IQ2 W SUMMER. 



an opera i but has he not a compensation there- 

 for in the Gothic arches of his woodland, beneath 

 which tragedy and comedy are daily enacted ? 

 And what of the songs at sunrise, when the 

 thrush, the grosbeak, and a host of warblers greet 

 him at the outset of his daily toil ? 



Town and country are interdependent ; but, 

 considered calmly and in all its bearings, does 

 not the former ask more of the latter, than vice 

 -versa ? Has not the influx of rural vigor an in- 

 calculable value ? Does it not prevent, in fact, the 

 very destruction of the city, by checking the down- 

 ward course that artificiality necessarily takes ? 



But, as the heading of this article indicates, 

 I do not propose to enter into any controversy 

 as to the relative merits of city or country life, 

 but simply to state why I prefer the latter. And 

 may all those to whom my reasons seem insuf- 

 ficient flock to the towns and become, what our 

 country certainly needs, good citizens. 



I prefer an oak-tree to a temple ; grass to a 

 brick pavement ; wild flowers beneath a blue sky 

 to exotic orchids under glass. I would walk 

 where I do not risk being jostled, and, if I see fit 

 to swing my arms, leap a ditch, or climb a tree, 

 I want no gaping crowd, when I do so, to hedge 

 me in. In short, I prefer living " next neighbor 

 to Nature." I am free to admit I know very lit- 

 tle about the town. It has ever been a cheer- 



