NOTES OF NATURE AT SARATOGA. THIS is a morning of such exquisite brightness and beauty as Adam and Eve might have beheld in Paradise before their fall. Some things are still left in this world, some aspects of nature, that seem liker heaven than earth, and such that the sons of God might shout for joy to behold them, as when this fair creation rose out of chaos. This morning is such a scene. The low, lingering clouds, and the dead, close, dog-day weather, are swept off by the northwest wind, and everything is as bright, fresh and vivid, as if the finger of God had just touched the world anew. How brilliant the atmosphere! It reminds us of the saying in Job; "fair weather cometh out of the North; with God is terrible majesty." The connection between these two phrases is singular, but in some seasons and changes of the atmosphere, even in our climate, it is singularly impressive. There is something in such a morning as this, that gives the mind a vivid image of the radiant glory of God in his holiness, his purity, his majesty. And how sweet, how full of enjoyment, is a walk in the wild woods on such a morning! The trees seem to enjoy it as much as we. How clearly defined is everything in the bright, clear air. And the shadows themselves, with what distinct outlines they fall upon the green grass! Those tall pines seem to have grown higher towards heaven, and the clusters of cones upon their topmost branches, like the young fruit of some species of palms, are distinctly visible. So is every separate brush and spire of the foliage, with the broad leaves of the oak, glossy and lustrous in the sunshine, as if it had just been raining; and the delicate leaf of the maple, and the pointed leaf and round green nut of the hickory, and the silvery network of the spruce, with the sun shining through it, and the gray embossed berries or buds on the spreading hemlock ;-you can see them all; it seems as if the light penetrated them, and as if they were cut out from the solid atmosphere. There are several pines in the grove near Congress Spring, which are truly magnificent; everybody remembers them, and how they tower, like giant sentinels, over the whole wood. They seem the relics of the primeval forest, and remind one of those tallest pines upon Norwegian hills, of which Milton speaks as but a wand, in describing the spear of the fallen Archangel. What majestic trees they are! And there is a most picturesque beauty in those hemlocks also, notwithstanding the angular obstinacy with which they push out their snag-like branches into the air. They are trees, which Ruysdael would have delighted to copy. The fir trees are not so remarkable, but still most beautiful. And what a noble, various forest may be constituted out of our most common native trees; the oak, the pine, the fir, the maple, the elm, the walnut, the hemlock, the cedar, the birch, and the beech, sometimes all growing together, or within a very little distance, and affording at all seasons a wonderful variety of verdure; but in autumn, when the frost begins its ministry, making such a gorgeous mixture of colors, as no art can imitate, nor any painter describe. If there is anything in nature to be grateful for, it is such a morning as this. The sunshine in the atmosphere is like the light upon the soul, when "God shines into it, to give the light of the knowledge of his glory, in the face of Jesus Christ." The air is such, "As to the heart inspires Vernal delight and joy, able to drive All sadness but despair." In such a morning in the soul and in all nature, it seems as if you could see far out into the eternal world; as if the spiritual world and the natural world were commingling ; or as if the latter were but an illuminated veil, through which mortals may be able to see and to bear the glory of the former. One such calm, bright morning, is able to make up for a whole year of toil, dust, and noise in Broadway. Perhaps indeed a residence in the great city prepares the mind and heart to enjoy with a keener relish, a more sensitive, intelligent perception, the beauty and the meaning of rural sights and sounds, when a man does get amongst them. But no! a man must dwell much with nature to read her lessons aright, or he must have been much with nature in the wild woods in early years, to keep the forms and habitudes of the city from crusting over his interior spiritual perceptions of nature, as with a coat of ice. "I thank God," a man should say, as he grows into life, "for every impulse which the grass, the trees, the flowers, the running brooks, the clouds, awake within me. I thank him that he does not suffer to die away from my relish and admiration the rising and setting glories with which, morning and evening, he fills the world. I thank him, above all, that if, as sense grows blunted, and decays by age, or by reason of nervous derangement, ceases to represent truly the forms of nature, the freshness and beauty of this visible world are veiled from me, there is still no decay, but an ever-during increase, in the power of faith, so that the world to come does but shine brighter, as the world that now is fades away. Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. I thank God that the light of this world, beautiful though it be, is but a symbol of that radiance, unspeakable and full of glory, which his Spirit diffuses through the soul." But ah, how many walk in the light of this world, and enjoy it, whose condemnation it is, that though a greater light than that of nature has come into the world, they heed it not, but hate it! The light of this world, which light, as but an emanation And thus by the light they should only lead to the greater from it, they use instead of it. pass into darkness. This is the history of our fallen world, under the light of nature, as detailed by the Apostle in the first chapter of his Epistle to the Romans. Pursued aright, how various, how delightful, how solemn, how instructive is the study of nature! It is the study of the Divine wisdom and goodness, in Creation and Providence. Those writers whose researches and productions assist the Christian in this study, and direct the mind of the observer to God, confer a great blessing on society; while those philosophers, so-called, who put nature as a veil or wall before God, are but using their knowledge of his works to make infidels. "Acquaint thyself with God, if thou wouldst taste His works. Admitted once to his embrace Till then unfelt, what hands divine have wrought." The steps are plain, from nature to the Author of nature and to his natural government; from his natural to his providential, and thence to his moral government in this world; thence to his eternal government. The light of nature grows as we pursue it, till it meets that of revelation and is absorbed in it, and both carry us by Faith into unclouded, everlasting day. NATURE IN THE BERKSHIRE MOUNTAINS. THERE are few places more beautiful than Williamstown. What a noble range of dark, verdant mountains, filling the horizon, rising in majestic amphitheatres on all sides! How deep and rich the hue of the foliage, how varied and soul-like the aspect of all nature! The green mountain slopes, with forest glades and broad pasturages, mingled with soft meadows, dotted with clumps of trees, surround the village, and form a scene varying in beauty with every hour in the day, and every change in the sunlight. And what a change does the sunlight make! Take a day like this, of clouds somewhat heavy, and threatening rain, with some sprinklings of it at intervals, and you may ride about, and think the scenery beautiful, even in such a leaden, misty atmosphere. But if, as to day, the sun comes out at evening, if the clouds are swept from the sky, and a clear sunset pours its golden light over the mountains, and bathes the meadows, the trees and the village, it seems a new creation. You should be upon the hills to witness the breaking of this sunset from west to east, how its glory travels down into the valley, and up the richly wooded mountains, driving away the mists, or setting them on fire among the foliage. What a superb position is this for a College! I cannot but think that familiarity with such scenery, the constant beholding of the grand forms and rich hues of such mountain ranges, exerts a silent, ceaseless influence in building up the character, even though the soul seem unconscious |