CHAKMS OF SCENERY. 93 



no hut, no fisherman's net, no boat, not even a dis- 

 tant ship, broke in upon the majesty of nature ; and 

 though thousands of sea-fowl were playing about the 

 point, or sitting in crowded rows upon the steps and 

 pedestals, their distance reduced them to mere specks 

 so minute as scarcely to be obvious to sense, and did 

 not affect the general impression of loneliness. 



Oh ! it was beautiful to sit in the bright morning 

 in the deep quietude of these heath-covered heights, 

 and gaze down upon the glorious sea ! To get under 

 the shadow of one of the mighty blocks, squared 

 almost as with the stone-hewer's chisel, that crown, 

 as if with ancient ruined fanes, every projecting 

 headland, and there enjoy the beauty and the. ex- 

 hilaration of the sunlight, without feeling its oppres.- 

 sion ! And how rich and glorious is the flood of light 

 that bathes every object in the unclouded sun of sum- 

 mer ! How full and deep the shadows, how broad 

 the lights, on such a broken coast as this ! How rich 

 and lovely the colouring of blossom-sheeted heath, 

 expanded sea, and vaulted sky ! " Truly the light is 

 sweet, and a pleasant thing it is to behold the sun/ 7 

 What heart cannot respond to .the exquisite stanzas of 

 one who drew her inspiration from the grandest and 

 most majestic scenes in nature ? Who cannot sing 

 her passionate lay " To the Sunbeam ?" 



" Thou art no lingerer in monarch's hall; 

 A joy thou art, and a wealth to all ; 

 A bearer of hope unto land and sea. 

 Sunbeam ! what gift hath the world like thee ? 



