SECLUSION AND FEEEDOM. 



WHEN we go out into the wilds of nature, where the 

 landscape is open and all the works of art are rude and 

 simple, we feel a pleasant exhilaration, not to be explained 

 by referring it to the beauty of the scene. It is a sense 

 of freedom, which is more nearly allied to our love of 

 nature than we are generally aware. The sentiment of 

 seclusion, though a very different mood of the mind, is 

 cherished by similar kinds of natural scenery. If this 

 open landscape be interspersed with fragments of wild 

 wood and sheltered nooks, we- perceive its adaptedness 

 both to freedom and solitude. We are not afraid of in- 

 trusion, nor do we feel a risk of being intruders. The 

 sight of a few rustic cottages does not clash with these 

 sentiments. But if we suddenly encounter a splendid 

 villa with highly dressed grounds, smooth gravel walks, 

 and other appurtenances of luxurious pride, we perceive 

 our liability of trespassing upon an estate from which, if 

 not excluded, we are sure to be observed. This feeling 

 of restraint destroys our sense both of freedom and 

 seclusion. 



It is the power of awaking these sentiments, in con- 

 nection with others of a poetical cast, that gives their 

 charms to dreary and desolate scenes, to wide wastes of 

 rocky surface containing groups of stunted trees and 

 shrubs. Ocean views are favorable to similar trains of 

 thought, when bounded by an uncultivated shore. But 

 with all the luxury of sentiment inspired by this kind 

 of scenery, no man would consent to be confined to 



