44^ 



ON USEFUL AND 



BOOK I. 



has nothing to reflect but the sky, has a meagre and dreary as- 

 pect. A solitary cataract, though it may strike the beholder 

 at first sight, yet being deficient in that variety and intricacy 

 which trees alone can produce, soon ceases to be pleasing. Very 

 different is the effect of a country interspersed with wood, 

 where " hill is united to hill with sweeping train of forest and 

 prodigality of shade where the streams are diversified by 

 trees, or concealed by bushes ; and where the lakes reflect with 

 additional lustre the beauteous tints and varied forms of the 

 woody scenery by which they are surrounded. 



Few can have overlooked this difference, in comparing the 

 northern with the southern parts of the island. Some of the 

 northern counties are nearly destitute of trees: there the tra- 

 veller comprehends the whole horizon before him with a single 

 glance of the eye v which in vain roams over it in quest of an 

 object on which it may repose. The powers of vision being 

 thus unsolicited become- unemployed, and leave the mind va- 

 cant: or should the effort be renewed, under the fancied ad- 

 vantage of a new station, the consequence will only be weari- 

 ness and fatigue. But in Herefordshire, and Monmouthshire, 

 the beauties of a hilly and wooded country are united; there 

 the eye is continually feasted with scenes of grandeur and 

 beauty, ever varying, and ever filling the mind with the most 

 pleasing and enrapturing sensations. Even in countries less 



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