Around them; and there have been holy men, Retire, and in thy presence, reassure 100. My feeble virtue. Here, its enemies, The passions, at thy plainer footsteps, shrink, The swift, dark whirlwind, that uproots the woods 110. Its cities;-who forgets not, at the sight W. C. BRYANT. QUESTIONS.-What are the most ancient temples of worship? What meditations become the forest scenes? How are the forests a witness for God? (See line 55 and onward.) What is the poetic measure of this piece? Parse" stole," in the 14th line. "Shrine," in the 33d line. Encounter," in the 37th. "Oak," in the 56th. Parse "be," the first word of the last sentence in the lesson. Parse "majesty," in the same sentence. the adjectives in this sentence? Which are the prepositions? preposition? Why are they so called? Which are What is a PRONUNCIATION. - Ere, pro. a-er: roof, not ruff: an-thems, not an-thums: of-fer'd, not of-fud: ån-cient, not ann-cient: a-dore, not ud-ore: on-ly, not un-ly; col-umns, pro. col-lums: cen-tu-ry, not cen-ter-y. SPELL AND DEFINE. 8. Supplication: 13. invisible: 16. inaccessible: 20. frail: 24. columns: 37. encounter: 41. summits: 47. tranquillity: 69. universe: 87. sepulcher: 115. firmament: 116. meditate: 119. conform. LESSON XLIII. RULE.- Be careful not to dwell on the little words like at, in, of, by, the, a, and; and yet take care to pronounce them distinctly. Words to be Spelled and Defined. 1. Cat'-a-ract. n. a great fall of water over a precipice. Cas-cades', n. waterfalls. 3. Am-phi-the-a ter, n. a circular building having the rows of seats around it rising one above another. It is here used figuratively. to indicate the appearance of the falls. Ex'-tri-cate, v. to set free, to disentangle. 4. Chasm, n. (pro. kazm) a gap, an opening. [pyramid. 5. Py-ram'-id-al. a. having the form of a A-byss'. n. a deep pit or gulf. 6. Lu'-min-ous, a. bright, shining. 7. Re-coil'-ing, a. shrinking, starting back. 10. Spi'-ral, a. winding like a screw. 11. Fos'-sil, a. dug out of the earth. 12. En-vel'-op, v. to inclose, to surround 13. Im'-pe-tus, n. force of motion, impulse. Re-full-gent, a. shining, splendid. 19. E'-gress. n. the act of going out. NIAGARA FALLS. 1. THE form of the Niagara Falls is that of an irregular semicircle, about three quarters of a mile in extent. This is divided into two distinct cascades by the intervention of Goat Island, the extremity of which is perpendicular, and in a line with the precipice, over which the water is projected. The cataract on the Canada side of the river, is called the Horse shoe, or Great Fall, from its peculiar form; and that next the United States, the American Fall. 2. The Table Rock, from which the Falls of the Niagara may be contemplated in all their grandeur, lies on an exact level with the edge of the cataract on the Canada side, and, indeed, forms a part of the precipice, over which the water rushes. It derives its name from the circumstance of its projecting beyond the cliffs that support it, like the leaf of a table. To gain this position, it is necessary to descend a steep bank, and to follow a path that winds among shrubbery and trees, which entirely conceal from the eye the scene that awaits him who traverses it. 3. When near the termination of this road, a few steps carried me beyond all these obstructions, and a magnificent amphitheater of cataracts burst upon my view with appalling suddenness and majesty. However, in a moment, the scene was concealed from my eyes by a dense cloud of spray, which involved me so completely, that I did not dare to extricate myself. 4. A mingled and thunder-like rushing filled my ears. I could see nothing, except when the wind made a chasm in the spray, and then tremendous cataracts seemed to encompass me on every side; while, below, a raging and foaming gulf, of undiscoverable extent, lashed the rocks with its hissing waves, and swallowed, under a horrible obscurity, the smoking floods that were precipitated into its bosom. 5. At first, the sky was obscured by clouds, but, after a few minutes, the sun burst forth, and the breeze, subsiding at the same time, permitted the spray to ascend perpendicularly. A host of pyramidal clouds rose majestically, one after another, from the abyss at the bottom of the Fall; and each, when it had ascended a little above the edge of the cataract, displayed a beautiful rainbow, which, in a few moments, was gradually transferred into the bosom of the cloud that immediately succeeded. 6. The spray of the Great Fall had extended itself through a wide space directly over me, and, receiving the full influence of the sun, exhibited a luminous and magnificent rainbow, which continued to overarch and irradiate the spot on which I stood, while I enthusiastically contemplated the indescribable scene. 7. Any person who has nerve enough, may plunge his hand into the water of the Great Fall, after it is projected over the precipice, merely by lying down flat, with his face beyond the edge of the Table Rock, and stretching out his arm to its utmost extent. The experiment is truly a horrible one, and such as I would not wish to repeat; for, even to this day, I feel a shuddering and recoiling sensation when I recollect having been in the posture above described. 8. The body of water, which composes the middle part of the Great Fall, is so immense, that it descends nearly two thirds of the space without being ruffled or broken; and the solemn calmness, with which it rolls over the edge of the precipice, is finely contrasted with the perturbed appearance it assumes after having reached the gulf below. But the water, toward each side of the Fall, is shattered the moment it drops over the rock, and loses as it descends, in a great measure, the character of a fluid, being divided into pyramidal-shaped fragments, the bases of which are turned upward. 