Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1856-10-01
Written for the Spirit of the Age.
TO THE SOCIAL CIRCLE.

\ a IL -
NIAGARA.
Not in the forest vast, when winds awake,
With giant energies and mighty power
Not on the beundless deep where storms arise,
And tempests loudly roar, is nature seen
In grandest garb arraycd-but when Nigagaras
laundering voice is heard, and when her waves
In angry majesty are seen to pour!
Then doth she wear a garb that wins from man
The incense of his wonder, awe and praise.
[ have stood in the lone forest, with no
one near but God, and unused upon his
grandeur, his power and his loving kind
ness while the low winds signing anieng
the trees, seemed as if breathing a requium
over some departed soul. | have stood
upon old Neptunes shores, while the wa
tiers were dashed into fury, and seemingly
striving to discover some helpless object to
overwhelm in their wrath ; then / have
thought, " How wonderful are thy works,
O God, and thy ways past finding out. 49,
Again | have stood, when it seemed as if
God had said to the waves, "Peace, be
STILL" and their low satisfied murmur seem
ed to reply, "Thy will, O Lord, and not
mine be DONE" | have stood on the banks
of the %riveras it glided peacefully by, seem
ing to say, Thus shall the soul of the
just man be-yea, their peace shall flow as
, a river" But when / stand in thy pres
ence, Niagara, / am dumb, lost il g won
4 der 4eve and prafsv- -Tng M1uf1Ia1ns
: oceans; lakes. and scataGscts, .are.wonderfut
specimens of. the grandeur, sublimity and
e power of Gods works but here his benef-
! cence is also indicated by the perpetual
rainbow. What mind is not enlarged,
e what soul is not filled with e~nnobling emo
le tionsby the contemplation of such wonders.
i The most stupend0us work of Nature y
n When | stand upon this awful spot, [ feel
as if | had entered a living temple Of the
Eternal. In this mighty concentration Of
i, waters, which have ceaselessly rushed on
and on, while thousands of generations have
r. been passing away into an unknown Eter
IS nifty, | behold an impressive emblem of the
n unchanged and Interchangeable glory Of the
IN great King of Heaven and earth, the Au
- thor of time, the Father of Eternity; thu
- glory Of Him who holds the sea in thu
hollow of his hand"
ID. Jupiter built Olympus to brighten tn
es world with his thunder Pluto set fire t
on Mount Etna and Neptune with a dash 0
ur his trident, made the Cataract of Niagara
or When God went forth in the work of crea
~ D' ton, attended by a shining array of Cher
in ubim and S~eraphim, the " living ones
he yelled their faces and said, Good of glory
tie, stay thy hand, or we die y Gone wor
ne more" said the Almighty +" and inanimat
Ia, creation is complete" He spake and th
III mountains started back, aud Ocean heave
affrightcd as Niagara sprang into BIRTH
Roll on! thou great Niagara, roll on
ore and by thy ceaseless roaring, lead the minc
not of mortals from Natures contemplation U
on, to Natures God Roll on, thou dar
ara green food, roll on time measureth n
;tb thine age-eternity can but express thy en-
MT Creations dawn witnessed thy Garlic
ser gush, Creations doom can but extinguis
ant thy perpetual rush. God spake the wor
I'M into being, and it was created. He made
eel the wonders of the earth, and this Il
greatest of all.
part " Oh! that this spot we're my dwelling place,
,oli-4 With one fair spirit for my minister;
4 nd Whore I might all forget the human race,
= And hating no one, love only her"
ion, > y = "ButI must from this land be gone,
we Because [ cannot love but one"
rial +" Roar, rage and foam Niagara,
xlSt We mark thy waters hurled,
ar From off thy giddy summit
the Thou wonder of the world.
a Let skeptics doubt a Deity,
- " But in their proud career,
They'll own that more than mortal hand
EVIL Hath left its signet here"
per- c1AuDE
al or LAO
r va Clifton House, Sept. Is, 1855.
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