which consequently excites no sympathy in ours: but, if we erect a
dwelling which may appear adapted to the wants, and sufficient for the
comfort, of a gentle heart and lowly mind, we have instantly attained
our object: we have bestowed animation, but we have not disturbed
repose.

11. It is for this reason that the cottage is one of the embellishments
of natural scenery which deserve attentive consideration. It is
beautiful always, and everywhere. Whether looking out of the woody
dingle with its eye-like window, and sending up the motion of azure
smoke between the silver trunks of aged trees; or grouped among the
bright cornfields of the fruitful plain; or forming gray clusters along
the slope of the mountain side, the cottage always gives the idea of a
thing to be beloved: a quiet life-giving voice, that is as peaceful as
silence itself.

12. With these feelings, we shall devote some time to the consideration
of the prevailing character, and national peculiarities, of European
cottages. The principal thing worthy of observation in the lowland
cottage of England is its finished neatness. The thatch is firmly pegged
down, and mathematically leveled at the edges; and, though the martin is
permitted to attach his humble domicile, in undisturbed security, to the
eaves, he may be considered as enhancing the effect of the cottage, by
increasing its usefulness, and making it contribute to the comfort of
more beings than one. The whitewash is stainless, and its rough surface
catches a side light as brightly as a front one: the luxuriant rose is
trained gracefully over the window; and the gleaming lattice, divided
not into heavy squares, but into small pointed diamonds, is thrown half
open, as is just discovered by its glance among the green leaves of the
sweetbrier, to admit the breeze, that, as it passes over the flowers,