JULY. 239 



burden, a cooler and nearer cut to the village, 

 is become a nuisance. One would have 

 thought that the rustic labourer, with his 

 scythe on his shoulder, or his bill-hook and 

 hedging-mittens in his hand, the cottage-dame 

 in her black bonnet and scarlet cloak, the neat 

 village maiden, in the sweetness of health and 

 simplicity, or the boy strolling along full of 

 life and curiosity, might have had sufficient 

 interest in themselves, for a cultivated taste not 

 merely to tolerate, but to welcome passing 

 occasionally at a distance across the park or 

 wood, as objects agreeably enlivening the 

 stately solitude of the hall. But they have not ; 

 and what is more, they are commonly the most 

 jealous of pedestrian trespassers, who seldom 

 visit their own estates, but permit the seasons 

 to scatter their charms around their villas and 

 rural possessions without the heart to enjoy, 

 or even the presence to behold them. How 

 often have I myself been arrested in some long- 

 frequented dale, in some spot endeared by its 

 own beauties and the fascinations of memory, 

 by a board exhibiting in giant characters, 

 " STOPPED BY AN ORDER OP SESSIONS," and 

 denouncing the terrors of the law upon tres- 



