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To murder genuine freedom at one blow, ; v By aiding France's despot in his schemes ; ; ' Of aggrandizement, and of sovereign sway O'er humbled Europe, when but Britain's arms Were raised for freedom's injured cause, andstemm'd Successfully the hastening onward march Of that foul monster, which first bore the name a Of liberty republican, as free ^t ■ From the berated rule of kings and priests, « But which, like all the schemes which crafty men Devise, to dupe the senseless multitude. It promised fair, and flatter'd ignorance ; ,* *•■ And men illiterate were taught to think ,; ai That they were born to rule, and not to obey. It feasted cruelty on public shows Of thousands guillotined for public good — - j^ For ** public safety," and for freeman's rights. And afler talking long, and boasting much, And acting villanies of crimson dye. To sweep from earth the hated name of kings, - « II CANTO FIRST. 19 And plant republics in their vacant thrones, It quietly turn'd round, and bowM the knee *To one who ruled for selfish ends alone ; And who the people's rights and lives held cheap, — Their rights he trampled on without remorse, And stepp'd to sovereign sway without their leave ; Lives by the hundred thousand fearlessly He took, to feed the greedy cannon's mouth ; And on the burning sands of Egypt's shores, On Nila's banks, on Russia's freezing plains, At Austerlitz, and on the fertile vales Of Italy, Alp-bounded ; or beyond The Pyrenees, where peninsulic Spain And Portugal, with vine-clad purple vales, Parts broad Atlanta from the encompass'd sea Whose billows wash three quarters of the globe ; Where'er caprice or wild ambition led He forced them on by millions to the fight. And poured their blood in oceans where he pleased, And left their bones to bleach along the plains. To stop the murderous march of guilty France, Led by her despot, who had now subdued All continental Europe by his arms^ Britain stepp'd forth alone, and undertook The cause of genuine freedom to uphold ; And from the iron gripe of tyranny To wrest a sceptre dangerous to man. Britain stood forth alone ! for none would help, Or those who would have help'd had not the power ; so NIAGARA FALLS. For, trembling at the terror of his armsy They soon fell prostrate at the despot's feet. Then was the time for democrats to show, And prove, sincerity in freedom's cause ; And prove their liberty was something more Than the mere cant of demagogues. Then was the time to prove that liberty Republican, and based upon the mob. The chance majority of voices, fired And heated up by passion or by pride. Was better than the majesty of kings And cool experience of instructed men Chosen by the unerring providence of God. But oh ! the inconsistency of men, When once they throw aside the laws of Heaven, And fill their place with human fallacies ^^ .;. Which Atheistic demagogues prcMmulge. . / . The free Republic States, which erewhile rose In grim rebellion 'gainst their lawful King, Because he exercised his sovereign rights, — The free slave-keeping States, without a sigh. Saw freedom's cause expiring in the grasp Of the fell despot, and, without a pang Of sympathetic sorrow for the brave Held down in bondage by the despot's arms. They rose indeed, but not in freedom's cause,— They rose, at once all freedom to destroy. By aiding France 'gainst Britain's single arm That strove for freedom 'gainst such fearful odds. CANTO FIRST. n Long had they look'd on Canada askance With jealousy, and sought for a pretext ^nd opportunity, which seemM to smile : — As Britain was engaged with half the world, And Canada — ^with wide and open fronts And population thinly scattered o'er A line far more than half the continent — All uninstructed in the use of arms, And striving 'gainst the oaks and pines which held Erewhile possession of those fertile plains Which now wave forth to the autumnal breeze The golden treasures of all-bounteous heaven, — With hellish heart they strove, by fraud or force. To make the loyal men of Canada A set of lawless rebels like themselves. For two long years they thus had strove in vain, With armies large, and well equipped for fight, But fail'd most signally ; for neither threats. Nor force of arms, nor promises, could move The loyalty of Canada, but served The more to show its genuineness, and fix ' In every heart a deeper-rooted love Of loyal freedom, and of hatred strong' Of the dark demon of democracy. The Atheistic cant of demagogues, And tyranny of uninstructed men. Two years the war continued raging round The frontiers, when, by force of numbers. Brown Had driven the British troops within the fort9 w'm 22 NIAGARA PALLS. V Of George and Missisagua, near the point Where, after many a winding wave sublime, Niagara disembogues his waters wild * Into Ontario's clear blue crystal curls : In vain he tried to carry by assault The British forts : though reinforced, he found It prudent to consider