SEPTEMBER. 317 



causes are combined in the production of our 

 most ordinary pleasures, and among the nu- 

 merous sources of a sportsman's enjoyment, the 

 influence of natural beauty is one of the most 

 efficient. It may not be very apparent; in nine 

 cases out of ten it may even be unknown to 

 the man himself, yet it is not the less true ; the 

 love of Nature, and the silent apprehension of 

 her beauty, is a freely-bestowed and far-spread- 

 ing gift. It lives in the least cultured heart, as 

 the beautiful wild-flower in the unploughed 

 heath. It lives often a pleasant, though un- 

 perceived guest. It spreads the charm of its 

 influence when its possessor has not even a 

 name for it, yet still it lives, and they who 

 cannot talk of it, yet feel it in its sweetness and 

 its power. The sportsman seldom analyses his 

 own feelings ; he cares not to inquire into the 

 causes of his taste and his 'gratification ; but those 

 causes exist in the secret of his heart, and he 

 follows their delightful impulse with joy. Ask 

 a sportsman if he be an admirer of nature, he 

 has perhaps never thought of the subject ; but 

 the moment he goes forth he gives a practical 

 testimony of his attachment. Whither does he 

 go ? To the free and fresh air, to the solitude 



