repair when 
nature. was in her gayest costume, 
and her most sportive colours, to while 
away the lazy hours. When the illu- 
sions which are wont to steal over the 
mind, while perusing a poet of high 
descriptive powers, energy of expres- 
sion, and bright exuberances. of 
thought, are enjoyed in some seques- 
tered scenery, they are assuredly much 
heightened. by these rural accompa- 
niments..,.When, meadows clothed 
with the yerdure and luxuriance of 
spring checquer, his path,—when. a 
rlyer,, whose margin, crowned. with 
pendant, willows, affords cool pastu- 
rage and shade to the recumbent cat- 
tle, glides, at. the distance of a few 
paces, soothing with itsdeep murmurs, 
—when a forest of trees, of majestic 
size and foliage, shade the upland 
landscape,—the pleasurable emotions 
which assail the spectator, from with- 
out, assist and strengthen the intellec- 
tual associations of his mind. <A cast 
of thought and train of imagery is more 
easily generated by these stimulants; 
and the lucubrator revolves, with invi- 
gorated, feclings,- upon the ; various 
walks by which mankind aspire to 
fame.and to distinction. If in unison 
with his subject, he will often rumi- 
nate. upon’ the innumerable springs 
and motives which prevail in the hu- 
man breast, and incite it to action. He 
sees that, while one man courts plea- 
sure, in all its forms and varieties, and 
seeks an eminence in this respect, 
another woos danger, and even death, 
for the sake of certain immunities and 
privileges, ‘‘secking the bubble reputa- 
tion,even in the cannon’s mouth.” Some 
are engrossed daily and nightly in the 
concerns and anxieties of business, in 
amassing wealth, and aiming at the 
honours, that accompany. it; whilst 
others, the slaves of an inveterate 
habit, ora-groveling taste, follow some 
sordid occupation from the mere satis- 
faction of its drudgery. . He sees, that 
in literature and, science men embark 
in its various walks and departments, 
and. cach individual often discerns, in 
that branch, to which he has applied 
himself, an exclusive interest and im- 
portance. While one, buries himself 
in the smoke of the Jaboratory, another 
is no less emulous of discovering some 
An Evening’s Walk near Bath in Autumn. 
[Oct.1, 
occult principle in geometry or mcta- 
physics; one invokes all, the fires of 
his breast in the strains of poetry, ano- 
ther devotes all the powers of his mind 
to ascertain and illustrate:a portion of 
the past records of mankind.\, The 
fine arts have always been’ proverbial 
for their impassioned votaries ; he sees 
genius unfolding its resources, and the 
most indefatigable industry employed 
in attaining renown, and. raising. the 
character of their profession. . 
Whilst ruminating on topics suchas. 
these,—on the various ends» which 
agitate society, and the various. fates 
which mark the lives of men of genius, 
in whatever, pursuit engaged, through 
the indiseriminate favour or neglect 
and ingratitude of mankind, the noon- 
tide, L ‘recollected, of a summer’s day 
was wont to glide imperceptibly away, 
until accident or the lateness of the 
hour rouzed me to the claims of other 
engagements and other duties. 
How changed is now, lL resumed, the 
appearance of things! what innovating 
ravages has the lapse of scarcely more 
than three months wrought in: the 
economy and aspectof vegetable na- 
ture! . The rude. attacks. of storms, 
aided by the withering influences. of 
excessive drought, had swept, with 
desolating hand. the forest and the 
plain, and showed that nature, capri- 
cious and ineonstant in our island, 
only adorns with munificent hand her 
numerous offspring, in order again 
ingloriously to strip them, and shroud 
her fairest creations with naked 
sterility. Tat present (thus I pursued 
the course of my meditations, as I 
fixed my eyes on the nut-brown foliage 
of the hazel, and the sickly hue: of the 
willow,) inhale an atmosphere, and 
am arrested by objects, which indicate 
full surely the rapid approach of win- 
ter. In other latitudes, and in other 
hemispheres, vegetable nature in all 
her realms is brightening, under the 
effects of a more vertical san; and 
their inhabitants, alrcady emancipated 
from the tedium and dreariness of an 
atmosphere almest continually. ob- 
scured by mists and) fogs, haik the 
approach of that season, which is ‘to 
mature all the treasures of the plain. 
The.constant mutation and-roll. of the 
seasons may be traced in imagination 
over earth’s surface; like (for: exam- 
pie,). as some ‘black impending cloud 
overshadows an. enamelled. field,— 
first. blending, its, dusky margin with 
the gay and dimpling sun-shine which 
had 
