Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1828-08-13

{ e,r.s, artificial mounds, on when IT, ssre a
lofts. au"w,b were growing. They weIs .
ie o.uI, e Inhabitants before the preseh.ia
: 10 ,nev were autideluvian. oo". =
-peln' msr;ca is the old WORLD that wasu.o :
-"n"s Ru, he ,ha, as it may, 1t contain" has !;
of an antiquity that PHILOSOPHY III;
)! .",sxnl,ined The wa--belts o, ontans ,
w. = h;erorlyphicai lectures. Inc NV Tn-
"ro,s in tina, language. Did they YEA" .,ruse
-, Not. however 10 dwell on SUI m The
,,a,,ers. I shall Just say, that we res. ~ cream.
sscond day the lake which 'uPpheu 'r &C ,road
:, w.s about some ten miles long, 7, was
howl in the midst OF se'erai n''.' 40. bu,
,verlooked by the woods and , ave i,
towards our vally, a vast emoans"e" - which
he form Of a dam, over the hh'uu
the stream Of rhyaiira howed. the TOP
# was the evening when we aarss.hmen,
of the embankmen'; we TOOK ON III r,st our
and nv father proposed 'na' .aa;nsss nar,ook
Inv for hal, night; the whole business pa I'D
49, n.,ure of a hunting excurslon-ouf a;,h
Vi :" 49, bu, we sweelened the means 49,
Insure Accordingly, after our rePa',
pc .ovar,l,v betook themselves 10 'he 'p"
,h;ch thew mos, delighted. te'. ~ lane
spreudd n oaHfsitt laaked he lake, tina, !"
communion with mine, and l was seized with
oh a"iui iOtcOouibS. tranquility uOlttG ike
a corps on the waler-silence sat in the dumb
ness Of death on the mountains-the woods
seemed, as the light faded, to take the form of
hearseplumes-and as | looked Down towards
my native village, | thought Of the valley of Je.
hoshaphat, and the day Of judgment. What
curious sense Of the mind, keener than the eye,
and quicker that the ear, gave me in that even.
lug the f~oretaste of what was 10 happen?
The rest OF The party slept well, bul | burst
not close my eyes. The moment | did So, the
ever restless faculty Of my spin it discovered the
omens OF wnat was to ensue, aud frightened me
awake. It's amazing how such things happen;
for my part, | think the mind never sleeps, and
that our dreams are but the melaphorical me-
dunn OF its reflections, when the FIVE physical
senses are shut up. Dire ANS, | would say, are
but The metaphors in which reason thinks. But
the mysteries Of the kingdom Of the soul are
more dark aud profound than those of all the
other kingdoms Of nature, s | caunot expound
them.
Atday break my father called US cheerily 10
work. ] know not by what impulse | was ac,
tua'ed. / had been educated BY a strange man,
a deep classical scholar, who had settled at
Ihyatira. He had been brought up at Oxford,
and ne ascribcd living powers 10 all organized
The woods were 10 him endowed
with spirits, he streams had intelligence, and
he rocks the memory Of witnesses bearing ties.
lmony. Those %iancies came thick upon me,
md | went TO my father and laid my hand on
MS arm. "Forbear, father" said /; "there
may be something unhallowed in disturbing the
;TTifriafgrrd,,~ afff ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
the mound. 1t was fatal stroke, for as
ne pulled out the weapon, the ground gave, as
we're, a shudder, and presently after a groan
NJ , ha,rI &c &c thp whole mound nj Earth WAS
breaking up.
My father, by The stroke Of his pick>axe, had
left asunder an incrusra,ion oil sand that form>
ad, as il were, The bowl of the lake. The water
rushed through and widened the seam with
great violence. The mound, which dammed
up the lake, had been formed by a gradual &C
emulation Of fallen timber. The water Ihro'
the rent insinuated ITSELF amoag the mass; the
mud aud sand between the gathered trunks
were washed away, and the mass lost its adhe-
sion. In the course of a few minutes, heaven
Knows by wha, strange aptitude, the stupen-
l0us mound began 10 move 1t became cons
vulsed; il roared with the throes Of tearing asun-
der; the waters Of the lake boiled up from the
l ran from he spot; my father and his
stood aghast and certified; birds were
screaming from the wood, below; | called TO
father, and 10 all, for Co.'s sake 10 follow
me; | looked towards the lake; 1t seemed 20 me
as If It's calm and level surface was taking the
shape of sloping glass; l caught hold Of the
branch Of a tree which grew on The rock where
had contemplated the scene the preceding
evening: | fell as Ii were the globe oftl,e world
from under my feet; | exerted myself;
the rock; every thing wrs reeling around
l saw the hills and woods moving away.
shut my eyes in terror, and, covering my face
with my hands, stretched myself on the rock,
as if | lay at the feet If the angel Of destruction.
heard a sound louder than thunder; my sens
aiMfhsf eseu ne iFpfsI a5jWpRH6Slt Isl, but M When I had tsd Sf of'il
'ude enough to look around, / found myself or
he ledge Of an awful rrecipice-a black and
'ozy valley, herbless as a grave, where the
axe had been, and for The mound where | left I
ny father and his labourers, "a horrible cbasm {
horrid as the roaring deluee was a
cen raging down the valley towards Thyatira. /
he sound lessened as l looked, and a silence i
such as the raven of Noah found up- a
N the earti,, when she went forth banouet;no &