how he might. With show of honour, make a safe retreat. And gain once more the Land of Liberty ^ Self-styled, without receiving from the hands Of British and Canadians some stroke Of vengeance, just retaliation due For plunderous deeds committed by his troops,— Yes, by his mob-made generals, upon The harmless homes of such as dared oppose The invading arms republican ; or dared To obey the call of honour, from the lips Of him who justly held the reins of state. Though in the midst of harvest work, which calls With urgency, and brooks of short delay, !Phe British ranks were daily reinforced . By willing numbers, glad to bear a part In work more urgent and more honourable, — To drive the star-striped banners from their shores, Or intercept their homeward march, and give A parting blow, to make them recollect That they had once been caught in Canada, And dread again, uncalled, to cross the Lines. The Field of Lundy's Lane was fought close by CANTO FIRST. 23 The Cataract sublime of which we sang, — The Cataract sublime, whose murmuring tones And mighty moving mass of watery foam Paused not, but hasted on with 'customed speed, Unheeding of the carnage, or the din Of men's proud thundering fiery engines, charged With skill, and belching out explosive fire, And round projectiles hissing through the air, Speeding invisibly, and bearing death And wounds incurable, unmaking quite The human form's divine similitude — Its fair proportions scattering o'er the soil. 'Tis said that when fierce Boreas rides the Main, And sable clouds o'ercanopy the waves, — Those shifting ridges of the watery waste. Moved and expanded by his arctic blasts, — That by the fire of cannon, or the shock Of fierce contending fleets, embattled o'er The briny surge, with loud continuous roar Of fulminating tubes innumerous. And indicating man's vindictive rage,-^ 'Tis said the elemental war will stop, And Boreas with his blasts will cease to blow The swelling ridges of the unfathomed Main, Which, like an angry giant stunned, falls down And swoons, or sleeps : So calm succeeds the storm. Not so Niagara's ever'^-murmuring tones, — His vast descending pillars never pause. But move with unabated force sublime, ^ 24 NIAGARA FALLS. |. From age to age enduring and unchanged, Unheedful of the cannon's roar — ^unmoved, Unsilenced, and unstaid ; and ever o'er These wondrous battlements he leaps unscathed, With all his glittering robes resplendently Bedazzling in the sun's uncloud-caught beams. And in the dreary reign of Winter's frosts. When feebler streams, locked in their iron grasp, Lie still, and stay their murmuring tones awhile, Niagara heeds not, but still downward moves, — In swift but solemn majesty descends The steep sublime ; nor gives a single rest Or variation in the lofty tones Of his rude song. So when the battle groaned At Lundy's Lane, close by the Cataract, It paused not, but, unlike the stormy Main, Which, as we sang, is tranquillized and smoothed When man's proud thunders pour along the wave, Niagara changed not ; but his murmurous notes, Borne on the pinions of the evening breeze, Were heard at intervals, between the peals Of hostile engines, charged with nitrous grain. And vomiting the messengers of death. Brown, with his force, were slyly moving off, In order to regain, unharmed, the land Republican. Brave Drummond had arrived, To head the loyal troops, who were cantoned. In small detachments, o'er the lands which lie ■A* I CANTO FIRST. 25 Adjacent to Niagara's noble stream, That forms the boundary-line, that se'parates The loyal colonies of Britain's crown From those who now the star-striped banner wave : 'Tis hard to name them, though they style themselves Of North America, United States ; A name ambiguous, which may well apply To any power of plural sections, formed With the immense terrene that separates The broad Pacific from Atlanta's wave, — .; From Darien's Isthmus to the Frozen Zone, . . From Bhering's Strait to Baffin's crimson snows. Brown found his situation critical, Though reinforced — as we have erewhile sung ; — He found, tha* brave Canadian loyalty Was more than match for his more numerous host The post of Lundy's Lane — now Drummondville — Is on an eminence of small extent, With gradual sloping plains on every side. And to an army of invasive troops Of consequence to be secured with speed. Brave Drummond's van hadjust approach'd the lane, Led by the gallant Colonel Morrison, When Brown, with force five thousand strong, began To take possession of the rising ground. Though of inferior force, the British troops Were formed in line without the least delay, And the loud peal of musquetry announced That the dread contest had begun to rage ; 26 NIAGARA FALLS. And the swift messengers of death began To fly, and clouds of smoke to rise aloft, And change the aspect of those lovely plains, And partially conceal the work of death. Ten minutes' work of British bayonets fixt Dislodged the star-striped banners