tion to his sphere of participation, he is rewarded by a commensurate development of his feelings in prosperity and joy. Such was my case; for every addition which my good fortune in Dublin enabled me to make to the happiness of my wife and children, swelled the sum of my own. "A sinking man appreciates relief. I was aware of the importance of capital in farming; but I also knew that I was far from being independent. The farm I had taken was at a smart rent; my calculations might prove to have been made on wrong principles; I had to purchase stock, and a variety of utensils; the house required repairs; and I had to meet unforeseen contingencies. In short, my prospect was an uncertain and gloomy one, and my relief but a temporary safety. No. XIII. A COUNTRY LIFE. "O, friendly to the best pursuits of man, Few know thy value, and few taste thy sweets; To understand, and choose thee for their own." COWPER. "To imagine that a town is a proper place for a half-pay officer, with a large family, is a miserable error. He has to pay there, for the empty walls of a house, the rent of a small farm, which would supply his children with the wholesome food of the dairy, garden, and poultry-yard; while the productions of his fields, at a neighbouring market, might be exchanged for those luxuries now become necessaries of life to his rank in the general mass of society. Here he may have the use of a horse, and conveyance for his family. His retired situation protects him from the obtrusion of unmeaning visits. Pure air, and the innate beauty of everchanging nature, cheer his spirits, and bestow upon his children the most valuable gift-a sound constitution. "The mind soon conforms to the circumstances around it. Man, in a short time, finds pleasure and conversation where he least expected them; for to contemplation all things have tongues; and rational retirement has this peculiar advantage, that it turns the eye of the soul in upon itself, and opens to thought a society in the enlargement of intellect. When I look upon the endless variety of flowers and trees, consider their exceeding beauty, and the sweet simple serenity that characterizes the operations of their lives, I cannot confine my imagination within the bounds of a mere naturalist. No; I indulge with Darwin, in his loves of the plants, and enjoy many an agreeable association of fancy. "But it is that sort of country life which has been praised and described by Cowley, that a rational mind desires. The social solitude of Zimmerman comes near it: there is no resemblance between what I commend and that which Alexander Selkirk pathetically apostrophizes : "O, solitude! where are the charms That sages have seen in thy face? Dear to my bosom is the unexpected drop-in of a friend or neighbour-sweet, to be in the world or out of it in a few minutes' walk or ride-delightful, to be so much alone, that reflection has time to awaken the thoughts of Heaven, which too often slumber when left to themselves in the Eden of human wishes. "Our wives and daughters, left also to their own resources, spend their leisure-time in the useful and amusing operations of the needle; and really I exult in every room of my comfortable dwelling, to see the elegant productions of their taste. Indeed, I think my own dear never looks so interesting as when dressed in the simple garb of her own making; and certainly her eye always sparkles with peculiar lustre when I praise |