XIV. 



and lively descriptive writing, in every direc- 

 tion ; and this has chiefly arisen from a wider 

 range of actual observation, and from the calling 

 into requisition of those intellectual powers 

 which the beauties and sublimities of varied 

 and picturesque scenery bring to bear on the 

 sentimental and emotional parts of our inward 

 nature. Our feelings here are always in perfect 

 harmony with external objects. When we roam 

 amid deserted solitudes, overhanging precipices, 

 stupendous mountains, or unfrequented forests, 

 our hearts beat with wild and delightful sensa- 

 tions, and we find a corresponding utterance 

 for them in the language of description, of 

 poetry, and of sentiment. 



True it is, that mankind are not all alike 

 gifted with a keen relish for rural beauties. 

 Numbers seem born with dull and gross con- 

 ceptions, and altogether incapable of admiring 

 the striking displays of wild and romantic 

 scenery, or of u bathing their spirits in the 

 ethereal blue of heaven." But there is still 

 ample room, even here, for improvement. Such 

 phlegmatic natures, though deeply engulphed 



