mind the models of Palladio, the temples of Greece, or the palaces of Rome; but if the cottage partake of these, it is pedantic. "Although the ornamented cottage may be the residence of fashion or wealth,--where.good taste centres in either, it will comply with the circumstances of the situation which it has chosen; and, provided it affords the comforts of life, will not cavil, whether a door, a window, or a chimney, be in strict conformity to the architectural rules of symmetry; neither will this be expected. Wealth and splendour retire to the cottage for the sake of variety, and to enjoy themselves within those contracted limits which cannot so well be complied with surrounded by the necessary establishment of a great house; while the small but independant family seek it as the asylum of comfort, and the abode of tranquillity. "Besides the opinion of Mr. Price (in the note before quoted) in support of this part of my argument, I am happy in having the authority of sir Joshua Reynolds; who, to the high rank which he held in his profession, added the most refined taste for all the polite arts. His mind, too expanded to admit of narrow prejudices, was regulated by the nicest investigation, and the soundest judgment. Whatever, therefore, is advanced on such a foundation, is not merely leaned upon; its stability is sufficient to bear whatever burden you chuse to impose upon it. "In his thirteenth discourse at the royal academy he says, "It may not be amiss for the architect to take advantage sometimes of that to which I am sure the painter ought always to have his eyes open, I mean the use of accidents; to follow when they lead, and to im prove them, rather than always trust to a regular plan. It of ten happens, that additions have been made to houses, at various times, for use or pleasure. As such buildings depart from regularity, they now and then acquire something of scenery by this accident, which I should think might not unsuccessfully be adopted by an architect, in an original plan, if it do not too much inter fere with convenience. "Variety and intricacy is a beauty and excellence in every other of the arts which address the imagination; and why not in architecture? "The forms and turnings of the streets of London, and other old towns, are produced by accident, without any original plan or design; but they are not always the less pleasant to a walker or spectator on that account; on the contrary, if the city had been built on the regular plan of sir Christopher Wren, the effect might have been, as we know it is in some new parts of the town, rather un pleasing; the uniformity might have produced weariness, and a slight degree of disgust.' In the ceilings both of upper and lower apartments, it has a very characteristic appearance to leave the spars and joists uncovered; specimens of which may be seen in many cottages of old date. In this state also they are very useful; nails, for the purpose of hanging various articles, find an easy reception, which might otherwise be injudiciously applied to the detriment of the ceiling itself. The Spanish chesnut, by its durability in such situations, is superior to any other wood; witness the roofs of many churches, and other buildN 2 ings. ings. It acquires also by age exactly that dark brown hue which is so particularly desirable in cottage architecture, and which fir, however good in quality, never assumes. "In the humblest cot there are innumerable little circumstances to which attention may be directed; and which, though trifling in themselves, and almost equally so in regard to expense, tend greatly to heighten the picturesque appearance externally, as well as its character and comforts internally. "A warm and comfortable cottage, under every circumstance of seasons, is an object calculated to produce the most pleasant sensations. In spring and summer, the surrounding verdure, the little garden decorated with flowers and loaded with fruits, to which add cleanliness and cheerfulness, place it among the most interesting of rural scenes. "In autumn, when the first frosts begin to tinge the decaying foliage that surrounds it with all its rich variety of colouring; when, joined to the perfect stillness of a calm autumnal day, the misty atmo. sphere spreads its tender gray tint over the landscape;-then it is that the cottage enjoys its utmost har mony and repose, and wears its most picturesque attire. "In winter, though less picturesque, it is a no less pleasing object; when the fast-falling flakes have whitened its humble but impenetrable roof; and the snow-drifted peasant, shaking his garments, seeks the warm shelter of its cheerful hearth. "Domestic and other animals flocking around for shelter and for food, impart a degree of character truly winter's own. ful there Recounts his simple frolic: much he talks, And much he laughs, nor recks the storm that blows Without, and rattles on his humble roof. THOMSON. "The picturesque character of a cottage, it has been before observed, is considerably increased by ivy, or other creeping plants, climbing about it; but in the peasant's cottage, beauty and emolument should ment should go hand-in-hand, and be kept constantly in view: therefore, instead of the ivy or the honeysuckle, let the apricot, the pear, the plum, or any other productive wall-fruit, be placed as a substitute; the north aspect alone, as unfavourable to the ripening of fruit, may be reserved for ivy, the situation of all others most adapted to its nature. The vine is by far the most beautiful of all the wall-fruit, trees, and, where it meets with a situation that it likes, is by no means unproductive. "The generality of wall-fruit trees, when well trained, are pleasing objects. In winter, their slender branches make a beautiful appearance; as the summer advances, they also increase in beauty, alternately putting forth leaves, blossoms, and fruit. The cherrytree in particular, when the smooth brown bark of the spray, the deep green of its leaves, and the glowing colour of its fruit are combined, ranks . ranks among the most pleasing and profitable of wall-fruit trees. "The peach and the nectarine, than which nothing can be more beautiful, require more management; and, being always more uncertain, are less advantageous. "Vines, ivy, or other creeping plants, when suffered to run over the