New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-07-29
RdIN.

of Coleridge in "The Ancient Mariner: Inc
" sillv buckets on the deck That had so long
remained, dreamt that they were filled with
" dew. And when | woke it rained. My lips
20 were wet. nv throat was cold, My garments
" all were dank; Sure / had drunken in my
" dreams. And still my body drank" When
we are called upon to pass, while yet III the
flesh, through such a purgatorlal experience
"a we trust last nights storm ended, 1t Is a
great point to know how to select seasonaDle
reading We suspect that whoever was rash
enough to indulge in DR.. Livingstone during
the last month must have been, however he
might keep in the shade, in danger of sunstroke.
Even in our Scrptural selections it has been
worth while to pay due regard to the
temperature of the stories. 1t is in December
that we should read of IIagar IN the Will
derness, and of the fiery furnace in which the
righteous trio walked unsinged. For good
refrigerating volume in July we know nothing
better than DR.. Kanes Arctic EXpedltlOn,'
| although the effect is somewhat diminished by
the Doctors constant illusions to his red-hot
| stoves. With the drOuth most intOleraby pro-
Ionged. we have known individuals to expert
ence all the effects of cool fog simply
through the perrlsal of the Seventh Chapter OF
Genesis and especially the 10th and 18th
verses "And it came to pass after seven days,
81 that the waters of the flood were upon the
"earth. And the rain was upon the earth
forty days and forty nights" Perhaps an
equal mitigation might be obtained by
singing aloud the fine old verse of
DIR. Watts: Seasons and times and
"moons and hours, Heaven, earth,
"and air are thine; When clouds distill in
" fruitful showers The author is divine" But,
| in hot weather, we can hardly recommend
resort to vocal melody, for it involves an in
creased action of the abdominal and dorsal
muscles, and much unwelcome sudOriticatlOn
may be attendant thereon. Washington II
wings charming description of "A Rainy Sun
~ day in an Inn ut will be found in Brace
bridge Hallr-we can most confidently vOuch
| for, since we ourselves brought down our cor
poreal temperature at least ten degrees, only
last week, by reading in this fine sketch of
" the slovenly ragged, spOngy clouds drifting
heavily along" and of the dull, continued,
monotOnous patter, patteT, patter" of the
rain. When all these prescriptions failed, it
was still worth while to try that excellent pas
sage in "The Spring" of Jamie Thomson, in
which occur the beautifully pluvious lines:
"At last, The clouds consgn their treasures
to the fields, And, softly shaking on the
dimpled pool Preusive drops, let all their
moisture flow In large effusion DER the fresh
"ened worlds
But we confess that in spite of all these
! elegant expedients, one continued to grow
drier and drer and dustier and dustier. Many
a man in this parched-pea condition has re-
membered with unavailng remorse the BIAS
phemies which whilOm he calculated against
| the North East Wind, as the most insufferable
of all the breezes in the bag of EOlus. That
this Wind is of a perverse and aggravating
character, especially when it has rusted all the
weather-cocks beyond the possibility of turn
ing, we readily admit; but there are times
when, reeking under "a hot and copper sky"
we repent us, in dust if not ashes, of the OBJ
jurgations uttered by us against the rough but
rainy NORTHEAST. "The good, honest wind!n
we say-"hOw cool it was How benevolently
at watered the streets How comfortably it
persuaded us to put on our overcoats! How
delicately mitigated was the sky which then
owe rallied at as leaden!n SO we lately
said our "Peccavmus," and grew hotter and
hotter as we gasped it.
There was one trouble, however at which, poor
human nature was permitted to grOwl with
out reproach In ancient times, Joye himself
was the Cloud-COmpeller, but since the abdi-
cation OF that Deity it must be conceded that
the clouds Gas weather signs) have become
extremely deceptive and Enthusiastically, the
celebrated mackerel and herring bone varie-
ties being the falsest of all. How often have
we lately had occasion to exclaim, with tragic
emphasis, All signs fail in q dry time!n
The setting sun went down in a cloud-the
rlslng sun went into q cloud-there was a
slight overcast, possibly even a few drops of rain
but Imperial Apollo logged his steeds fercely
up the meridian, and scattered and swept away
the ridiculous nebulosties. So Hope deferred
continued to toast the human epdermis,
and we, proud Caucasians, to grow brown.
But we are of good cheer Our playing
Iantalus was only for season. Dust
Is dreadful-iust in the ewes. nOstrils,
ears, throat, and upon the carefully planished
boots-but it carried fine moral. for dust we
are and unto dust we shall return. Nature.
now and then, puts by her watering-pot, that
we may the better appreciate her beneticent
irrlgatons. 1t may be raining deliciously even
while the reader is glancing over these very
lines; IL Is pouring, to an orchestral accom-
pahiineht' as we trace them; but if they have
III them any relish, surely the welcome show
ers will not diminish it, If good-natured Ma
ture will but continue to open the windows of