from the hill. The golden glories of the western sky Proclaimed the downward march of Sol's bright car, Which, like Niagara's currents, makes no pause Since Joshua spoke, nor heeds the deafening din Of man's proud thunders and vindictive rage. Again the British line was formed with speed, And, in its centre, guns and rockets placed, Which Scott attacked with glittering bayonets, *' ^' But was repulsed, with fearful loss driven back. When, from the shelter of a copse which lay Between the British and the Cataract, . >^:c - The Star-stripes sent a well-directed fire Upon the British crest, which stretched along The road to Queenston and those heights sublime That fringe, with green, Ontario's mantle blue. With desperate fury now the battle raged : ' The British force, though few in number, fought With purpose nerved, with valour obstinate. And closed their ranks around their guns with haste. Determined to maintain their ground, or lay That night their bodies on the blood-stained soil ; The Star-stripes, no less obstinate and brave. Determined to dislodge them from the hill CANTO FIRST. 27 By force of numbers ; and with furious charge And murderous fire assail'd the British crest, Pouring in columns like the Cataract — Sublime Niagara near the fatal scene. With desperate valour rushing to the charge, And many a brave but vain attempt, that night The Star-stripes strove to force the British lines. Which held their ground with Scythian obstinacy, And, with a front impenetrably firm And fierce recoil, roll'd back the waves of war. - Night's sable curtains long had veiled the scene AVith darkness ; but, instead of making pause Or least suspension in the work of death, It seemed to arm the combatants afresh With rage implacable and deadly zeal, .* Which neither wished to give nor take repose, , / Short of the slumbers of a glorious grave Beside the windings of Niagara's stream. And 'neath the echoes of his wondrous song. And as the lightning's flash is brighter seen In darkness, and the roar of thunderbolts Invades with more alarm the stilly night. When other sounds have died beneath its reign, So the wild roar of cannon on these plains — These peaceful plains, which seldom hear a sonnd To drown the cadence of Niagara's chime — So the wild war increasing, and the flash Of hostile guns, seen through the pale blue smoke, Borrowed fresh terrors from the blackened heavens. 28 NIAGARA FALLS. So close and huddled grew the battle now, That oft the British gunners were assaiPd When sponging out their guns ; and hostile guns Were often loaded, levelled, and fired off At but a very few yards separate. The Star-stripes for a season made a turn Upon the left, where Rial, just returned From dressing of his wounds, was captive made. For three long hours and more the battle raged, When both sides for a time a respite gave. With ammunition then the British ranks Were fresh supplied ; the Star-stripes then brought up Fresh reinforcements from the rear, and up Upon the British left gave desperate charge, "' But only made to mask a fiercer one, "' With stronger force, upon the British right Brave Drummond saw, and understood them well, And skilfully prepared to counteract And foil them, and prevent the British troops . ' ' From certainty of being there outflanked. He drew the British strength upon the right ; And as he saw the Star-stripes moving slow Upon a field of grain, with silent steps — With steps as silent, and more sly, he drew A British line within that field with haste, » ■ ' And gave command to kneel among the grain, That, unperceived, they silently should wait In ambush, till the Star-stripes' near approach Should give the advantage of a certain aim. CANTO FIRST. 29 Scarce had they gained the destined field, and made The above arrangement, when the advancing files Of hostile bands were seen quite close at hand ; One instant, and the British all at once Sprung to their feet, and to the level brought Their muskets, with a murderous discharge Upon the opponent ranks, that fell in crowds ; Then instant to the charge of bayonets fixt, — The dreadful charge of British steel far-famed,— Which made them fly with speed, nor stop to look For their poor comrades left upon the Field, Wounded or dead, or in the British power. Till midnight they continued to renew Their fierce attacks upon the British troops, Which held their ground, and gallantly repulsed. And drove them back with greater loss each time. The Star-stripes 'gan to think it time to go ; And hurriedly retreated to the Mills At Bridgewater, and bravely burnM them down, To show that they had gain'd the victory ;— From thence they fled beyond the Chippewa, And on the morrow threw their store j eway : Their tents, their baggage, and provisions too, Were thrown into those rapids wild, which run Down from the Chippewa, past the Foam-girt Isle, And o'er Niagara's battlements sublime. Next day, with speed, they fled within the Fort, (Then in their power) — the Fort