with a countenance animated and blooming as the spring; her flaxen hair curls round her face in ringlets so picturesque, that I imagined she would be an admirable subject for my pencil, and have accordingly drawn her in crayons, caressing a favourite little dog who always accompanies her in her visits. The portrait has surpassed my hopes; for I have succeeded tolerably well, both in the resemblance and attitude, and it makes a very ornamental piece of furniture for the drawing room. Since that period, the child had been continually teizing me to draw a little picture as a present for her doll; and as children, when they have got a whim in their heads, are unceasing in their importunities,

she persecuted me during our walk to set down to work on a sheet of paper which she had brought in her hand from the house for that purpose.
The scene here is romantic beyond imagination. The river, that murmurs below at the foot of a gentle descent, is shaded by the most venerable oaks, which sometimes form a thicket wild and sequestered, and in other places admit views of a most fertile and beautiful country; which being embellished with the plantations surrounding the splendid seats of several gentlemen of the county at a distance, and ornamented with a nearer sight of the spire belonging to the parish church, exhibits a prospect of gaiety as well, as grandeur. A walk that is cut in the slope of the bank, is my favourite resort, and so well calculated for soothing into a languor not unpleasant, any oppression which rests upon the mind, that I found it peculiarly

suited to the present state of my spirits; and to rid myself of Charlotte's importunities, I at length sat down on one of the green seats, and pulling out a pencil began to trace a little rough sketch which soon satisfied the child, who employed herself in running about gathering nosegays from the wood flowers that adorned the banks of the river.
Having the pencil in my hand, I began almost unconsciously to delineate upon the cover of a letter, features so deeply engraven on my mind, that I required not the presence of the original to enable me to recollect every trait of expression with accuracy; and a few strokes, though incorrect and unfinished, soon exhibited a resemblance, to which, innumerable as have been my secret attempts on the same subject, I had never before attained.
Charmed with my success, I gazed with delight on the drawing which promised

to be the private companion of many a solitary hour; and so wholly absorbed was I in contemplating my performance, that I heard not the