, cannot find warmth by his own
fire-side; but I pity him more, who, through poverty of thought, cannot
find happiness.

For the entertainment of summer, exclusive of the two theatres, there
are five greens, where the gentlemen are amused with bowls, and the
ladies with tea.

There are also great variety of public gardens, suited to every class of
people, or which Duddeston, the ancient seat of the Holte family, claims
the pre-eminence.

The fishing-rod, that instrument which _destroys in peace_, must find a
place: other animals are followed with fire and tumult, but the fishes
are entrapped with deceit. Of all the sportsmen, we charge the angler
alone with _killing in cold blood_.

Just as a pursuit abounds with pleasure, so will it abound with
votaries. The pleasure of angling depends on the success of the line:
this art is but little practised here, and less known. Our rivers are
small, and thinly stored; our pools are guarded as private property: the
Birmingham spirit is rather too active for the sleepy amusement
of fishing.

Patience seems the highest accomplishment of an angler. We behold him,
fixed as a statue, on the bank; his head inclining towards the river,
his attention upon the water, his eye upon the float; he often draws,
and draws only his hook! But although he gets no bite, it may fairly be
said _he is bit:_ of the two, the fish display the most cunning.--He,
surprized that he has _caught nothing_, and I, that he has kept his rod
and his patience.

Party excursion is held in considerable esteem, in which are included
Enville, the seat of Lord Stamford; Hagley, that of the late Lord
Lyttelton; and the Leasowes, the property of the late Wm. Shenstone,
Esq. We will omit the journey to London, a tour which some of us have
made all our lives _without seeing it_.

Cards and the visit are linked together, nor is the billiard table
totally forsaken. One man amuses himself in amassing a fortune, and
another in dissolving one.

About thirty-six of the inhabitants keep carriages for their own private
use; and near fifty have country houses. The relaxations of the humbler
class, are fives, quoits, skittles, and ale.

Health and amusement are found in the prodigious number of private
gardens scattered round Birmingham, from which we often behold the
father returning with a cabbage, and the daughter with a nosegay.

HOTEL.

The spot where our great-grandmothers smiled in the lively dance, when
the