The sterile spot grows into loveliness under his (an Englishman) hands， and yet the operations of art which produce the effect are scarcely to be perceived. The cherishing and training of some trees； the cautious pruning of others； the nice distribution of flowers and plants of tender and graceful foliage； the introduction of a green slope of velvet turf； the partial opening to a peep of blue distance， or silver gleam of water： all these are managed with a delicate tact， a pervading yet quiet assiduity， like the magic touchings with which a painter finishes up a favorite picture.
The residence of people of fortune and refinement in the country has diffused a degree of taste and elegance in rural economy that descends to the lowest class. The very laborer， with his thatched cottage and narrow slip of ground， attends to their embellishment. The trim hedge， the grass， plot before the door， the little flower， bed bordered with snug box， the woodbine trained up against the wall， and hanging its blossoms about the lattice， the pot of flowers in the window， the holly， providently planted about the house， to cheat winter of its dreariness， and to throw in a semblance of green summer to cheer the fireside： all these bespeak the influence of taste， flowing down from high sources， and pervading the lowest levels of the public mind. If ever Love， as poets sing， delights to visit a cottage， it must be the cottage of an English peasant.
沒有什麽景物比英國公園的壯麗景色更吸引人了。廣闊的草地就像一塊鮮明的綠毯伸展開來，到處都是巨樹叢林，它們聚成一簇簇茂盛的樹葉叢：茂盛的小樹林和寬敞的林間空地，有鹿群靜靜走過；野兔跳進藏身之所；雉鳥突然展翅高飛；小溪流順著天然曲折的道路蜿蜒前行，或延展成平鏡般的湖泊——這個幽靜的水塘映出顫動的樹影，黃葉靜靜地躺在塘心，鱒魚無懼地悠遊於清水之中；而一些鄉間的廟宇及森林中的雕像，則因時間久遠而變綠了，陰濕濕的，給這種隱蔽蒙上了一層古典聖潔的氣氛。