56 AUTUMNAL LEAVES. 



pleasantly told in a letter dated March 4th, 1791 

 to William Mitford, the historian of Greece, who 

 had presented him to the living of Boldre. The 

 letter ran thus : ' "When your friendship fixed me 

 in this pleasing retreat, within the precincts of 

 New Forest, I had little intention of wandering 

 farther among its scenes than the bounds of my 

 own parish or of amusing myself any more with 

 writing on picturesque subjects. But one scene 

 drew me on to another, till at length I had 

 traversed the whole forest. The subject was 

 new to me. I had been much among lakes and 

 mountains, but I had never lived in a forest. I 

 knew little of its scenery. Everything caught 

 my attention, and as I generally had a memo- 

 randum-book in my hand I made minutes of 

 what I observed, throwing my remarks under 

 the two heads of forest scenery in general and 

 the scenery of particular places. Thus, as small 

 things lead to greater, an evening walk or ride 

 became the foundation of a volume.' 



It is a pretty road which leads from Brocken- 

 hurst, southwards, to Boldre. On leaving our 

 inn-door, in the main street of Brockenhurst, we 



