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DUTY AND INCLINATION.
95

below, giving a character of grandeur to a scene almost unequalled even in Switzerland; a country so justly famed for its exhaustless magnificence.

Not far from this, just at the opening leading to the lovely, romantic vale of Aberdare, upon a gentle declivity, stood a cottage of simple and Gothic structure. It seldom met the eye of the traveller, and still more rarely frequented was the road which led to it. Having been left for some time unoccupied, it was soon to become the residence of those who now caught an occasional glance at it whenever the path, undulating between hills of hanging wood, permitted. One more short turning gratified the eager solicitude of our travellers; and they at last beheld, with an uninterrupted gaze, the lonely and silent dwelling they were destined to inhabit.

"One cultivated spot there was, that spread
Its flowery bosom to the noon-day beam,
Where many a rose-bud rears its blushing head."

The carriage moved slowly on through a neat white gate; after which, whatever their eyes ranged upon, within the boundary of the verdant enclosure, they could call their own. This humble abode was far different from the elegant and ornamented