FOOTNOTES:
[188] Inscribed (1801) to Mrs William Douglas, a native of Switzerland.
[189] Mount Pilate, on the Lake of Lucerne.
[190] Contrast between genuine liberty and the spirit of Jacobinism.
[191] Gibbon completed his "Decline and Fall" in a summer-house on the banks of this lake.
THE
VILLAGER'S VERSE-BOOK.
PREFACE.
The following compositions were written originally to be learned by heart by poor children of my own parish, who have been instructed every Sunday through the summer, on the garden lawn before the parsonage house, by Mrs Bowles. The object, which, to the best of my knowledge, is entirely novel, was briefly to describe the most obvious images in country life, familiar to every child; and in the smallest compass to connect every distinct picture with the earliest feelings of humanity and piety, in language which the simplest might understand; but which, from the objects represented, might be read, perhaps, with some interest by those whose minds were more cultivated. About fourteen of these little poems were composed with this view many years ago; but it was not thought of extending their knowledge beyond the village circle, to which they were originally limited, except by a very few copies given away. I have now added to the number, and revised the whole; thinking that, when early education is so greatly extended, they may be found upon a wider scale to answer the purpose for which they were written. They may also prove acceptable to mothers in a higher station of life, who might wish to impress upon the memory of their children as they grow up, a love of natural scenes, combined with the earliest feelings of sympathy and religion. Some of these verses, such as "The Mower," "The Swan," etc., are purposely designed for the exercise of a more advanced intellect.