which injurious
expectations may be easily corrected. It is generally supposed that
waterfalls are scarcely worth being looked at except after much rain,
and that, the more swoln the stream, the more fortunate the spectator;
but this however is true only of large cataracts with sublime
accompaniments; and not even of these without some drawbacks. In other
instances, what becomes, at such a time, of that sense of refreshing
coolness which can only be felt in dry and sunny weather, when the
rocks, herbs, and flowers glisten with moisture diffused by the breath
of the precipitous water? But, considering these things as objects of
sight only, it may be observed that the principal charm of the smaller
waterfalls or cascades consists in certain proportions of form and
affinities of colour, among the component parts of the scene; and in the
contrast maintained between the falling water and that which is
apparently at rest, or rather settling gradually into quiet in the pool
below. The beauty of such a scene, where there is naturally so much
agitation, is also heightened, in a peculiar manner, by the
_glimmering_, and, towards the verge of the pool, by the _steady_,
reflection of the surrounding images. Now, all those delicate
distinctions are destroyed by heavy floods, and the whole stream rushes
along in foam and tumultuous confusion. A happy proportion of component
parts is indeed noticeable among the landscapes of the North of England;
and, in this characteristic essential to a perfect picture, they surpass
the scenes of Scotland, and, in a still greater degree, those of
Switzerland.

As a resident among the Lakes, I frequently hear the scenery of this
country compared with that of the Alps; and therefore a few words shall
be added to what has been incidentally said upon that subject.

If we could recall, to this region of lakes, the native pine-forests,
with which many hundred years ago a large portion of the heights was
covered, then, during spring and autumn, it might frequently, with much
propriety, be compared to Switzerland,--the elements of the landscape
would be the same--one country representing the other in miniature.
Towns, villages, churches, rural seats, bridges and roads: green
meadows and arable grounds, with their various produce, and deciduous
woods of diversified foliage which occupy the vales and lower regions of
the mountains, would, as in Switzerland, be divided by dark forests from
ridges and round-t