roofs of houses, I do not myself think by any means ornamental. Plants of the deciduous kind, when divested of their leaves, have a naked, uncomfortable, and, indeed, a slovenly appearance: evergreens, it is true, are not liable to this objection; but, suffered to grow over the roofs of houses, they are liable to a worse, that of being prejudicial to the roof itself, by keeping it in a state of continual mois "The more elegant creeping plants suffered to twine about the door or windows, whose regularity they break with all their native wildness, have an effect so nearly allied in idea to the primitive simplicity of past ages, in effect (if I may be allowed the expression) so classical, that it always excites our admiration. "They may sometimes be allowed to aspire even to the chimney, where their delicate tendrils flaunting in the breeze, are seen to advantage; but if carried further than this, the very profusion destroys the effect, and produces a heaviness that is disagreeable. "This may not be an improper place for taking notice of another part of the economy of the cottage, which, though it is not of equal "But, admitting the profits arising from a small garden to be trivial, it has, perhaps, other advantages that are not to be despised. The time that is employed about of it is stolen from those intervals labour which, for want of such amusement, might be worse occupied. Every one has, or ought to have, his enjoyments it is the duty of every man of fortune, as far as it is in his power, to endeavour to procure for his dependents enjoyments of the most innocent kind; and those certainly answer the best end, where utility and pleasure are combined. What with the care of his garden, his land, and his cow, N 3 every every hour would be usefully, and of course happily, employed. Nor is the anticipation of the profits that are to be the reward of his toil among the least of his pleasures: he naturally considers every thing that arises from such sources, as so much independent of his daily labour, and tending to procure for himself and family those little comforts which are so naturally desired, and so justly his due. "Were these kinds of means more frequently adopted, indigence would find its own remedy; and a man would not be forced to the degrading necessity of applying to a parish for that relief which his own industry would and ought to be sufficient to procure. "Such means would also furnish the most infallible remedy against the evil effects of public-houses, the resort of the idle and the vicious, and the natural consequence of the want of employment. "Whatever has a tendency to divert the attention from such scenes of idleness and dissipation, is productive of a more extended benefit than is perceived upon a transient view. Idleness and dissipation can scarcely fail of producing injury to the morals of their votaries; a family, of course, suffers in all respects, in proportion to the shock which these have sustained in its superior. "I have been frequently led to pity, more than to blame, the conduct of those whom the world esteem disso lute and abandoned: some are, no doubt, abandoned from principle; but many more, I fear, are rendered so by their misfortunes. Is it to be wondered at, that men whose hearts are chilled by the icy gripe of poverty and distress; whose houses, or rather huts, exhihit nought but wretchedness; in short, who are to expect no comfort at their re turn from toil;-is it to be wondered at, that, deprived as it were of every thing which should con stitute happiness in their own family, they seek with eagerness the comfort of an alehouse fire, and any society or amusement capable of producing a momentary obli vion to their cares? "Compared with this, how dif ferent must be his sensations, who at his return is greeted by his humble yet happy family; whose brows, crowned with content, are brightened by the cheerful emanations of the evening fire; and upon whose homely board is spread wholesome but frugal plenty! On the WRITINGS and GENIUS of ROBERT HERRICK. [From Dr. DRAKE'S LITERARY HOURS, VOL. III.] AD Herrick adopted any arrangement or classification for his poetry, it would probably have experienced a kinder fate. The reader would then have had the opportunity of choosing the department most congenial to his taste, and without incurring the risque of being seduced into the perusal of matter offensive to his feelings. At present so injudiciously are the contents of his volume disposed, and so totally divested of order and propriety, that it would almost seem the poet wished to pollute and bury his best effusions in a mass of nonsense and obscenity. Nine persons out of ten, who should casually dip into the collection, would, in all probability, after glancing over a few trifling epigrams, throw it down with indignation, little apprehending it contained many pieces of a truly moral and pathetic, and of an exquisitely rural and descriptive strain. Such, however, is the case; and I have, therefore, assigned sections in these papers to specimens of a moral and descriptive cast. "It has already been observed, that Herrick closes his book with seventy-nine pages of religious poetry, to which is prefixed a separate title page, under the quaint and alliterative appellation of His Noble Numbers or his Pious Pieces.' From these, it might naturally be supposed, the examples I have to bring forward would be drawn. Our bard, however, like many others who have attempted divine themes, has completely failed to, into their structure the infuse smallest portion of poetic fire. It is, therefore, to his Hesperides," I am solely indebted for the instances I have selected; and these form only a portion of what might be produced, under this head, with equal honour to his memory. "At the commencement of his work are a series of addresses to his Muse, his Book, and Verses, one of which, for its imagery, its smoothness of versification, and its pleasing delineation of the bard's content and unambitious mind, is peculiarly worthy of transcription. HERRICK TO HIS MUSE. ‹ Whither, mad maiden! wilt thou roam? By no one tongue there censured. Though the greater part of the productions of Herrick be of a light and amatory kind, no one who has perused his works will hesitate in giving a decided preference to those pieces which are devoted |