or SELBORNE. 115 



later at Oxford than elsewhere : is it owing 

 to the vast massy buildings of that place, 

 to the many waters round it, or to what 

 else ? 



When I used to rise in a morning last 

 Autumn, and see the swallows and martins 

 clustering on the chimnies and thatch of 

 the neighbouring cottages, I could not help 

 being touched with a secret delight, mixed 

 with some degree of mortification : with 

 delight to observe with how much ardour 

 and punctuality those poor little birds 

 obeyed the strong impulse towards migra- 

 tion, or hiding, imprinted on their minds 

 by their great Creator ; and with some de- 

 gree of mortification, when I reflected that, 

 after all our pains and inquiries, we are yet 

 not quite certain to what regions they do 

 migrate ; and are still farther embarrassed 

 to find that some do not actually migrate 

 at all. 



These reflections made so strong an im- 

 pression on my imagination, that they be- 

 came productive of a composition that 



VOL. I. 1 



