Stealing amid our mirth to say,
That all in which we most rejoice,
Ere night may be the earth-worm's prey:
_But_ for this bitter--only this--
Full as the world is brimm'd with bliss,
And capable as feels my soul
Of draining to its depth the whole,
I should turn earth to heaven, and be,
If bliss made gods, a deity!"

* * * * *


THE FALLS OF NIAGARA.


I had already seen some of the most celebrated works of nature in
different parts of the globe; I had seen Etna and Vesuvius; I had seen
the Andes almost at their greatest elevation; Cape Horn, rugged and
bleak, buffeted by the southern tempest; and, though last not least, I
had seen the long swell of the Pacific; but nothing I had ever beheld or
imagined could compare in grandeur with the Falls of Niagara. My first
sensation was that of exquisite delight at having before me the greatest
wonder of the world. Strange as it may appear, this feeling was
immediately succeeded by an irresistible melancholy. Had this not
continued, it might perhaps have been attributed to the satiety incident
to the complete gratification of "hope long deferred;" but so far from
diminishing, the more I gazed, the stronger and deeper the sentiment
became. Yet this scene of sadness was strangely mingled with a kind of
intoxicating fascination. Whether the phenomenon is peculiar to Niagara