which, could they feel, would sting them: for the benevolent and susceptible reader, who possessed of the springs of sympathy, and tremblingly alive to its vibrations, is capable of appreciating its inexhaustible treasures, and the value of its source, a sensitive mind-who hesitates not to shed the tear of sensibility for the distresses of others, nor can deny it to calamity however justly merited, these pages were compiled -to such they are now inscribed-and to such only, I am persuaded, can they be either pleasing in their composition, plausible for their motive, or serviceable in their application.

THE AUTHOR.

SOLITUDE! thou soft enchantress! how various and essential are thy enviable endowments, and captivating properties to the human race; nor yet more seductive have been thy allurements to the votaries of contemplation, than beneficial to the whole mass of mankind: to a mind capable of appreciating the value of being, and truly estimating the munificence of the sublime Creator, displayed in the variety and luxuriance, of the majestic scenery around him, the azure firmament-the rolling ocean-and variegated surface of the globe formed for his inheritance, how inexpressible are thy transports! how infinitely preferable are such substantial enjoyments, to the false pleasures of an unprincipled and selfish intercourse with a malevolent, slanderous, and illiberal world! which commonly ends in repinings at our own conduct, or

reproaches for the ingratitude of those by whom we have been surrounded: it is in retirement that the heart expands, and opens to receive with congenial fervency the genuine impressions of nature: the feelings are awakened from their lethargy-the decoyments of sense banished-each nobler propensity of the soul enlivened, and the sting of misfortune mellowed by its operation; while every latent spark of generosity or sympathy, springing from sensibility of heart, which by the baneful effects of a promiscuous intercourse with a busy, grovelling, and unfeeling herd, foes to its very germ, would have been smothered or contracted, is developed in all its purity of loveliness, and dignified by assuming the resemblance of a virtue: these are the attributes of solitude -these are its blessings: O callous is the heart unsoftened by its influence! and desolate indeed must be the deepscathed bosom whose morbid faculties remain unkindled by its charms!

In the neighbourhood of a small village situated in one of the most beautiful and romantic parts of Sussex, about sixty miles from the metropolis, stood a retired cottage, which had been for some time tenanted by a gentleman whose name was Elrington. Mr. Elrington had formerly been in the army, but disgusted with the hyprocrisy of the world, or weary of its formalities, he sought relief from the fatigues of duty and humiliations of office, in the charms of retirement, and the easy leisure of a rural life, augmented by the society of a beloved wife, and three amiable daughters: the structure of his chosen, and since strongly endeared residence, was simple and elegant, though not stately: the honeysuckle and jessamine occasionally intersected with the passion-flower, blending their different scents and hues together, gracefully entwined the balcony in front; and combined with a few scattered shrubs of myrtle, mingled with sweet-briar, often united to impregnate one of those soft and welcome zephyrs

that, even in England, delight to sport and wanton at the close of a sultry day, as it rustled among their foliage, with a grateful and odoriferous perfume; while behind, a richly spreading and luxuriant vine yearly bent beneath the weight of its clusters: some acres of ground adjoining interspersed with arbours, gravel-walks, and grassplots, bore the aspect of fairy land; which with a neatly cultivated garden or shrubbery, not wholly unadorned with busts and images (though battered and defaced) shaded with overhanging clumps of trees, rendered it adapted to meditation, and gave it the semblance of some legendary bower, or fabulous abode of the muses; private, but not gloomy-sequestered, but not melancholy its prospect consisted of the open road, from which it was removed only a short distance; and was bounded by the magnificent villa and parterre of an ancient and wealthy nobleman, lately deceased: while from the upper windows which overlooked the barricade, could be plainly discerned the level lawns, smooth canals, and sumptuous prodigality of artificial labour that adorned this splendid edifice; tastefully evinced in the construction of ornamental bridges, pebbled obelisks, and grottos of shells. These advantages in front, with a large space of woody land whose thickly interwoven foliage was agreeably diversified with small glades, or openings, and which terminated in a pleasant eminence behind, rendered the situation at once prepossessing to strangers, salubrious from its proximity to the sea, and to one in Mr. Elrington's circumstances, both eligible and delightful.

Sometimes indeed, as the humble owner of the woodland cottage cast his eyes involuntarily upon the elegant villa erected as in spleen exactly opposite, his spirit swelled, his heart beat proudly, and his bosom was inflated with a sigh he scorned to vent, occasioned by the reflection of his own inferiority as far as regarded sublunary distinctions, to the