316 THE COUNTRY CLERGYMAN. 



our honest Father Izaac Walton, * they walked 

 ' the meadows by the gliding stream, and there 

 ' contemplate the lilies that take no care, and those 

 * very many other various little living creatures, 

 ' that are not only created, but fed, man knows not 

 ' how, by the goodness of the God of Nature/ 

 They still continue their visits to the gently flowing 

 and ever charming Thames, either where it winds 

 under the beautiful bank of Oatlands, or where it 

 bends its sinuous course through the meadows 

 below St. Anne's Hill, or where the lofty towers 

 of Windsor, or the high groves of Chifden throw 

 their shadows on its sparkling stream. There, 

 pursuing the * contemplative man's recreation," 

 the recollection of their visit to Dr. Hastings is 

 often the subject of their conversation, and Mr. 

 Hilary has allowed that the quiet evening passed 

 at the little Thames-side Inn, with its simple cheer, 

 has afforded him a more fresh and cheerful morning 

 than ever followed a new ballet at the Opera, a 

 stormy night in the House of Commons, or even 

 the comparative calm of a House dinner at the 

 Athenaeum. 



