in beautifying the Old World.... The heavens of America appear
infinitely higher, the sky is bluer, the air is fresher, the cold
is intenser, the moon looks larger, the stars are brighter the
thunder is louder, the lightning is vivider, the wind is
stronger, the rain is heavier, the mountains are higher, the
rivers longer, the forests bigger, the plains broader." This
statement will do at least to set against Buffon's account of
this part of the world and its productions.

Linnaeus said long ago, "Nescio quae facies laeta, glabra plantis
Americanis" (I know not what there is of joyous and smooth in the
aspect of American plants); and I think that in this country
there are no, or at most very few, Africanae bestiae, African
beasts, as the Romans called them, and that in this respect also
it is peculiarly fitted for the habitation of man. We are told
that within three miles of the center of the East-Indian city of
Singapore, some of the inhabitants are annually carried off by
tigers; but the traveler can lie down in the woods at night
almost anywhere in North America without fear of wild beasts.

These are encouraging testimonies. If the moon looks larger here
than in Europe, probably the sun looks larger also. If the
heavens of America appear infinitely higher, and the stars
brighter, I trust that these facts are symbolical of the height
to which the philosophy and poetry and religion of her
inhabitants may one day soar. At length, perchance, the
immaterial heaven will appear as much higher to the American
mind, and the intimations that star it as much brighter. For I
believe that climate does thus react on man--as there is
something in the mountain air that feeds the spirit and inspires.