that guards the wave 80 NIAGARA FALL8. Where perilous Erie pours his waters down Into Niagara's perilous cascade wild. SMD OF CANTO FIRST. it ii' NIAGARA FALLS. CANTO SECOND. ANALYSIS OF CANTO SECOND. Refiections on the " Corpse-clad Field" the day after a battle— The quick transit of souls into .an eternal and unchangeable state — How strange must a Battle- Field appear to Angels — How strange the appearance of two men in the next world who had just been fighting in this — Military renown cannot follow them past " Death's door- posts" — The combatants insensible to, and heedless of,^ what is doing on the other side of the line between us and eternity — Death made a friend By submission to the influ- ence of Religion — Death is not a leap in the dark to those who truly believe in God's revelation — Man's grovelling schemes prevent him from seeing his true interest — Tem- poral effects of war worthy to be sung also — Affecting story of Antonio and Francisco — Their character and circumstances described — Scene on the Atlantic on a Summer's morning — Conversation between Antonio and the Author — Safe arrival— Antonio ^nd Francisco leave their wives to go on their lands, cear Lake Huron- Affecting scene when their wives are informed of their being both drowned in Lake Huron, with reflections — The necessity of defensive waifare — Warning on the subject 34 NIAGARA FALLS. to Rulers— to Demttgoguea and Rulers who seek popu- larity. The Poem returns to Niagara and its attendant icenes —The river abore the Cataract— Apostrophe to and reflec- tions on the River Chippewa — Niagara traced from its source — Its rapid motion and dreadful pitch — Compared to Time marching its millions over Death's precipice — Niagara not a mere parade of useless splendour — The fine effeot produced by contrast in the foregoing scenes — Sense of the insignificance of Man's physical powers produced by a view of the Cataract— Sinfulness of sending animals over the Falls — The conscience stript of its shield "Num* bers can nerer remove individual responsibility. NIAGARA FALLS. ••^l','.'. CANTO SECOND. How sad, how solemn, how instructive too, Are thoughts suggested by the corpse-clad Field, Where lie the relics of Death's ruffian meal ! The mangled forms that yesterday were men ; To-day but manure for the thirsty soil, That drinks with greedy appetite the stream — The crimson stream of life — that fills and paints Innumerous purple conduits, ramified And spread throughout the wondrous human frame. But, Oh ! how much more solemn to reflect On the quick transit of immortal souls, Dragged through the portals of eternity. And made to pass the fearful scrutiny Of God's most righteous judgment, and to feel Their state forever fixt unchangeably : Their immortality of bliss or woe — » Of bliss unbounded, pure, and unalloy'd — At God's right hand ; or woe immeasurable, 36 NIAGARA FALLS. Unmixt, unmitigated, unassuaged, And flowing in a stream of wrath provoked By sins committed and by mercy spurn'd ! With awful certainty of retrospect, To know and feel their life and character As now completed ; and, with vision sure, To stretch o'er their existence yet to come. Without the power to alter or amend Their lives, or seek to change the sentence just. Or for one moment mitigate the doom Which puts at once their hopes and fears to death ; And in their stead puts certainty of joy — Unmixt, immaculate, and endless bliss, — Or certainty of woe unutterable. And shoreless floods of unavailing tears. How strange to minds Angelic must the fields *' Of battle seem, if privileged to view Both sides at once of that mysterious line i i That separates eternity from time. And forms the edge of Death's huge precipice Invisible, — of which we soon shall sing. As emblem'd in Niagara's mystic Falls ! How strange they'll think is such a bloody strife, With waste of lives probational and short, An4 hanging on such hair-breadth turns of fate, ■ Is such a bloody strife of men 'gainst men — All candidates for immortality ; With feeble pinions fluttering o'er the brink Of boundless, bottomless eternity,— CANTO SECOND. 37 And every moment liable to fall Transfixt by Death's rude shaft, and finally Determined both in character and state ! How strange the appearance, in the ghostly throng, Of two fierce combatants from Battle-field Arrived, where each had sought most greedily The other's life, and each had lost his own ! — Or hostile chiefs, as Wolfe and Montcalm, Or Broke and Lawrence on Atlanta's wave ! Will ** bubble reputation" follow them Past Death's dark door-posts, or befriend beyond The frontiers of Life's bounded territories ? Will countless millions, who have erewhile pass'd His threshold, since just Abel fell with wounds Inflicted by a brother's hand, assign The palm of victory, or the blasts of fame. To him who conquer'd, or who died renown'd On earth, and was on earth bepraised and famed 1 Ah, no ! another standard there shall fix Their destinies ; for there the naked soul, Bestript of every thing that could not pass The scrutiny of Death's ** refining fires," — As sung the youthful sage whose hes^ven-toned lyre RoU'd mighty numbers o'er the ♦* Course of Time" — Bereaved of every thing but that which bears The eternal signature of holiness, — v -t ,* Must stand or fall, and take eternal hold '- On its just portion and reward assign'd . In the unerring registry of Heaven. 