CHAPTER XV. QUILLEBOEUF. LEAVING behind us the dark forest of Brotonne, we at length arrived at two little hamlets, placed near each other on the banks of the river- Aiziers and Vieux Port. The latter forms the subject of the annexed view, taken from the river; but although the beauty of the scene is enhanced by the vessels, whose reflections are seen so strikingly contrasted in the calm wave, yet the moral effect of our Vieux Port is absent. In fact, the impression made upon the spectator by almost any scene in nature depends entirely upon accidental and evanescent circumstances. An author may write, "here stands a church, there a castle, and yonder a grove; and his description, if correct, will be acknowledged to be so; but if he endeavours, at the same time, to convey a moral picture which shall determine the character of the view, either his fidelity or his taste will be questioned by every succeeding visitor. The residence that is the most cheerful in summer- the most animate with all the sights and sounds of that bountiful season -the verdure of the woods, the song of birds, and the quietly musical voices of cattle-is, in precisely the same ratio, gloomy and desolate in winter. But, without seeking an extreme case, we need only refer to the one before us. --- |