, 1842-06-04
tVOL. mo. Bill

gain furnishing the mountains side
with their thick matted foliage; now
in autumn robed in the gorgeous vest
ments of more than oriental magnifi-
cence; and often inwinter bending
under their piled-uP ~fleeces Of snow,
or g%listening with matchless splendor
when cased in ice and changed into a
crystal forest of glass and diamonds;
in all these cases how suited are tho
trees 10 charm the eye and delight the
mind! Why should not the eye be
charmed? Why should not the ina
gination be delighteds Why should
we not take pleasure in the beauty Of
Gods works? Why should we not
do what we can to make our homes
continually more and more beautiful;
and to multiply and fill to over flow
ing these innocent sourcesof pleasure?
The country is full Of poetic senti-
ment and religious monitions. The
privileged inhabitants of the country
should seek to rise above the
drudgery oflife, and make themselves
familiar with nature in her ever vary
ing and charming aspects. 1t will not
hurt their industry, but it will cheer
their toll to study the benevolence of
the Creator in the perfection of all
his works; and, | trust | may add
without irreverence, to second his
provisions for the happiness Of his
creatures in multiplying every where
around them the forms of beauty.
hope | shall be pardoned for the
enthusiasm which ! may betray on
this subject. Let those who think
my remarks put Of place, kindly pass
them over. Penetrated to the depts
of nv soul with a sense of the beau
ty of nature and the charms of rural
life, | am anxious that even the low
est laborer may have his toll ~allevia-
ted. his self-respect quickened, and a
sentiment Of the dignity Of his own
nature breathed into his heart by a
habit of observing and studying and
enjoying the wonders and glories of
tie visable creation around him. |
cannot think it difficult, under a.iust
education, TO awaken this sentiment
and form this habit, even in the hum
blest minds; and what sources of
qualification in such cases shall We
open to him. which the wealth Of cit
les cannot purchase, and what mo-
tives to religious trust and JOY shall
we inspire, which written teachings
can never impart. For what a prod
igaIity of beauty is every where man.
Tested in the natural world! Light
itself is the perfection of beauty, and
wherever it spreads its glittering
robe, converts every thing which it
touches into beauty. Take the great
features of nature, the earth, the wa
ter, the sky, the sun, the moon, the
stars; and what beauty is respondent
in every one of them. Take the
vegetable tribes, the trees, the fow-
ers and the verdant fields; take the
animal creation, from the fairy bird
that cleaves the liquid air with its bur-
nished wing, to the pearl Of exquisite
brilliancy, that lies buried in the
depths of the sea; and what divine
beauty shines out in the whole. Elk
anime the minutest atom, which you
can pick from the earth with the fin
est needle, the smallest flower that
drinks in the refreshing dew, the least
insect that floats in the sunbeam, the
tenderest leaf that q%uivers ia the
breeze, and the FAST continent with
all its mixed and varied features Of
land & water. of vally and mountain,
of prairie and forest; take the vast
ocean, with its ceaseless heavings,
and lis deep cerulean waves, and the
golden and crimsoned heavens at the
rising and setting sun; look at nature,
even in her decay, in the variegated
glories of autumn, or reposing under
her jewelled mantle in the depth Of
winter, look at every thing in its in
dividual form, or in its combinations.
and ever in objects which seem Of
fensive or loathsome, or terrifc.-all,
all, is flooded with beauty. l have
stood for hours, gazing at the NIGH
ty Niagara; and while | beheld in its
tremendous movement, an image Of
the Divine Power, and in its c~easeless
flow, a soymbol Of the Divine Eter-
nifty, yet in its deep torrent Of living
green, its glittering tresses, of white
ness which the driited snow does not
surpass, and in the dazzling iris, SPAN
ming its troubled and foaming abyss.
and girding, as it were, the lions neck
with 8 cincture Of brilliants, beauty.
ineffable beauty, pervaded and tri-
umphed over the whole; and there,
Of all other places on earth, seems
to have fixed her shrine and to de.