8S NIAGARA FALLS. How strange to view the conflict raging still With fierce vindictive clamour, and to think How little do the combatants attend, Or calculate the ultimate results I Of their fierce contest, or the comrades who Lie stiffening on the sod, and oozing out Life's crimson currents ; but whose spirits fled Behind Death's ramparts, never to return. Or take a part again in quarrels just Or unjust, but with friends and foes to stand, — >' And stand without a possibility Of flight from Judgment, — having their retreat Cut off forever ; and, if unappeased By Mercy's proper blood, through faith shed down Upon the soul, producing holy love To God and men, with corresponding deeds Of piety and charity unfeigned, — - -v- * *' To feel throughout eternity the wrath Of an Almighty foe with justice arm'd ; — To stand without the possibility ' ^' Of hopeful opposition or retreat From such a foe, arm'd with vindictive fire .' Omnipotent to punish, as erewhile He was to save, while life's warm currents ran, And Mercy beckon'd with beseeching tearsi. How little do the combatants attend, Or e'en conjecture, what is going on On further side of that most narrow line Between the visible and unseen worlds ! CANTO SECOND. 39 Or think that they themselves are tottering round Death's dreadful precipice, unfenced, unfear'd, — Though here with certainty viewed by eflects In numerous instances, and close at hand, ii And in the midst of life. Though Death's a foe 'Gainst whom 'tis vain to guard — yet still, whilst life's Warm currents circulate and Mercy pleads, He's woed successfully, and made a friend, — A welcome friend, to ease us of our woes, And heave the portals of immortal bliss. Nor is the passage o'er the fearful edge Of Death's most dreaded battlements a leap Into the dark, as some have vainly said : Ah, no ! Since Revelation pour'd its light O'er this dark world, and chased the night away — The hopeless, cheerless, mental, moral gloom Which overspreads the soul of man unlearn'd In God's most holy oracles of truth — There is reveal'd, unto the eye of Faith, ' > A world of light and love, and holy joy ; ^ Where optical illusions have no place ; . i Where things and persons seem just as they are ; And all disguises dropt, and masks unmask'd ; ^ * And shades unshaded, and dark doubts resolved ; And mysteries made plain, and knotty points i Of speculation clear'd ; and the dark night Of wild conjecture, or of trembling trust. At length succeeded by eternal day. 40 NIAGARA FALLS. 'Tis here the darkness lies, — ^but there the light Shines with unclouded lustre, and dispels And dissipates at once the clouds which hang O'er time, and fate, and providence, and man. 'Tis here the paths of providence, — entwined And intersected by man's grovelling schemes Of mad ambition, stretching out beyond The future probable, and far above All sober calculation, and beyond The usual time allotted here to man, — So oft misleads the mental powers, and blinds Man to his real interests, and shuts out All thought of God, and care about ourselves — Ourselves immortal, but in darkness pent. Till Death shall ope the portals, and we bound - Forth in the sunshine of immortal bliss ; Where no more in a glass we darkly view Those things which most concern our future weal. But then ** shall know as we ourselves are known." Nor are the temporal effects of war Unworthy of our song, or widows' tears Unfit to move, in plaintive strains, the lyre, — Whose strings have just rung out the lofty peal Of the loud death-blasts in the battle storm That drown'd Niagara's solemn tones a while. Of war-made widowhood I do not now Remember of a case to suit my song ; — But, O, 1 do remember of a case Of double widowhood, and women's tears CANTO SECOND. Shed piteously, — the prime of wedded bliss Blasting at once, — and with the orphan's cries Distorting childhood's cheek, and cruelly, With prematurity of sorrow's wail. Filling the cot where love and virtue reigned. 