Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1861-01-03

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preston, and sank to the earth, and, for
short time, lostall Consciousness of the hateC
world. But was soon deprived of the mel
ancholy benefit of oblivion, and was agair
obliged to open my eyes upon world still
more hideous. The earth but half finished
but few rays of the sun were struggling
through dark and malarious vapor. There
was nothing to regale the senses, no domes-
tic animals of former acquaintance none oi
the sweet songsters which formerly had
cheered the forest and the lawn with their
melody; nor was the zephyrus sweetened
with the floral kingdom. But on the contra
ry. there was everything to digust, and to ex-
cite horror and despair.
There was the dark and putrid Sea, now
heaving its troubled breast mountain high I;
new oscilating with crossing tempests, every
reverberating surge Of which, made the foun-
dation of earth to tremble. and again it sinks
into the inertia ana darkness of DEATH
There was the carboniferous forest of appai-
ing size, surrounded with great trees, ferrens,
huge club moss, and tangled thickets OF nom
descripts, all unknown to the world from
which | had been banished. There were
premordial fish, and reptiles of disgusting
form and frightful size, seeking their prey in
stagnant lakes and murky pools. Here were
yawning caverns emitting putrid vapor,
thickened with miasma. Yonder was the
Volcano, vomiting out great rivers of liquid
fire, and there were others sending forth lu-
rid flames, and heaving high in the air great
red hot masses of igneous rocks. There up
heaves an island, Kissing with steam and
covered with slime, as if an internal sea Of
fire had been struggling for its domain,
against the cooling and contracting crust cf
the earth. Aloft tine air was darkened with
strange and hideous fowls, whose screams
made the very elements to trouble. Storm
answering storm, with lightning, and thun-
dering through, and shivering the mighty
! forest. Monster manuals prowled through
| the dark and tangled forest. There. was one
writhing screaming and bleeding in the jaws
Of a greater. Then was the huge mastod on,
with enormous jaws distended wide betray-
ing the most frightful tasks. Then was the
still more frightful uegatherian of unmeasu
red but terrific dimentons, with jaws and
feet, brlstling with frightiul tusks, and teeth
and claws, ready to devour anything to glut
its hunger. Here the highest flights of i'm
agination were beggared by reality, and me-
dieval legends of primitive monsters would
lie tamely in the shade. But the waving
true form revealed to me the monster Dino
theriam rushing upon me with savage feroci.
ty, and jaws distended to swallow me alive.
And whilst | stood trembling in despair. be.
lieving that the cup Of sorrow was now full.
| fell to the earth in fit of catalepsis, and
rested for moment in unconscious oblivion
But as if the suspension of my powers for
a moment was only intended to strengthen
my exhausted nerves for the endurance of
the consumaticn of inconceivable sorrow,
was resusltated but not to see the light. The
sun had gone out and there was neither moon
nor stars to throw single ray upon the pri-
meval darkness in which was emersed.-
Here suspended from the lowest link of that
chain which reaches from where life was ever
impossible to the throne of God. Here with
all the powers of soul aud body in the high
est vigor, subj ectively, but objec.ively, noth-
ing absolutely, nothing either to move them
into exersise or respond to their demands
Here were all the external senses ready to
take in ideas to impress upon the mem ory,
to be deposited in that ample store house,
for future use and pleasure. But nothing
external, soon dark and dismal empty space.
There was neither object for sight, sound,
smell taste, or touch.
But to complete my isolation. God was
gone, or all that was gone ty which he ma
keith himself known to his creatures. But
could such creature by the work of be-
nevolent Creator. Where in him, or round
him, where there to be found single man
Hesitation of those attributes of God, by which
alone we can have any conceptions of his ma
ture, save that of power. Here there was no
evidence that was not subject of diaboli-
cal power, flung into the midst Of dark aud
empty space by melevolent friend, to suffer
in the dreary solitude for ever more.
But in order to arouse all my concious-
ness to the keenest sense of suffering by
contrass, memory was permitted for mo-
ment to assent it's high function, and unfold
my view. the green earth, dropped all its gor-
geous beauty, with all the soci al joys and
sweet communions of whole life upon it.
Oh! horror of horrors, Oh! Lying death
without thu power of dying. Oh solitude,
dire, dark and absolute solitude, from which
the mind re,oils but can not describe. The
cup of sorrow had been full, but the abscure
of God, and felt consciousness that l must
drink at it for evermore, was that which
made it to overflow.
But now soft and gentle light seemed to
percede the total darkness. It gradually en-
creased until it extend from the zenith to the
nadir, and from horizon to horizon. Perfu-
med zephyrs and soft melodies addressed the
senses, and infused into the soul a conscious
ness Of objective benevolence. Suddenly the
H6aveans opened and unveiled the throne of
the Eternal, And here, as if additional sem