Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1851-05-02
VOL. 3.------N0. %. b

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unknown and The elextraordiuary. e The,
liked TO eat, drink, dance, sing, loll OF
green slopes, and sleep under nower
heage-rows; and they despised or dread
cd all that tended TO break their sleel
monotony of pleasure. Accordingly We
ry few of them ever came within the
sound Of the Mystic Mount; and man
passed away without having ever learn
ed its locality, or even its existence. o.
Some adventures once entered the
jaws Of the cavern, lured by the fairy
songs they heard round The mount, bul
| they returned bruised and wounded, aud
said that Immediately they entered, rude
hands seized them. and when they resis-
ted drove them back thror gh the cayern's
mouth with blows. These always spake
| the mos, bitterly against :he Mystic
Mount. But once again a party OF da.
ring spirits came within hearing of the
music, and entered. They consented to
The seizure of their clvlhes, and were
then turned naked into q dark cavern a
bounding with spars and splin!ers.a They
wandered along Tor q considerable. time,
and then seeing light to the left, they
turned down a narrow avenue, aad soon
found themselves once more al the out
side, close TO where they lad originally
entered. Ashamed at returning TO their
friends in such condition, they endeav-
ored to obtain re-admission. But this
was denied them, and naked anG bleed
ing they had to return TO their families
and friends These, of course, joined
the others in their appalling descriptions
Of Tie Mystic Mount, and used all their
influence in dissuading others from ap-
preaching il. In spite Of them. howev-
er, some had entered from time to time,
who never returned. th, gia.a s.g.s .-a.a g,
Thus these simple people dwelt in
heir obscure, and unknown island
I'ney had few wants, and nohe that
were not instantly satisfied. The earth
grew sustenance enough without labor
for all the inhabitants, and they had little
to DO beyond scheming how to beguile
their journey to the Dark River, and 10
Danish all thoughts Of their approach TO
il. il was life of long, dreamy, igno-
BILE and inglorious ease. But at length
the hour and the man arrived, aud a sud
den revolution fell upon their sluggish,
volup,oas life. "A tag.3 Fn9Y#&
In the course of time child was born,
who. from his earliest boyhood, maniies-
ted marked peculiarly Of manner
Instead Of being content, like The other
LIDS, to eat fruit and dance with The lit.
tie girls, he would retire TO solitary pla-
ces, and spend whole days musing on
the grass. L Or he would herd with the
old men, and ask them all manner Of
questions about the Dark River and the
Mystic Mount, and the haps and hazards
of island life. As he grew older, these
peculiarities, instead of wearing away
grew more markedly manifest: he joined
in none of their innocent but foolish past
times. he even ridiculed their ways of
life, and when he reached the time OF
manhood he was feared and reverenced
by all the inhabitants as singular and
superior being. at@itlF % ~ 4. 4 N'&.
About this time, his fits Of abstraction
and solitary musing acquired double
force, and one day he strobe away from
a festal party, evidently in deep thought,
and took a southerly direction.
mo-" he said, as he walked along,
sit cannot be that for this We are here.
|, cannot be that to drink, to eat, TO
dance, to sleep. and ihento pass away,
is our only mission here. b lflit be SO,
why were we made at all in what are
we betterthan the hogs and the sheep
that fatten and that perish on cur hills I?
If We have thought, if we have speech,
if we have. eyes, il must be for a special
purpose; withoutthought, without speech.
with no organs but those shared with us
by dogs and horses, could these poor
islanders lead the life they do? Clear
ly. then, thought and speech were made
for higher, better purposes than these
But for what? That is the question
for what! 5y3saai 8a s 1000
With this he ceased speaking. and
with contracted brows. in deep thought,
walked on briskly. He walked, think
ing silently, and occasionally muttering
few words, until suddenly he felt the
atmosphere around him throb with mu-
sic, and elevating his eyes he beheld
himself a, the very entrance of the Mys.
tic Mount. He listened, and in the in.
tricacies Of the varied song, could trace
these words: - s1s,.If -
IL am the daughter of the highest
king, bright and beautiful. Who seeks
me, who oos me- ho wins me @ He
that is single in his love; lhat loves me
for myself; that dares to the last for me;
the same woos me and wins meme,
the bright daughter Of the highest king.
.,Yhat dover shall he have that wins
The blue-eyed daughter of the king SUI
preme He shall have the talisman of
iaIismans : the unerripg mirror that re,
fleets the depths Of things. lie shall
see the framework of the stars, and
drink hydromel of the moon, and hear
the silver ,cadences Of the music of the
spheres. The ends Of his own being
shall be unbarred before him, and Time
and Eternity melt before his vision as
ice-drops trickle and are lost at the shit
ming OF the sun. 80 hag Hsaa ~