41 ♦ ^s >■ . ^i" *B. ■ STORY OF ANTONIO AND FRANCISCO, Antonio and Francisco were two friends — Not brothers, nor by kindred near allied, But link'd in friendship's bonds, which often bind Two kindred spirits with a tie more firm Than aught but that which binds the wedded pair. Their beauteous partners shared their friendship too, And loved each other, and like sisters lived, And shared each other's toils and joys betimes. Of sorrows they, as yet,, had tasted few But such as with a careful hand, and eye Of watchful assiduity, in wedded life, ^ • Are weeded from Love's garden, and enhance The clustered sweets that there luxuriant grow. To cross the Atlantic wave both pairs design'd At once, and, with their little ones, embark'd In the same ship which bore me o'er the deep. They had design'd, with industry and skill, To purchase an allotment, and improve , ^ ^ •• >v 42 NIAGARA FALLS. And form a peaceful, independent home For their fair partners and their tovely babes. In prime of manhood both, and in the flower Of womanhood their lovely partners bloom'd. Amanda and Narcissa, matrons young And lovely, and to virtue's toils inured From infancy, sought not the unmeaning praise Of fools and fops, but in their husbands' loves, Content and happy, sought domestic bliss, Nor sought in vain ; for love reciprocal, • Bound by the ties which in Love's garden grow, Feeds on the sweets, which in that soil alone Are nourished to perfection and assuage The healthy appetite of chaste desire. How little did they dream of the fell stroke So near at hand, which levell'd to the dust -^ Their fondest hopes terrestrial, and brought tears Of bitterest sorrow to succeed the joys — The virtuous joys, connubial, which, erewhile, Had bless'd the tranquil tenor of their lives ! How little did they think of parting soon. Or that the cruel spoiler. Death, was near. To sever ties which seem'd so natural ; ' Which seem'd to wind insensibly around, And interlace the fibres of those hearts Whose every throb beat in full unison, Responsive to affection's harmony, And beating in the prime of manhood young, With prospects fair, and swelling hopes, urged on /?T A }\ CANTO SECOND. 43 To the pursuits of honest industry ^ . ' And rural bliss, untarnish'd by a tear ! Oh, I remember well Antonio's look And cheerful smile of hopeful fondness, mixt With grave parental care and sober thought, As, on Atlanta's wave, he walked the deck With me, and talk'd of future prospects fair, And in his arms bore infant loveliness, — And childhood's prattle follow'd us along The gently-heaving deck with mirthful smiles. We watch'd with eagerness the grampus huge And whale, which dash'd aside the dark-green surge, And squirted briny foam incessantly, Besprinkling, without need, the waves around. The flocks of porpoises we'd sometimes watch ; With well-filed regularity of march. Gamboling along the waves, they headlong pitch'd And rose alternately, and beat the surge With head or tail, in sportive motion timed To the light music of the morning breeze That gently fiU'd our canvas, and urged on Our. western course, and clove the briny waves With pointing timbers of the vessel's prow. We talk'd with fondness of the land we left ; We hoped with fondness that the land we sought Might yield us joys of more exuberant growthf With less expense of culture, as the soil *■ Had not been overwrought, and seemed New and inviting, and to enterprise < , 44 NIAGARA FALLS. ■f '•» ■ ^- \ ,/^^i i t And industry held out incentives strong. And he (fond soul) talked hopefully the while Of his dear babes, — ^the pledges of his love To fair Amanda, — and their prospects too Of better fortune, and more happy life. In the new land, where honesty and toil Had fewer rivals, and were better paid. All things then prospered well. We reach'd the land Expected ; and Antonio and friend Francisco, with their partners and their babes. Were safely lodged in a snug cot beside Lake Simcoe's smooth and glossy waves, which halve The continent between Ontario And boisterous Huron, where they purchased lands ; On which they soon intended to erect •* ' ^ Fit habitations, and in Spring remove., i' It was a day of calm and aspect mild, ^ ^^ - ' And indicated calm and passage safe ''■ i^ To those two friends who parted from their wives. It was no parting in which sorrow reign'd ; For smooth-tongued Hope gave promise of a quick And safe return. They left for Huron's shore, To carry thither and embark their stores , - » And implements of husbandry, and raise ' ^ j« ' Their habitations and prepare some land For tillage, and return without delay. They talked with usunl glee, and toyed awhile With their fair babes ; and jested with their wives. Who back returnM, and to their household toils CANTO SECOND. 45 Retired, to sing the lingering hours away ; And gaily hoped, and toilM with cheerfulness, And fondly hoped, perhaps, that absence short Would but enhance the joys of safe return. Few days had passed, nor had uneasiness The least disturbed repose, or dimmed their joy. When, as they sat, a neighbour call'd, whom well They knew, and thought not singular That he should call ; but still, his lingering, And other neighbours hovering round the doors, And something sad and tremulous in his looks, Raised a suspicion of some sad mishap. A pause ensued, and not a word was spoke. For a few moments each on other look'd, And look'd inquiringly. Then came the stroke : The stroke that erewhile hung on falt'ring lips Now fell on ears forlorn : ** Their husbands both Were dead ! — both dead ! — and 'neath the boisterous Of greedy Huron sunk to rise no more !" [waves What tongue of eloquence, what pen of fire, Could speak or write the sorrow that ensued ? What pencil, dipt in living colours, held By Raphael, could on canvas dash the scene ?