JANUARY. 13 



ing to the sight certain objects in the distance, and prompting 

 the spectator to an inquiry concerning their beauty and fit- 

 ness. Some, who were familiar Avith the charms of the 

 country in their early days, but whose taste has long slum- 

 bered while they were engaged in the pursuits of fortune, 

 may here revive their early love of nature, and become better 

 and happier men. Allied to the love of nature is a respect 

 for the toils of the husbandman, or, as it was called by the 

 ancient poets, a veneration for the plough. A contempt for 

 the labors of the field is very apt to be nurtured in the mind 

 of a young man who is confined to trade in the city, and 

 who looks on the farmer as a mere pedler of turnips and 

 cabbages to the lords of the market. When he goes forth 

 under the majestic trees of the forest, and, through the open- 

 ings on the hill-sides, beholds a hundred fertile farms, each a 

 little Eden in the grand prospect before him, he views agri- 

 culture in a nobler light, and the pedler of turnips and cab- 

 bages is transformed into a sovereign of the fields. 



The traveller from England is often heard to inquire for 

 our public grounds, of which he can point to so many beau- 

 tiful examples in his own land. We can only direct his at- 

 tention to some inferior conservatory of exotics, or to some 

 flat piece of land, consisting of five or six acres, divested of 

 trees, laid out with gravel walks, with a spouting fountain in 

 the midst, and maintained at a great and useless expense. In 

 this respect we are [behind all Europe ; but it is in our power 

 to make a rapid progress, and to go far beyond the point at 

 which any nation has yet arrived. We have land in all parts 

 of the country that is at present of little value. By devoting 

 liberal portions of it to this important and delightful purpose, 

 we should command the gratitude of all posterity ; and though 

 their gratitude is nothing to be desired for its own sake, it is 

 our duty to see that posterity is provided with something that 

 should be calculated to excite this sentiment towards us. 



Our people, who are in general governed more by their 

 ideas of fashion than of taste, are greatly in the habit of fre- 

 quenting the White Mountains, and other picturesque places 

 of resort. This custom, like any other that leads to the ob- 



