and among this class of beings the author of these pages may be ranked, although he willingly confesses nature has the power of charming him in her most minute as in her most stupendous works, from the curious and confined instinct of the ant and of the bee to the wonderful and exhaustless energies of the human mind,
“That source
Whence learning, virtue, wisdom, all things flow.”
The court, the city, and the country, present an endless variety of subjects for contemplation; and the latter being the region of delight to those whose business confines them to the metropolis for the winter months, the author of this volume is anxious to be thought a useful and an amusing companion to such tourists who, in pursuit of health and the charms of nature, may wander
“In the Welsh vales ’mid mountains high,”
where the sublime and beautiful present themselves at every turn to captivate the eye, and ruddy health colours the smiling faces of every peasant girl and shepherd boy, from Chirk to Holyhead.
To a mind capable of estimating fine scenery, how delightful are the hurry and bustle which usually take place on the morning of departure, in fond expectation of realizing the anticipated pleasure of viewing those beauties of nature the imagination has but weakly painted! The sun is scarcely sooner up than the traveller; and, although the coach in which he is to be rolled some hundred and fifty miles will not start for perhaps three hours, his anxiety preponderates over the now slighted comforts of his bed of down, and with an agile leap he quits his restless pillow, and hastily despatching the business of his toilet, with his heart beating high, and his knapsack already stuffed with three shirts, as many pairs of stockings, guide books, and as few other necessaries as may be, in order to make his walking wardrobe as light as possible, he prepares to “take the road.” If a disciple of old Isaac Walton and Cotton, he will not fail to have his book of flies, lines, reel, &c., and a light fly rod to carry in his hand, and for which he is sure to have use whenever he feels inclined for piscatory pastime on his tour. So stocked and provided, he bids defiance to the evils of life; and may exclaim with the poet
“Warly cares and warly men
May a’ gae tapsalteeree O!”
“Do you ride upon the box, sir?”
“To be sure I do—paid that fellow to keep it for me.”
“All right, sir: mount if you please,—not a minute to spare. All right behind there?”