The humble edifices rear themselves almost at the
farthest extremity of a narrow vale, which, winding through a long extent
of hill-country, is wellnigh as inaccessible, except at one point, as the
Happy Valley of Abyssinia. A stream, that farther on becomes a
considerable river, takes its rise at, a short distance above the college,
and affords, along its wood-fringed banks, many shady retreats, where
even study is pleasant, and idleness delicious. The neighborhood of the
institution is not quite a solitude, though the few habitations scarcely
constitute a village. These consist principally of farm-houses, of rather
an ancient date (for the settlement is much older than the college), and
of a little inn, which even in that secluded spot does not fail of a
moderate support. Other dwellings are scattered up and down the valley;
but the difficulties of the soil will long avert the evils of a too dense
population. The character of the inhabitants does not seem--as there was,
perhaps, room to anticipate--to be in any degree influenced by the
atmosphere of Harley College. They are a set of rough and hardy yeomen,
much inferior, as respects refinement, to the corresponding classes in
most other parts of our country.
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