114 
RURAL HOURS. 
spreading before it, a ridge of hills rising on either side, this al- 
most wholly wooded, that partly tilled, while beyond lies a back- 
ground, varied by nearer and farther heights. The little town, 
though an important feature in the prospect, is not an obtrusive 
one, but quite in proportion with surrounding objects. It has a 
cheerful, flourishing aspect, yet rural and unambitious, not aping 
the bustle and ferment of cities ; and certainly one may travel 
many a mile without finding a village more prettily set down by 
the water-side. 
A collection of buildings always shows well rising immediately 
from the water ; the liquid plain, in its mobile play of expression, 
and the massive piles of building, with the intricate medley of 
outhne which make up the perspective of a town, when brought 
naturally into one view, form an admirable contrast, the mind un- 
consciously delighting in the opposite characters of these chief 
objects of the scene, each heightening, and yet reheving, the 
beauty of the other. 
Monday, 1 1 th. — Warm day, with soft, hazy sunshine ; this sort 
of atmosphere is always especially fine in a hilly country, shading 
all the distances so beautifully, from the nearest wooded knoll, 
to the farthest height. Walked to the ChfFs ; found the views 
very fine. The woods are in great beauty, the foliage very rich, 
without having lost, as yet, anything of its spring freshness. The 
hemlocks are still clearly marked with their lighter and darker 
greens of different years' growth. The old cones are hanging on 
the pines ; many of these remain on the trees all summer. There 
were very few flowers in the wood where we walked, though I 
do not know why this should be so ; it was composed of fine 
chestnut and beech, of primitive growth, mingled, as usual, with 