9. The surface of the gulf, below the cataract, presents a very singular aspect; seeming, as it were, filled with an immense quantity of hoar frost, which is agitated by small and rapid undulation: The particles of water are dazzlingly white, and do not apparently unite together, as might be supposed, but seem to continue for a time in a state of distinct comminution, and to repel each other with a thrilling and shivering motion, which cannot easily be described. . 10. The road to the bottom of the Fall presents many more difficulties than that which leads to the Table Rock. After leaving the Table Rock, the traveler must proceed down the river nearly half a mile, where he will come to a small chasm in the bank, in which there is a spiral staircase inclosed in a wooden building. By descending the stair, which is seventy or eighty feet in perpendicular hight, he will find himself under the precipice, on the top of which he formerly walked. A high but ... sloping bank extends from its base to the edge of the river; and, on the summit of this, there is a narrow slippery path, covered with angular fragments of, rock, which leads to the Great Fall. h 11. The impending cliffs, hung with a profusion of trees and brushwood, overarch this road, and seem to vibrate with the thunders of the cataract. In some places, they rise abruptly to the hight of one hundred feet, and display, upon their surfaces, fossil shells, and the organic remains of a former world; thus sublimely leading the mind to contemplate the convulsions which nature has undergone since the creation. 12. As the traveler advances, he is frightfully stunned by the appalling noise; clouds of spray sometimes envelop him, and suddenly check his faltering steps; rattlesnakes start from the cavities of the rocks; and the scream of eagles, soaring among the whirlwinds of eddying vapor, which obscure the gulf of the cataract, at intervals announce that the raging waters have hurled some bewildered animal over the precipice. After scrambling among piles of huge rocks that obscure his way, the traveler gains the bottom of the Fall, where the soul can be susceptible only of one emotion, that of uncontrollable terror. 13. It was not until I had, by frequent excursions to the Falls, in some measure familiarized my mind with their sublimities, that I ventured to explore the recesses of the Great Cataract. The precipice over which it rolls, is very much arched underneath, while the impetus which the water receives in its descent, projects it far beyond the cliff, and thus an immense Gothic arch is formed by the rock and the torrent. Twice I entered this cavern, and twice I was obliged to retrace my steps, lest 1 should be suffocated by the blast of the dense spray that whirled around me; however, the third time, I succeeded in advancing about twenty-five yards. 14. Here darkness began to encircle me. On one side, the black cliff stretched itself into a gigantic arch far above my head, and on the other, the dense and hissing torrent formed an impenetrable sheet of foam, with which I was drenched in a moment. The rocks were so slippery, that I could hardly keep my feet, or hold securely by them; while the horrid din made me think the precipices above were tumbling down in colossal fragments upon my head. 15. A little way below the Great Fall, the river is, comparatively speaking, so tranquil, that a ferry boat plies between the Canadian and American shores, for the convenience of travelers. When I first crossed, the heaving flood tossed about the skiff with a violence that seemed very alarming; but, as soon as we gained the middle of the river, my attention was altogether engaged by the surpassing grandeur of the scene before me. 16. I was now in the area of a semicircle of cataracts, more than three thousand feet in extent, and floated on the surface of a gulf, raging, fathomless, and interminable. Majestic cliffs, splendid rainbows, lofty trees, and columns of spray, were the gorgeous decorations of this theater of wonders; while a dazzling sun shed refulgent glories upon every part of the scene. 17. Surrounded with clouds of vapor, and stunned into a state of confusion and terror by the hideous noise, I looked upward to the hight of one hundred and fifty feet, and saw vast floods, dense, awful, and stupendous, vehemently bursting over the precipice, and rolling down as if the windows of heaven were opened to pour another deluge upon the earth. 18. Loud sounds, resembling discharges of artillery or volcanic explosions, were now distinguishable amid the watery tumul:, and added terrors to the abyss from which they issued. The sun, looking majestically through the ascending spray, was encircled by a radiant halo, while fragments of rainbows floated on every side, and momentarily vanished, only to give place to a succession of others more brilliant. 19. Looking backward, I saw the Niagara River, again becoming calm and tranquil, rolling magnificently between the towering cliffs, that rose on either side. A gentle breeze ruffled the waters, and beautiful birds fluttered around, as if to welcome its egress from those clouds, and thunders, and rainbows, which were the heralds of its precipitation into the abyss of the cataract. HOWISON. |