Immediately before them, they could only see the white chimneys of the cottages rising amidst embowering groves; but, on either side, they commanded a full view of the valley, o'er which the sober colouring of closing day was already spread, heightening the gloomy solemnity of its hanging woods, and giving a deeper tint of green to the smooth and sloping banks of the stream which, now clear and beautifully serene, reflected, as in a glass, those sloping banks, the neat cottages, the waving woods, that rose above them, and the blue firmament, yet marked by the glories of the setting sun; whilst beside it lay its ruminating herds, and all around was silence, as if nature and her works were hushed to repose by the declining hour.
"How delicious is this prospect (said de Sevignie, in a voice of rapture)! the eye could never be tired of it; yet is its tranquillity even more pleasing to the mind, than its beauties to the eye."
