SKETCHES OF RURAL CHARACTER AND SCENERY. BY MARY RUSSELL MITFORD, AUTHOR OF JULIAN, FOSCARI, AND DRAMATIC SCENES. VOLUME V. LONDON: WHITTAKER, TREACHER, & Co. AVE-MARIA-LANE. 1832. THE CRIBBAGE PLAYERS. A Country Dialogue.. 208 THE FRESHWATER FISHERMAN. A Sketch...... 218 INTRODUCTION. FAREWELL TO OUR VILLAGE. WAS it the gentle Addison, as quoted by Johnson, or Johnson himself, that tender heart enclosed in a rough rind, who said that he could not part, without sorrow from the stump of an old tree that he had known since he was a boy? Whoever said it, gave utterance to one of the deepest and most universal feelings of our common nature. The attractions of novelty are weak and powerless, in comparison with the minute but strong chains of habit, and the moment of separation is that of all others in which, with an amiable illusion, we brighten and magnify the good qualities of the object we leave, whilst we forget or overlook whatever at another time may have displeased us. The last tone is a tone of kindness; the last look a look of regret. The very words consecrated to parting embody this sentiment farewell! adieu! good-bye! Why they are benedictions, tender solemn benedictions! How poor |