from the garden of the Capuchins near ALBANO, the little melancholy lake with all the mountains and forests which furround it; the caftle of GANDOLPHO, with FRESCATI and all its rural villas on one fide; on the other, the handsome city of ALBANO, the village and caftle of RICCIA and GEUSANO, with their hills decked with vineleaves; below, the extenfive plains of CAMPANIA, in the middle of which ROME, formerly the miftrefs of the universe, raises its majestic head; and laftly, beyond all the fe objects, the hills of TIVOLI, the APPENNINES, and the Mediterranean fea*.

THUS the view of fublime or beautiful obje&s differently affects the heart; the SUBLIME excite fear and terror, the BEAUTIFUL create only foft and agreeable fenfations. But both of them enlarge and aggrandize the sphere of the imagination, and enable us more fatisfactorily to feek enjoyments within ourselves..

* A German Lady, who poffeffes a very lively imagination, undertook a voyage to Italy for the re-establishment of her health. Her ftrength increased day after day. When the found herself on the fcite of ALBANO, above defcribed, fhe endeavoured to exprefs to her companions the emotions which the view of this scene occafioned: but her feelings were fo exquifite, that they deprived her of the power of utterance; and she actually remained, several days, without being able to speak.

To experience these pleasures, it is not necef fary to visit SwISSERLAND and ITALY. There is no person who may not, by quietly traverfing the mountains with his gun, and without running after poetic images, like KLEIST*, learn to feel how much the great fcene of nature will affect the heart, especially when affifted by the powers of imagination. The fight of an agreeable landfcape, the various points of view which fpacious plains afford, the freshness of the zephyrs, the beauty of the fky, and the appetite which a long chace procures, will give feelings of health, and make every step feem too fhort. The privation of every object that can recal the idea of dependance, accompanied by domeftic comfort, healthful exercife, and ufeful occupations, will add vigour to thought, give warmth to imagination, prefent the most agreeable and fmiling images to the mind, and inebriate the heart with delicious fenfations. A man with a fine imagination would be more happy in a dark prison, than, without imagination, amidst the most magnificent scenery. But, even to a mind deprived of this happy faculty, the rich harveft of rural life will alone perform miracles upon the heart. Who among us, alas! has not experienced, in the hours of

*M. KLEIST, a celebrated poet of Germany, diftinguished by his Poem upon SPRING.

languor

languor and difguft, the powerful effects which a view of the enchanting pleasures enjoyed by the village ruftic is capable of affording? How fondly the heart partakes of all his joys! With what freedom, cordiality, and kindness, we take him by the hand, and liften to his plain unlettered tales! How fuddenly do we feel our bofoms interefted in every object that concerns him! Rural scenes display, refine, and meliorate the lurking inclinations of the heart, and afford a variety of pleafures even to those who, buried in the fink of cities, fcarcely know what pleasure is.

A FRENCH Officer, on his return to his native country after a long abfence, exclaimed,-" It ❝ is only in rural life that a man can truly enjoy "the treasures of the heart, himself, his wife, "his children, and his friends. The country "has, in every respect, the greater advantage "over the town. The air is pure, the prospects "fmiling, the walks pleasant, the living comfort"able, the manners fimple, and the mind virThe paffions unfold themfelves with"out injury to any person. The bofom, in"fpired by the love of liberty, feels itself de"pendent on Heaven alone. Nature fatisfies "the most avaricious mind, by the endless "bounty of her gifts. The warrior may follow "the chace; the voluptuary may cultivate the "rich

"tuous.

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"rich fruits of the earth; and the philofopher

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indulge his contemplation at eafe."-Oh! how ftrongly this writer moves and interefts my heart when he tells me, by this affecting paffage of his work,-"I fhould prefer a refidence in my na❝tive fields to all others; not because they are "more beautiful, but because I was there brought up. The spot on which we pafs our earliest days poffeffes a fecret charm, an inexpreffible enchantment, fuperior to any other enjoyment "the world affords, and the lofs of which no other country can compenfate; the fpot where the "gambols of my infant days were played; those happy days, which paffed without inquietude or cares. The finding of a bird's neft then filled my bofom with the higheft joy. What delight "have I felt from the careffes of a partridge, in "making it peck at me, in feeling its little heart "beat against my hand! Happy he who returns "to the place of his firft attachment; that place "where he fondly fixed his love on all around "him; where every obje&t appeared amiable to "his eyes; the fertile fields in which he ufed to "run and exercife himfelf; the orchards which "he used to pillage*."

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*To this paffage, in the French translation of this work, is fubjoined the following note:-" Not knowing the traveller "whois here alluded to, we beg his excufe for having ventured "to tranflate it into French from the text in German."

THESE

THESE delightful fentiments engrave indelibly on our hearts the remembrance of our infancy, of those happy times which we passed with so much pleasure in the charming Solitudes of our native country.

THUS, at every period of our existence, and in every place, the freedom and tranquillity of a country life will induce us to exclaim with the facred orator, "How happy is the wife and "virtuous man, who knows how to enjoy tran"quillity with true dignity and perfect ease, independent of every thing around him! "How preferable is this happy calm to the "deafening clamour, the falfe joys, the daz

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zling fplendour of the fashionable world! "What refined, noble, generous fentiments rife "and unfold themselves, in retirement, which, "during the din of business and the diffipations "of pleasure, lie concealed at the bottom of "the foul, fearful of the contemptuous fneer of. "wicked and unthinking minds!"

Oh my beloved ZOLLIKOFER*! I have felt in the pleasures of a retired domeftic life the truth of those doctrines which you announced at LEIPSIC; doctrines which do not inculcate a

A celebrated preacher of Germany.

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cold