a happier assemblage. Land near a miserable room, where
travellers dine. Of the isle of Innisfallen, it is paying no great
compliment to say it is the most beautiful in the king's dominions, and
perhaps in Europe. It contains twenty acres of land, and has every
variety that the range of beauty, unmixed with the sublime, can give.
The general feature is that of wood; the surface undulates into swelling
hills, and sinks into little vales; the slopes are in every direction,
the declivities die gently away, forming those slight inequalities which
are the greatest beauty of dressed grounds. The little valleys let in
views of the surrounding lake between the hills, while the swells break
the regular outline of the water, and give to the whole an agreeable
confusion. The wood has all the variety into which nature has thrown the
surface; in some parts it is so thick as to appear impenetrable, and
secludes all farther view; in others, it breaks into tufts of tall
timber, under which cattle feed. Here they open, as if to offer to the
spectator the view of the naked lawn; in others close, as if purposely to
forbid a more prying examination. Trees of large size and commanding
figure form in some places natural arches; the ivy mixing with the
branches, and hanging across in festoons of foliage, while on one side
the lake glitters among the trees, and on the other a thick gloom dwells
in the recesses of the wood. The figure of the island renders one part a
beautiful object to another; for the coast being broken and indented,
forms bays surrounded either with rock or wood: slight promontories shoot
into the lake, whose rocky edges are crowned with wood. These are the
great features of Innisfallen; the slighter touches are full of beauties
easily imagined by the reader. Every circumstance of the wood, the
water, the rocks, and lawn, are characteristic, and have a beauty in the
assemblage from mere disposition. I must, however, observe that this
delicious retreat is not kept as one could wish.

Scenes that are great and commanding, from magnitude or wildness, should
never be dressed; the rugged, and even the horrible, may add to the
effect upon the mind: but in such as Innisfallen, a degree of dress, that
is, cleanliness, is even necessary to beauty. I have spoken of lawn, but
I should observe that expression indicates what it ought to be rather
than what it is. It is very rich grass, poached by oxen and cows, the
only inha