"WHEN we enter into magnificent palaces," says Tully,-whose oratory never relapsed into a thrifty and sanguinary eloquence, as Tacitus1 strongly expresses it," we are at first struck with the gilded roofs, the marble columns, the costly pavements, and all the other decorations of art. But when we have beheld them often, we are no longer charmed with them; and they make no impression of pleasure on the mind. Whereas, the prospect of the country never satiates us; it is, as it were, ever new, and every day puts on some fresh form to entertain and delight us." Who, that takes pleasure in the cultivation of his shrubberies, has not an innate love of order and harmony, though opportunity, perhaps, has never been allowed for their cultivation? Who, that will stand for hours upon a precipice, and drink in rapture from the untouched scenes of Nature, has not the seeds of poesy planted in his mind? Who, that treads, with secret satisfaction, the spots, which the wise and the good have sanctified by their preference; and who, that delights to stand where the battles of former ages have been fought, would not,-were fortune to present the opportunity,-be the admiration of the world for their patriotism and inflexible constancy? In those, who are alive to interesting associations, and who are travelling in a picturesque country, how glowing are the emotions, produced by those reflections, which, in such scenes, naturally arise! When Dr. Moore beheld the rocks of Meillerie, he was visited by the most agreeable associations. As he gazed, he seemed to discover the very spot, on which St. Prieux looked through his telescope, to catch a glimpse of the house, which contained his idolized Julia. In imagination he traced the route, where he sprung from rock to rock, after one of her letters, which the wind had snatched from his hands.' With the same delight, he observed the point, where they embarked to return to Clarens; when St. Prieux, in a fit of distraction, was tempted to seize the lovely Julia (then the wife of another), and precipitate both her and himself into the midst of the lake! |