RB.23a. 27073

HOME SCENES:

OR

TAVISTOCK AND ITS VICINITY.

BY RACHEL EVANS.

The waies through which my weary steps I guyde,
(In this researche of fair reality,)

Are so exceeding riche, and long, and wyde,

And sprinckled with such sweet varietie,

Of all that pleasant is to eare or eye,

That I, enchanted with rare thoughts delight,

My tedious travel quite forgot thereby;

And when I 'gin to feel decay of might,

"It strength to me supplies, and cheers my dulled spright."

Spencer's Fairie Queene.

SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED.

Tavistock:-T. W. GREENFIELD.

BRITISH

LIBRARY

INTRODUCTION.

"He who in any way shows us better than we knew before, that a lily of the fields is beautiful, does he not show it as an effluence of the Fountain of all Beauty-as the handwriting made visible there of the Great Maker of the Universe? He has sung for us, made us sing with him, a little verse of a sacred psalm." "HERO WORSHIP."

N introducing my kind readers to the work now presented to their notice, I feel bound to enlighten them respecting its aim and character. To begin with a few negative qualifications: our manual is not exactly a guide book, neither is it a road book, nor a continued narration of personal adventures;-it wants the sober solidity of the one; the accurate measurement of the other; and the piquant interest of the third. To find an appropriate term, we may call it an odd volume,-one that will probably be cast out from the library, to lie on the drawingroom table; or be transferred from thence to the summer's seat; and we wish for our Home Scenes no higher station than the familiar haunts of domestic life. It would perhaps be wrong to anticipate criticism by saying the book is incomplete; but in my estimation of the things described, I find it to be so. Yet, if it should have contributed to render one individual more satisfied with the world about him; or have excited one feeling of gratitude for the blessings which a bounteous Providence has lavished around us, the desire of the authoress will not have been unfulfilled, nor her labour have been in vain. It is her full persuasion that we may find scenes at home as lovely as those we seek abroad. The

It may

Almighty has not created a fairer land than our own.
fail in sublimity; but it loses, in comparison with others,
nothing in beauty. The peculiar charm of English scenery,-
that air of propriety and comfort which harmonizes the
features of the landscape, and hallows our home, is more felt
than acknowledged. We take pleasure, unconsciously, in the
beauties around us, yet often forget the real sources of our
happiness, in the business and cares of daily life.

"The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in nature which is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon."

But this may not be; we must return to the peaceful enjoyments of nature—

"Knowing that she never did betray

The heart that loved her. She can so impress
With quietness and beauty, and so feed

With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,
Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men,
Nor greeting where no kindness is, nor all
The dreary intercourse of daily life,
Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb
Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold
Is full of blessings."

WORDSWORTH.