368 



and trees which adorned the old bank be- 

 fore it was newly formed and levelled, there 

 were several large massy stones that appear- 

 ed in many parts, and all about it were the 

 richest tufts of fern I ever beheld : unluckily, 

 I was abroad while the alteration was going 

 forward, or might possibly have prevented 

 it; had I been here, how earnestly should 

 I have said to the owner, 



" Teach them to place, and not remove, the stone 

 " On yonder bank, with moss and fern o'ergrown ; 



To cherish, not mow down, the weeds that creep 

 " Along the shore, and overhang the steep ; 

 u To break, not level, the slow-rising ground, 

 " And guard, not cut, the fern that shades it round."* 



They now crossed the head of the water, 

 and, after passing on to the other side of a 

 small hill, they found themselves in a neg- 

 lected part of the park, full of old, ragged 

 thorns, that grew among a few stag-headed 

 oaks. They got entangled in this wild 

 scene, and could not distinguish any path- 

 way in the long, coarse grass 5 at last, how- 

 ever, after Wandering a good while, they 



* The Landscape, p. 40, X* 194. 



