THE PASTORAL AND ROMANTIC. 23 



it be that we can more easily sympathize with the poor 

 and humble, or that we feel that there is more happi- 

 ness in a rustic cottage, where content resides, than in a 

 mansion where constant endeavors are made to maintain 

 a false appearance of superiority, it will not be denied 

 that there is a charm in the pictures of humble life that 

 cannot be transferred to those of the mansion or the pal- 

 ace. I cannot perceive that envy enters into our feelings 

 on the one hand, or benevolence on the other. The happy 

 tranquillity that seems to reside in the cottage, and the 

 disquiet which would surely attend us in the opposite 

 condition, make all the difference. 



But we must add to a humble picture something of a 

 pastoral character to yield it still more effect. Here is a 

 neat but rude cottage, with two or three smiling and ruddy 

 children at the door. It seems to be the dwelling, not of 

 beggars, but of simple laborers. A woodman is standing 

 near, in the act of cutting a branch from a tree. Hard 

 by are a few cows, some reposing near a shed, others 

 quietly feeding on an adjoining slope. This scene de- 

 rives interest chiefly from its pastoral suggestions. It is 

 rendered picturesque by calling up images of rural peace 

 and the happy life of a humble tiller of the soil. It pos- 

 sesses moral beauty in a high degree, because it wears a 

 quiet look of contentment, and is associated with all those 

 charming fancies so generally inspired by scenes of rustic 

 simplicity. 



We proceed on our ramble until we reach a little nook 

 or recess in the wood. A high wall of granite, covered 

 with ferns, bounds it on two sides; a pleasant wood 

 stands in the rear, while in front it overlooks the region 

 below. In the centre of this recess is a hermitage, occu- 

 pied by a venerable recluse. The edifice and its inhab- 

 itant, viewed in connection wi^h the native beauties of the 

 place, form a genuine scene of the romantic cast, height- 



