 have not 'scaped a scouring; but, I believe, by means of that
scouring, I have 'scaped something worse, perhaps a tedious fit of the gout or
rheumatism; for my appetite began to flagg, and I had certain croakings in the
bowels, which boded me no good - Nay, I am not yet quite free of these
remembrances, which warn me to be gone from this centre of infection -
    What temptation can a man of my turn and temperament have, to live in a
place where every corner teems with fresh objects of detestation and disgust?
What kind of taste and organs must those people have, who really prefer the
adulterate enjoyments of the town to the genuine pleasures of a country retreat?
Most people, I know, are originally seduced by vanity, ambition, and childish
curiosity; which cannot be gratified, but in the busy haunts of men: but, in the
course of this gratification, their very organs of sense are perverted, and they
become habitually lost to every relish of what is genuine and excellent in its
own nature.
    Shall I state the difference between my town grievances, and my country
comforts? At Brambleton-hall, I have elbow-room within doors, and breathe a
clear, elastic, salutary air - I enjoy refreshing sleep, which is never
disturbed by horrid noise, nor interrupted, but in a-morning, by the sweet
twitter of the martlet at my window - I drink the virgin lymph, pure and
crystalline as it gushes from the rock, or the sparkling beveridge, home-brewed
from malt of my own making; or I indulge with cyder, which my own orchard
affords; or with claret of the best growth, imported for my own use, by a
correspondent on whose integrity I can depend; my bread is sweet and nourishing,
made from my own wheat, ground in my own mill, and baked in my own oven; my
table is, in a great measure, furnished from my own ground; my five-year old
mutton, fed on the fragrant herbage of the mountains, that might vie with
venison in juice and flavour; my delicious veal, fattened with nothing but the
mother's milk, that fills the dish with gravy; my poultry from the barn-door,
that never knew confinement, but when they were at roost; my rabbits panting
from the warren; my game fresh from the moors; my trout and salmon struggling
from the stream; oysters from their native banks; and herrings, with other
sea-fish, I can eat in four hours after they are taken
