The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1845-06-28

his hoarse thunder, and darting his for
ked lightning athwart the sky, shutting
out the sunlight from the darkened hOr-
lion, and wrapping the desolated earth
in the snowy mantle his benulnbed fin
gers have woven. Upon many con-
secrated altar hath Nature lighted Up
those volcanic fires which are 10 burn
unqhehched--unquehchable through
the lapse of revolving ages.
Their mingled smoke and fame ctirl
upward like an incense cloud to seek
an aerial resting place, while the burn
ing lava wraps its lurid folds about The
habitations of men, and sends forth its
desolating streams over the smiling vil:
Iage and verdant plain. We gaze and
tremble, for who knoweth the might Of
the volcano? Tie earthquake causes
CONSERVATION and dismay--man fears
to question power which shakes the
foundations of ''the everlasting hllls;'
overthrows the city of his habitations,
and rings out its mournful death-note
over the aflrighted sea. In the dim
aisles of the forest nature walks unseen,
spreading a leafy covering over the
rugged oak or the majestic elm, con-
veying to each fbrous root its appro-
pirate nourishment, and distilling from
the morning dew fragrance for each
simple flower that springs up in her
pathway. At her bidding the refresh
ing sho wer and the genial sunshine eS-
pand the leafbud on its slender stalk,
and
"The store of rainbow color which the seeds con!
ceal,
Sheds out its tnts from its dim treasury,
To flash and circle in the flower"
When morn's rosy light family
CLEANS in the eastern sky, uhalded anil
unperceived, wakeful nature opens the
gates Of day, and bids the flaming char
lot of the sun roll its appointed round;
and "when eve is purping cliff and
cave,'' she draws the curtains of night
around the worn and weary earth.--
With azure and vermillion she paints
the heecy clouds, and on the brow of
the eternal cataract she traces the bril-
liant hue of the o'erarching Iris where
breathes the spirit of the beautiful un:
approached by mortal passion or NOR:
tai care. Nature alone stands on the
verge of the awful precipice, needless
of the elemental war, "measuring the
roaring torrent in the hollow of her
hand," and weighing the mountains in
scales and the hills in a balance" and
saying to the mighty deep: "hiihertd
shalt thou come, and here shall thy
proud waves be stayed" When we
turn our eyes upward to explore the
fields of ether, who shall tell us the num-
ber of the stars of Heaven, teach US
their choral symphonies, or conjecture
the date of their existence! Will the
Astronomer stay the meteor in" its
flight, or can he summon with potent
voice those brilliant corruscations,
whose 'roseate hues so often tinge Il
northern sky? But nature hath mys-
teries still more inscrutable. They are
linked with the nature and the destiny
of man. In the words Of another it
may be sald-'That mystery and mar
vel bind that lofty thing, the human
mind" Who hath fathomed the depth
of the human heart, or unfolded the
mysteries of that more ''sturlling thing,
the human Soul!" The God OF Nature
hath enshrined it in temple of unrival-
led symmetry and beauty, given it ca
pacitles for suffering and enjoying, and
will hereafter unvei to its astomshed
vision the mysteries that have been
kept secret from the foundation of the
world.