New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-08-09
INC beloved or famous places and persons takes

that, siFdibNl a. lE'uEns anu SWIM a. hppt'
cleaves the country TO the single point In the
wild woods We 90 not insist upon the prosaic
charac;er Of the railroad. for many obvious rea-
Sons SO tina; 10 one, I understand. not even the
American poets, sigh for The cool Old times Of
staging from Albany 10 Niagara.
But In Europe. IL lands Of traditional romance,
]: Is quite different railroad TO Venice
Heaven forefend 30 said I. - numbered easily
out OF Florence IN a vettura. comfortably accom-
plishing is thirty miles DAY Heaven forefend
sad still. as We clmoed the Apcnnines. and de-
scendinr, rolled into quaint. arcaded Bologna. and
listened beneath Raphael'> ~. Ceei.iI. to hear II
no spiri, of sound irembed from the harp
strings Heaven forelend' said / still a. We
logged along the Lombard p0st-.oads green ana
golden and gliiterng with the suWptnols sway
inc Of the vines IN the lanrut Wind IS they
hung from the grave. stiff oil poplars. Ike beau
tful winning. bewildeung arms of loneliness,
caressing whole perspectlves OF solemn Quaker
papas, and festooning the road A. II the sum
mer were festival of Bacchus. and Jolly rout
of Bacchanals had now reeled along to the ban
quet Of Beauty.
Heaven liItlttih >dft l. a w ia tfh LiIOu-i
the grassy streets of Ferrara, mounting very II
regular quotations from Tasso. and utterly IN
creduous of Byrons fable of " SOnglesS Condo
liers" beyond and still, Heaven forefend SAID
l. as by the manv-domed cathedral of -. An
tony we mingled IN the evening Corso, and, strain
ing our eyes forthe University of Padua, ahghted
at the hotel thirty or forty miles or so from
De-. no | OncDo1
nv ewes and. eschewIng the cud OF my dreams
said to myself You are thirty miles from We
nice" sprang out OF bed, ike one whose mar
mage morn has dawned, and cried aloud, " Thank
God there IS a railroad to Venice ;"
Nor could the speed OF tina, railroad more than
figure the eagenes> of my desire, as it swept Us
through the vineyards Nor did the dream OF
Venice dissolve but deepen rather, for the strange
contrast Of that wild speed and that eternal, TO
mantle rest.
WIZ not let the American poets know that
railroads thus hlChten romance. and hat, II NJ
agara rather gains than loses by the whlr that
drives us thither, 50 do all spots of Nlagarean
importance Yet ,chqt a whrl Il Is, as you APP
proach the Falls Within certain crcumfer-
ence. everybody Is Niagarlzed, and flies IN
frenzy to the center, as filings TO the magnet Be
fore the train had stopped, and while fancled
that II was a way-statIon-i listening the while
TO the pleasant music of words. that weaned my
hearing from any roar OF waiers-varlous men
leaped from the cars and ran like thieves, lovers,
soldiers. or what You Will, to the Cataract as
the conductor said looked upon them at once
as a select party OF poets-lt was an error. They
were knowing ones" OF the large, warm style
OF man, intent upon the hrst choice OF rooms at
the Cataract House" lanived there and found
queue as at the box-oflice OF the Opera IN Paris,
long train of travellers waiting to enter their
names Not one could have a room yet, Qt was
10 o'clock but at hai-pa>t every body was
going away and then every body could he accom-
modated.
And meanwhile
49, Meanwhile, Niagara
Disappointment IN Niagara seems TO me at
fected or childish. Your fancles may be very
different, but the legal reality sweeps them
away as weeds and dreams. You may havenour
lshed some impossible idea OF one ocean pouring
itself over a precipice into another. But It was
a wild whm of mexperlence. and Is IN mo
meni forgotten; or If, standing upon the bridge
of Goat Island, you can watch the wild sweep
and swirl of the waters around the wooded
point above-dashlng, swelling and raging, but
awful from their inevitable and resstless rush.
and not feel that your fancy OF sea Is paed by
the chaos OF wild water that tumbles toward
YOU. then YOU are a child, and the forms of your
thought are not precise enough for the profound
est satisfaction IN great natural spectacleS.
over that bridge how slowly YOU will walk
and how silently, gazing IN awe at the tempestu-
Gus sea->weep of the rapids and ganclng with
wonder but not eagerly, at the FAINT cloud OF
spray over the American Fab. And there as
the sense of grandeur and beauty Smltes your
soul, YOU Will still move quietly onward, pausng
moment, leaning moment on the railing, clos
ing your eyes to hear only Niagara and ever, as
child says lis prayers III time OF danger, slow
", and with strange sowgess, repeating to your
self Niagara, Niagara"
For although you have not yet seen the Gaia
ract, YOU feel that nothing else can be the crisis
of this chaos. Were YOU suddenly placed there,
and your ewes unbandaged, and YOU were asked
"Wha, shall be the result OF all this the an
swer would accompany the question Maya
IA" But We must still spor, with our emotions
Some philosopher VIII die, has last breath spark
Ing from his lips III pun. Some far ana lated
Lady Jane Grey Will span her slight neck with
her delicate fingers, and smile to the headsman
that hls TASK i easy And We, with kindred
feeling, turn aside into the shop OF Indian curosl-
ties and play with Niagara. treating II as Jest
er. as a Bayasere, TO await our pleasure
Then. through the woods on Goat Island
solemn and stately WOODSTOCK slowly you Will
walk again, and how silently Ten years ago
your friend carved his name upon some tree