LETTER I. To JC, ESQ. Newport, Aug. 7th, 1798. NCE more, my dear sir, I address you from the land of the Ancient Britons. The gratification which I received last year in rambling through a country as remarkable for the beauty, grandeur, and sublimity of its scenery, as it is interesting from the kindness of heart and simplicity of manners which characterize its inhabitants, determined me to avail myself of an opportunity that occasional leisure afforded me, of repeating my visit to it this autumn. In Jn and C. C I have found companions every way calculated to render the expedition agreeable. The warm, benevolent B mind of the one, alive to the beauties of nature, with taste to admire, and judgment to discriminate; and the spirit and vivacity of the other, who, to the ardour of seventeen, adds the reflection of maturer years, and unites, with a vigorous understanding, the advantages of much acquired knowledge, ensure a society in which I shall find amusement blended with information. We commenced our journey yesterday morning; but, rather unwisely, performed the first four and twenty miles of it (to the NewPassage) on foot; which occupied so large a portion of the day as rendered it impossible for us to pass the Severn the same evening, and obliged us, much against our inclination, to spend the night at an inn not exactly calculated for the comfortable accommodation of pedestrians. Very different indeed is the reception which a wanderer of this description. meets with, at the houses of public resort, in Wales and England. In the former he is received with an alacrity, and attended with a cheerfulness, that really transfers the obligation from the host to the traveller. In the latter, he discerns the curl of contempt in every face; the contagion of pride seems to " |