fect crimson, or, more definitely, the red of the prismatic image. There is, however, a sensible difference in the beauty of this appearance of nature in different parts of the country, even when the forest-trees are the same. I have seen no tract where its splendor was so highly finished, as in the region which surrounds Lancaster for a distance of thirty miles. The colors are more varied and more intense; and the numerous evergreens furnish, in their deep hues, the best groundwork of the picture. I have remarked, that the annual foliage on these mountains had been already changed by the frost. Of course, the darkness of the evergreens was finely illumined by the brilliant yellow of the birch, the beech, and the cherry, and the more brilliant orange and crimson of the maple. The effects of this universal diffusion of gay and splendid light was, to render the preponderating deep-green more solemn. The mind, encircled by this scenery, irresistibly remembered that the light was the light of decay, autumnal and melancholy. The dark was the gloom of evening, approximating to night. Over the whole, the azure of the sky cast a deep, misty blue; blending, towards the summit, every other hue, and predominating over all. As the eye ascended these steeps, the light diminished, and gradually ceased. On the inferior summits rose crowns of conical firs and spruces. On the superior eminences, the trees, growing less and less, yielded to the chilling atmosphere, and marked the limit of forest vegetation. Above, the surface was covered with a mass of shrubs, terminating, at a still higher elevation, in a shroud of dark-colored moss. As we passed onward through this singular valley, occasional torrents, formed by the rains and dissolving snows at the close of winter, had left behind them, in many places, perpetual monuments of their progress, in perpendicular, narrow, and irregular paths of immense length, where they had washed the precipices naked and white, from the summit of the mountain to the base. Wide and deep chasms also met the eye, both on the summits and the sides, and strongly impressed the imagination with the thought, that a hand of immeasurable power had rent asunder the solid rocks, and tumbled them into the subjacent valley. Over all, hoary cliffs, rising with proud supremacy, frowned awfully on the world below, and finished the landscape. By our side, the Saco was alternately seen and lost, and increased, almost at every step, by the junction of tributary streams. Its course was a perpetual cascade, and with its sprightly murmurs furnished the only contrast to the scenery around us. LESSON CXIV. The Garden of Eden. MILTON. SOUTHWARD through Eden went a river large, With mazy error under pendent shades Groves whose rich trees wept odorous gums and balm, * If true, here only, and of delicious taste: Of some irriguous valley spread her store, *Hesperian fables, fables respecting the gardens of the Hesperides, in which the apples were said to be of gold. + Pan, the god of the country, or of nature, in the ancient mythologies. LESSON CXV. The Sage. BEATTIE Ar early dawn a youth his journey took, And many a mountain passed and valley wide, An ancient man; his harp lay him beside: And now the hoary sage arose, and saw The wanderer approaching; innocence Smiled on his glowing cheek, but modest awe Depressed his eye, that feared to give offence. "Who art thou, courteous stranger? and from whence ? Why roam thy steps to this sequestered dale?" "A shepherd boy," the youth replied, "far hence My habitation; hear my artless tale, Nor levity nor falsehood shall thine ear assail. "Late as I roamed, intent on Nature's charms, You mourned for ruined man, and virtue lost, "But say, in courtly life can craft be learned, Where knowledge opens and exalts the soul? Where Fortune lavishes her gifts unearned, Can selfishness the liberal heart control ? As those that felons, fiends, and furies plan? "Or else the lamentable strain disclaim, And give me back the calm, contented mind, Which, late, exulting, viewed in Nature's frame, Goodness untainted, wisdom unconfined, Grace, grandeur, and utility combined; Restore those tranquil days, that saw me still Well pleased with all, but most with human kind; When fancy roamed through Nature's works at will, Unchecked by cold distrust, and uninformed of ill." "Wouldst thou," the sage replied, "in peace return And indignation made thine eyes o'erflow, Shouldst thou th' extent of human folly know! Be ignorance thy choice, where knowledge leads to woe. “But let untender thoughts afar be driven, Nor venture to arraign the dread decree; For know, to man, as candidate for heaven, The voice of the Eternal said, ' Be free;' And this divine prerogative to thee |