— ^ Or represent the strong convulsive throes Of mental agony which in the looks ' Of fair Amanda and Narcissa shone ? Amanda swoon'd — Narcissa shriek'd and cried,— ^ And to the babes the sad contagion spread. Whose plaintive cries and piteous lo<^s gave poiiU 12? 46 NIAGARA FALLS. And zest and sharpness to the scene of woe. What lyre of plaintive or of dolorous strains Could ring, with numbers just, the widows' wails And orphans' sobs and moans, which echoed round These walls which lately heard the song of mirth And peaceful joy, and Love's responses mild ? How sail the change that cot of humble worth Then underwent ; and how inadequate Are words to iShoW the sadness of those hearts Bereaved of those who bound their finest chords, And in a land of strangers, far from home And friends, and destitute of wealth or means To gain an honest living, or improve The unclear'd land on Huron's ruffian shore ! 'lO- h Thw is a picture of such woes as War Most certainly inflicts upon our race ; For widows' wails and orphans' cries are sure To follow in the wake of martial deeds Renown'd in history ; and sometimes, perhaps, 'Tis hard to judge the motives which induce Princes and Potentates ; or to condemn, In general terms, all hostile policy Ib States or Statesmen ; — for, assuredly. Without some principle of right and wrong. And law to mark it and define its bounds, With nations, as with individuals. CANTO SECOND. 47 No intercourse secure could long subsist ; And law implies a right, — and right That is not lawfully de**' .^ible, And that by force, if otherwise denied, — Is a mere bug-bear, and of no effect : Therefore, so long as human nature stands In an imperfect state, the force of arms Must be, in some degree, allowable And necessary. But the point in hand To be determined is, — when this takes place — When this necessity arises, so That suffering patience, from a virtue, falls Into a weakness, — nay, a specious vice ; — For if man's character and actions ought To be remodelled on that image fair Of God, which is displayed throughout the plan Of Man's RedelTiption, and the grand results Of God's most wise and holy government, — Vengeance there follows, as a consequence Most necessary, when the love of God, And grace and mercy of the Saviour, fail To wake repentance in the guilty breast, And make men throw their sin-stain'd weapons down. If Man is to be so remodelled, then It cannot be that such a principle ' As non-resistance to injustice, or * -■ A flat and foolish giving-up of right For sake of peace, is virtue of the least Account at all in God's just reckoning. 48 NIAGARA FALL6. \Wf ^^» ^^ *^® Scriptures, we find Kings empowered To be a terror to the evil men, As well as friend and patron to the good. And evil men who break the laws of Kings Are only to be terrified by force. To terrors of God's laws they're inaccessible, And long since threw the laws of God aside, And often disbelieve professedly In the existence of a God at all. Such principle of non-resistance, too. Would tend to make us equally to love Those who befriend and those who injure us, — Not mentioning the blessed ties of blood- Relationship, or bonds connubial ; Which, by the principle of equal love To all, would be but nullities, > And charity itself would be resolved * Into mere words, quite undefinable. For such a thing as flat equality Is no where to be found, and contrary To God's procedure, and exists alone In the foul brains of demagogues and fools Who suck the poison of their well-spiced cant Of liberty, equality, and right Of men to be what, in the laws of Heaven, Is no where found, and would its plans unhinge. But, Oh, let those who bear the keys of State Think on the dread responsibility Which on them lies before they go to war ; t . -r n CANTO SECOND. 40 And have assurance of a quarrel just, Without the milder means of just redress, Before they bring about a state of things Which sends so many to the Bar of God Untimely, and which multiplies such woes As we have erewhile sung ; — such woes as those Which fair Amanda and Narcissa felt ; For war-made widowhood is no less sad, And no less sudden, than the case we sang. And, Oh, let worthless demagogues reflect On the just doom that must o'ertake them soon, If they continue o'er the senseless mob To blow the coals of factious discontent, And cause the ignorant to spurn the laws And just authority of kingly power For theories on paper, which look fair. But, when reduced to practice, bring forth nought But anarchy, confusion, and dismay ; Which only can be cured, if cured at all. By despotism and military rule. Such men as fan the passions of the mob Should recollect that they must soon appear Before the Bar of God. How different