SELBORNE. Vll 



the sketch by Grimm inserted in the quarto edition of White's 

 Selborne, published in 1789, and copied on a reduced scale for an 

 edition superintended by Sir William Jardine in 1833, is calcu- 

 lated to give quite a wrong impression, as it makes the village 

 appear to stand on the brow of a hill, omits the Nore Hill al- 

 together, and reduces Selborne Hill absolutely to nothing. 



As the above sketch brings before the reader, at one view, all 

 the grand features of Selborne as described by its faithful his- 

 torian, we shall recapitulate the leading points of it. The point 

 of view is from a field, we believe on the farm of Harteley. 

 The hedge separating the immediate foreground is one of 

 those bordering the deep lane along which the carriage-road 

 from Selborne to Harteley, or the old road from Selborne to 

 Alton, passes ; and, if the heights of the hedges are taken into 

 account, no kind of carriage can be seen passing along the lane 

 even by one situated within a few yards of its margin. Beyond 

 this lane the ground ascends into what may be called the dell of 

 Selborne, along which the north-western branch of the " Borne," 

 or "Bourne," flows. This branch consists entirely of surface 

 water, without any deep-seated springs ; and consequently, as 

 Mr. White remarks, it becomes dry in seasons of great drought. 



Beyond this concealed dell the church appears, though only in 

 part ; and to the reader's right of the church there is seen a small 

 portion of the vicarage. The trees around these completely 

 conceal the village, which is rather an advantage, inasmuch as 

 the houses are so straggling that they cannot be grouped with 

 pictorial effect ; and the consequence is that, in the sketch made 

 by Grimm, and already alluded to, Selborne appears a scene 

 of desolation, which is the very opposite of its real character ; 

 for, setting altogether aside the magical, and we may say 

 immortal charm, with which the sylvan wand of the most de- 

 lightful of enchanters has invested it, Selborne is a lovely 

 place. Nor ought we to omit observing that a portion of that 

 mantle which sat so gracefully upon Gilbert White appears to 

 have been caught and retained by the population generally ; for 

 there is not, perhaps, on the face of the earth a rustic population 

 more orderly in their conduct, more suave in their manners, or 

 better informed in their minds, than at Selborne. Some visitors 

 have asserted that this place is abandoned to wild nature, 

 doubtless meaning thereby to imply that improvement has ,not 

 found its way there. Nothing can be more unfounded more 



