The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1843-12-28
For the Voice of Freedom.
A VISIT TO LONG ISLAND.
Mr.. Editor:


Mr. Editor:
The author of the immor.
tai paradise Lost" was favored, it is
said with the spirit of the muses. more CO.
piousl Y at certain seasons Of the year,than
at others, but at what particular periods,
his biographers do not agree. l would
not compare myself with that sun in Eng
lish literature and poetry, yet the same
principle which produces The emusic Of
the spheres" effects also the Harmony Of
atoms.' Winter has lis pastimes. and its
bleak sublimity-S Summer its fragrance
and its fruits, its cool shades, and refresh
ing streams, but to me, autumn seems
most favorable 10 intellectual cultivation,
and enjoyment. For one 10 present 10
public notice delnealiops OF places, and
things, almost within the limits of his
own neighborhood, might exhibit the ped
ant, almos. equal 10 the potentate, who,
after having satiated his own appel t,
arose from the table, wiped his mouth and
very graciously permitted all the word
to go to dinner.
Some Philosophers devote their ener-
gies to digestng, and arranging systems,
while others, with equal profundty, spend
a lifetime in anal wing single principle.
One traveller is delighted in circumnavi.
gazing the globe, while another is over
whelmed with emotion, willie gazing at
cataract
We have. been favored, Tor abused)
with Dickens vuIgariiy; Marfya!l'S pref
udices; Miss Martineau's coquetry, and
pleased with De Toqueville's ecstacy. and
and now, perhaps, American ciIz, lis may
as well stay at home.
Every place has its novelty 10 the stran.
ger, and interest to the Philosopher
Both may concur, | think, in submitting
the palm 10 the Empire State" Who can
read Washington Irvicg's lucid descrip-
ton of New York State, without almost
associaling with it the idea of enchant-
menlP Greece, and Rome, had their
States, but here, they would vanish among
her counties Continental Europe may
have her waterfalls, but their murmur-
lngs could not be heard amidst tho lhund.
erngs of Niagara. England may boast of
her mountains, but they would be but wor.
shippers at the feet oflhe Catskil. Even
the canals of Holland would dwind!e into
insignfcance, compared with her terrest.
rial Gaaxies. But the glory OF her beauty,
and life, is the meandering Hudson
Never was her bosom more placid never
did she reflect back the rays of an Au-
tumnal sun more profusely, than when
the SPLENDID steamer " Empire was
leaving the wharf Of her most northern
city, destined for the great metropolis
The foliage that environed her borders
had indeed lost the bright hues of mid
summer, and in fancy
"Metho't the lone river that murmured along,
Was more dull in its motion, more sad in its song,
Since the birds that hid nestled and warbled above,
Had all fed from its banks at the fall of the grove"
yet the teeming life of the commercial
craft upon her surface, and the busy din
ofthe villages scattered along her shores,
seemed only to intimate, that natures life
had passed one of its trans migrations.
Bat all this was soon exchanged for
the dealening clangor of the lefty full"
and that again, for the quietness that per-
vades the peasaniry on Long Island.
The distance from the city is but short,yet
the change in objects is striking. But we
will not stop TO make comparisons, but