The Litchfield County post., 1828-08-21


stood sill for want ofwater. Some ofthe
old netghborS had visited the source ofthe
river in their youth. 1t was lake far ~
among ti.e mountains, and my father being
bold aud enteroris;ng character, thought
! if he could enlarge the opening al the bank
of the lake, where the stream issued, he
would obtain an abundance of water.
! The scheme was feasible, and he engage
ed number ofmen to go with him to the
! lake for that purpose. | was then youth
fond OF any adventure, and accompanied
the heroes of the pickaxe and shovel. We
had d cheerful journey through the woods;
we startled showers of beautiful hummjng-
, birds; hey we're like apple blossoms scat
tered IN the windS--we slept at night in
! the woods, and we crossed several ancient
Indian war-tracks, which we knew by The
inscriptions on the rocks; we saw also in
the forest, artificial mounds, on which sew
eral trees of the oldest growth were grow
ing; They were tho works 1T iifIfdhitaTffs
before the present race-perhaps they were
| antideluvian. Sometimes think Ameri-
ca is the old world that was Destroyed. Bui
be that as It may, it contains many remains
of an antiquity that philosophy has not We
! explained. The war-belts of the Indian,
are heroglyphc Il lectures. The Indians
wrote in th'1 language. DID they ta lcb
! The indians! Not, however, to dwell Oh
such obStruSe mtHerS, shlll just Say, a (,
we arrived, upon .he second dry, at thr
lake which supplied the stream. /. was
some ten miles long, aud five hroli-----'
bowl in the midst Of several hills. | WAS
| overlooked by the woods aud mounltIn
but towards our valley, IA vast emb ,nkmfH
gave it the appearance of a dam over which
| the stream flowed.
Ii was the evening when we reached The
top of the e,nb nkment; we took some re-
treshment and my father proposed hat We
should rest ourselves for that night: the
whole business partook of the nature OF d
hunting excurs!On--our end was labor, but
we swceiened The means with pleasure. -
Accordingly latter our repaSt, The party be-
took themselves srverally to the sports in
which they most delighted. retired 10 ID
rock tiat overlooked the lake, thai, in the
lone mAgnificence of mountain, Lake, ana
wood, was spread around me. Tue spirit
OF the place held communion with nine, 81
| was seized with an awful tUrebut ding
Tranquility Aoated like corpse on the
) Water-->hence sat in the dumbneSs OF
death, on the mountalns--the woods seem
ed, as the light faded, to take the form o
hedrse- plumes-1nd as looked doWnwart
toward my native valley, though! Of the
valley of Jehoshaphat, and the day of final
, judgment. What curious sensa of the minc
: keener than The eye, and quicker than the
ear, gave me in that evening, the torelastt
OF what was to happen?
The rest of the party slept well, but
, duiSt not close my eyes. The moment
did 50. the ever restless faculty Of my spl.
rt discovered the omens Of what was tc
: ensue, and irigh ened me awake. | is a.
mazIng how such things happen; for my
,, part ihink The mind never sleeps, and tina,
our dreams are but The me aphorIcaI medi-
um OF It's reflections, when The five phy>i-
Cal senses are shut up. Dreams, | would
say are but the metaphors IN winch reason
thinks. But the mysteries of The kingdom
of the soul are more dark and prolounc
than those of all the her Kingdoms of nd.
ture, and | cannot expound them.
Al daybreak my father called us cheeri
, ly to work. | know no by what impulse
| was actuated. had been educated by
strange man, deep classical scholar, who
, had settled at Thyatira. lie had bee,
brought up at Oxford, and he ascribed liv
, ing powers to all organized existences.--
81 The woods were to him endowed with spi
, rits. the streams with intelligence, and the
. rocks with the memory of witnesses bear.
ing testimony. Those fancies came thicl
upon me, and went TO my father, AM lac
my hand upon his arm. "Forbear, father
! said ".here III y be something un''AIlow'
ed in disturbing ,hc ancient channels o
q these solitary waters." My father Laugh
1 ed, and again struck his plcktxe into The
mound. II was a fatal stroke, for, as h.
: pulled OUT the weapon, the ground gave, AZ
Y it were, shudder, and presently after I
, groan was heard. AS # the whole mounc
of earth was breaking up.
: My father, by the stroke OF his pickAxe
had cleft asunder an Incrustation OF sane
which formed as it were, the bowl of The
lake. The mound winch damned up The
, lake, had been formed by gradual accu'
mutation of fallen timber. The waleI