ΤΟ SONNET. MAIDEN! that bloom'st in solitude so still, Thou should'st be one, methinks, whose virgin will A WISH. TO A YOUNG RELATION. THOU bid'st me write! in vain I call May'st thou go on in quiet bliss, Dear to a nobler heart than mine! G. M. May Kindness shed her cheering ray, The fondness of our hopes and fears! VISIT TO A COUNTRY FAIR. I HAVE been so emboldened, my dear Peregrine, by your approbation of my last petite morceau from the Country, that I have again determined to shock the ears of my fashionable Readers with one more description of rural manners and simplicity. Without further preface, then, I one evening, during my stay at the Rectory, started for a solitary walk soon after dinner, which had been earlier than usual. The sky was without a cloud, and the Sun, still almost arrayed in his meridian glory, displayed his honest countenance receding through the wide expanse of the clear transparent hemisphere. Many an Exquisite would drawl out an affected titter at the idea of a rural walk till sunset; but, in spite of all the domineering power of fashion that affirms nothing is so beautiful as dusky walls and smoke-dried towers, and can conceive no fragrance equal to the delightfully varied odours of a town, I found sufficient and even abundant objects of enjoyment. As I strolled along through fields of the richest fertility, or lingered under the shade of blossoming verdant hedge-rows, alive with the music of a hundred songsters, most deeply should I have pitied the man that delighted not in such a scene. I should pity him almost as much as a person who has so little taste for the Novels by the Author of Waverley, and is so miserably unable to digest their extraordinary beauties, as to affirm that they resemble high-flaunting descriptions copied from some gaudy picture. I know not how such a spirit of perverseness as this, or how a perfumed Fashionable would have liked my ramble; and care not, so long as they didn't interrupt me in it, or disturb my meditations; which continued in full force during my wanderings over several fields, notwithstanding the unceremonious appearance of an ungentlemanly animal called a bull. He certainly appeared inclined to pay very little regard to my love of country scenery; but a neighbouring hedge enabled me to bid a rapid farewell to this unpleasant visitor; and I journeyed onwards, without further interruption, till I was led, by frequent shouts of merriment, to a scene unusual, perhaps, to some of my readers. It was a Village Wake, or Fair, one of Nature's holidays; where she throws aside jerkin and spade to indulge in uncurbed festivity; or rather, where all the inhabitants of a village meet annually to feast, drink, play, make love, and break heads. Such was the scene I now entered upon, though not quite unexpectedly, as I had gained some notice of it beforehand by several noisy groups of peasants hastening past me to this attracting point of all that is pre-eminent, beautiful, or interesting in the country circle. For this is the Emporium of Village Fashion; the Hyde-Park of the Rustics; where the Farmer doffs his leather buskins and nail-studded boots for decent worsted hose, set off by shoes ornamented with the same gleaming buckles that bespangled the legs of his forefathers. The huge shaggy coat, the faithful companion of his labours through all weathers, is ejected this one day for verdant green, or russet brown. In addition to this, the rarelyused red waistcoat rises in roseate splendor across his muscular chest, leaving just room enough at the neck to permit the snow-white cravat to be seen; which his good Dame herself has adjusted with the utmost care. He is not less metamorphosed than his neighbours, who all start forth from their cottages on this anxiously-expected day, arrayed in their best habiliments; as on some beautiful May morning a troop of butterflies gaily start from their flowery couches, and display to the rising Sun their little pinions variously adorned with a thousand splendid hues. The scene of these rural Saturnalia was a fine verdant lawn, extending like an amphitheatre towards a wood skirting the village. I was not long in finding an eminence from whence I might reconnoitre this motley scene, as well as the tumultuous hubbub of showmen and visitors would allow. I found, to my sor-. row, that I had come too late for Donkey-racing, and various other sports; and, at present, found the most conspicuous objects to consist of some youths breaking each other's heads with true English courage, and certain parties in swings, hanging between heaven and earth, at what appeared to me no very pleasant height. But, doubtless, they were as ambitious to soar as some of our superiors; and, I am afraid, as liable to fall to the dust. To those who were tired of their sports delicacies were not wanting, from the new-made gingerbread to the inviting plumb; amongst the booths also were seen some few decorated most splendidly with toys, where the rustic gallant might purchase a thimble or pair of garters for his fair adorable. One or two showmen might be observed amongst the crowd, offering their cap for for contributions to the by-standers; some of whom shrunk from it as if it contained a pestilence within its shattered carcase. At another time they made the skies 're-echo as they shouted out the murdered names of the grandees, displayed through a glass hole to their visitors. The latter always appeared to retire with great satisfaction from having seen the mighty potentates of the world in embryo, and reduced from their thrones to a ricketty caravan. Alas! poor crowned heads, what scurvy tricks Fortune plays with you! what a pity it is you cannot exterminate rascally showmen at the edge of the bayonet, who hawk your High Mightinesses about like so many baboons in kingly robes! Turning a moment from the sports of the Fair, I beheld, beneath the shade of some gigantic oaks, a band of venerable fathers that might remind us of the patriarchs of old. Too old to engage in more robust exercises, these contented elders reclined there to view the activity of their sons; and, as they applauded the skill of the present generation, waxed strong in tales of former times; previously clearing their throats with a jug of the best village ale. At some distance from these a circle of aged dames were seated round a polished deal table to indulge in a dish of the best green tea. Like their lords and masters, they were arrayed in their best gowns and boddices, that had lain in the neatly-composed drawer at home for many a day, and were now drawn forth in all their rustling splendor and profusion of puckers. There were some healthy fat-looking souls laughing at some good joke till the tears came in their eyes; while a few steadier matrons turned one eye to the tea-table, and, with the other, watched the motions of their daughters, who seized this opportunity to flirt with their lovers. Cupid, indeed, must have emptied his quiver; for the various love-presents I saw borne off in triumph, must have had a powerful effect on hearts hitherto impregnable. At this moment my eye was caught by some smoke that rose curling over the tops of the trees in another part of the wood, and throwing a dusky hue over the surrounding foliage; and, on a more curious inspection, I discovered a group of gipseys stationed there, like the tutelar deities of the forest, to utter their oracles from the native oak. These wanderers, equally with many others, had come to take advantage of the Fair, and were dealing out pottery-ware and fortunes by wholesale. They were bargaining pots and pans, killing |