312 STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



meadow. By the side of the staircase, on the lower 

 floor, stands an ancient clock, whose loud striking, and 

 slow stroke of the pendulum, are associated with the 

 old style of low-studded rooms. Perhaps by studying 

 the cause of the pleasant emotions with which we con 

 template this old house, we may arrive at the knowl 

 edge of a principle that may be turned to advantage, 

 in regulating our own and the public taste. 



The charm of these old houses, which are marked by 

 neatness and plainness, and by an absence of all pre 

 tension, is founded on the natural yearning of every 

 human soul after freedom and simplicity. In them we 

 behold the evidences of a mode of life, which, if we 

 could but rid our hearts of a little madness, we should 

 above all choose for ourselves. The human heart 

 naturally attaches itself to those scenes, in which it 

 would be free to indulge its own natural fancies. But 

 there is a habit stronger than nature, derived from our 

 perverted education, that causes us to choose a part 

 that will excite the envy of our neighbors, in preference 

 to oue that would best promote our own happiness. 

 Hence a man chooses to be embarrassed with expenses 

 above his pecuniary condition, for the vain purpose of 

 exciting admiration, rather than to gratify his own 

 tastes, in the enjoyment of greater freedom and a more 

 humble and frugal mode of life. 



In vain does the worshipper of fashion, by planting 

 an ornate dwelling-house in the heart of a forest, en 

 deavor to add to it the charm of a rustic cottage in the 

 woods. The traveller, as he beholds its proud orna 

 ments glittering through the trees, sees nothing of that 

 charming repose, which, like a halo of beauty, sur 

 rounds the cottage of the rustic. He perceives in it 

 the expression of a striving after something that is in- 



