THE WANDERER. TALE FIRST. CHAP. I. "She pin'd in thought; «And, with a green and yellow melancholy, IT was toward the close of the finest autumnal day I ever beheld when I arrived at the foot of the highest mountain I had yet seen in Wales. Although nearly exhausted by the fatigues of the day's ramble, and faint for want of some refreshment, I began to ascend the rugged steep with no small degree of alacrity; for I well knew that the grand and extensive view from its summit would sufficiently reward me for the burning pain my poor way worn feet underwent in gaining it: nor was I mistaken in my conjectures, for, on reaching a small clump of trees that crowned its top most height, my eager eyes wandered over a scene before me, that appeared to combine all the grand and most beautiful objects in nature into one spot. Here, indeed, the descriptive powers of a Radcliffe, or the magic pencil of a Claude, would be found insufficient to convey an adequate idea of the charms of this lovely prospect. "Here Poesy might wake her heav'n-taught lyre, “And look through nature with creative fire; "Here, to the wrongs of Fate half reconcil'd, "Misfortune's lighten'd steps might wander wild; "And Disappointment, in these lonely bounds, "Find balm to soothe her bitter rankling wounds: "Here heart-struck Grief might heav'nward stretch ❝ her scan, "And injur'd Worth forget and pardon man.” Far beneath my feet a rich and most fertile valley outstretched its undulating surface, until it reached the bottom of some mountains that reared their bold heads, high-towering over the white and silvery clouds that gently floated on the breeze. This picturesque vale was bounded on every side by these rude barriers of nature, and confined my view to a few miles in extent; but this was most beautifully diversified with woods, water, meadows, and corn-fields, which were so admirably intermingled, as to produce the most enchanting effect, and almost enable it to vie with the rival vales of Arno and of Andalusia. At a small distance under my feet, a roaring cataract gushed from the side of the mountain, and tumbled its foaming flood down, precipitate, into the valley below, where its waters collected into a tranquil stream, that flowed in a finely meandering course 66 Along the mazes of the quiet vale," until its reflecting surface was lost in the misty distance, and its many windings could be traced no more. On its banks was seated a small village, whose church reared its humble, but beautiful, spire, over the tops of some fine old walnut-trees, that appeared coeval with the building they surrounded; whilst the more lowly dwellings of the rustics were scarcely distinguishable amidst the varied foliage of the intermingled trees, that gave to the whole a wild and most romantic effect. Near the church I could perceive a mansion that, from its superior appearance, indicated the abode of the village-clergyman, as it appeared to be a fine antique building, and the only good house in the view. As I stood gazing upon this pleasing prospect, the sun suddenly emerged from beneath a cloud, and darted his feeble rays across the valley, throwing one half under the lengthened shadow of a mountain that obstructed his departing beams, whilst the other part glowed in all the warmth of the richest tints imaginable: but the shade almost imperceptibly increased as the great luminary of day pursued his glorious descent in the western heavens, until the whole vale assumed the deep rich hue that the mist of a fine autumnal evening can only bestow; and the shaggy summits of the mountains only remained gilded with his golden rays, and even these were soon sunk below the reach of his glory; but the broad expanse of the western hemisphere was, far round, illumined by crimson streaks, until the descent of twilight, that alike envelopes the varied face of nature in one obscure mantle. A numerous herd of goats, scampering by me, roused my attention, and I perceived them gamboling amongst the crags and bushes that surrounded me, skipping from point to point, with amazing agility and graceful ease, which added a pleasing variety to the scene; and I stood for some minutes admiring their wonderful evolutions, when the deep, sullen toll of a bell struck my ear: it was slowly repeated at distant intervals, and* sounded like the solemn dirge of death it proceeded from the village: 'some one must be dead," I thought; and, in a moment, a thousand melancholy ideas rushed into my mind, which, in some degree, harmonised with the still calmness of the scene: all was serene, and none but pleasing sounds broke the general silence; nought was heard, save the hollow lowing of the cattle, the plaintive bleat of the sheep, moving towards the fold, the drowsy hum of the beetle, or the occasional merry whistle of the ploughboy, as he plodded his weary way towards his cheerful fireside, there to forget in his mess of porrage the toils of the day. I felt, that such moments, as, I then enjoyed, were the dearest pleasures of a contemplative mind: it is in solitude, surrounded by the sublime objects of nature, when all her beauties smile upon us, and when her grandeur calls forth our admiration, that the finest ideas of the human mind are created; it is then that we feel our thoughts are borne upon the lofty wings of imagination to the confines of perfect felicity. Thus it was with a bard, whose fame is immortal; his greatest pleasure was "in walking on the |