Will demagogues appear when there they view The multitudes deluded bv their lies. Or murdered in the quarrels which they fanned ! And rulers who seek popularity Should often think of Pilate's case, and learn To rule according to the laws of God, 50 NIAGARA FALLS. And utterly to disregard the wish Of hot-brain'd multitudes, who know not what They do ; and one day cry with vehemence, "Hosannah, blessed is the man who comes. In name of God, to save !" Another day The self-same mob will howl most vehemently, ** Away ! away ! and crucify him now ! And let his blood, if innocent, stain us, And all our children — only crucify !" Again we'll to Niagara Falls sublime, And strike the lyre again, in harmony With the rude march of floods of ponderous force, ImpelFd by gravitation to the edge Of the dire precipice ; which once, perhaps. O'er Queenston Heiguts abrupt, held colloquy. And gave responses rude to the wild waves Of blue Ontario, in those fitful blasts - ■ Which agitate the Lake, and weave his locks In coarse plaits adown St Lawrence wave. And as erewhile we, from below the pitch Of the bright Cataract essay'd to pour Our numbers rude along the mist-wreath'd edge Of the concussive downfall, and beneath The vast enfolded sheet of falling foam ;— So now, from heights which overlook the Falls, And, farther up Niagara's noble stream, CANTO SECOND. 51 Command a view of Chippewa's silent wave, — Grand Island, and the placid bay on which Stands Schlosser, Tanawanta, and the shores Of those who now the star-stripM banner wave — How beautiful the prospect, and how calm Niagara here appears ! — a limpid pool Of glassy, pure, unruffled liquid, still And calm ; — a waveless lake wherein the moon Might see her image bright, and count the stars Of midnight. Here again the canvas swells To gentle breezes : and with commerce fraught From perilous F4rie, and, with steam propellM, The smoking chimneys o'er the limpid flood Pass and repass, and enter Chippewa's wave. Too gentle Chippewa ! in thy stagnant sides The reptile tribes infest thy weed-bound shores ; And musquitoes in swarms are hatch'd, take wing, And o'er adjacent woods innumerous spread ; iVnd when night's curtains shade thy mirror stream, After strong sunshine in meridian power Of Midsummer, such vapours dense arise. Surcharged with noisome matter dangerous, — Producing tremulous agues, which, with heat And cold alternate, vex the human frame. Too gentle Chippewa ! when the mid-day breeze Has gone to rest, and left thy margin clear To bask in summer sunshine, where the reeds And water-lilies deck the muskrat's den ; The bellowing bull-frog hosts incessant roar 4- 52 NIAGARA FALLS. To chirping swarms of grasshoppers, and bees Who murmur on the wing of industry ; With aerial songsters perch'd beside the wave, Of plumage i^ed or green, with golden grains Besprinkled much, and dazzling in the rays Which vertically strike the stagnant, smooth. Unruffled surface of the weedy bays And winds of Chippewa's solemn waters, bound By sylvan banks of towering oaks and pines ; These sylvan songsters with the notes of Heaven, — Not pitch'd, perhaps, to man's harmonic skill. But mingling with the harsh notes, down the flood. Of bellowing bull-frogs, grasshoppers, and all The varied tribes of water, earth, and air, — Make melody most sweet ; and, with the swell '; And deep-toned diapason which the breeze Bears from Niagara's organ, makes a choir Complete, harmonious, solemn, well-attuned-— Responsive to the melodies of Heaven. Too gentle Chippewa gravitates adown A level and indulgent channel deep, And winding round the sugar-maple groves : Of Wainfleet, Gainsbro', and the rugged hills Of Pelham, down 'tween Crowland and the knolls Of broken Thorold's banks, o'er the Canal Which joins the Lakes in navigation, where Niagara's freaks sublime had raised a bar Insuperable heretofore, but now Obsequious to the force of human skill. CANTO SECOND. 53 Here gentle Chippewa forms a boundary 'tween Thorold and Crowland, and 'tween Willoughby And Stamford's plains, on which the bloody field Of Lundy's Lane was fought, and where the Falls Sublimely murmur day and night unchanged. Too gentle Chippewa sluggishly descends Till rough Niagara seize him in his arms, Leaps down the precipice with foaming speed, And seeks with many a wind Ontario's waves. Sublime Niagara ! thy wild waters drain The largest part of this wide continent, From where the Red Deer enters Winnepeg, With swamps most dismal to the Lake of Woods ; Thence to Superior Falls, through Rainy Lake ; Thence down on Michigan and Huron, which Entomb'd Antonio and Francisco 'neath Its boisterous billows ; then adown St. Clair, Whose waves are caught by perilous Erie's strand ; From whence is fill'd the limpid pool, of which We erewhile sang as catching Chippewa's wave. But not at once from limpid stream it leaps Into the boiling gulf^ but, for a space. Sublime Niagara round Goat Island whirls, — (The Foam-Girt Isle of which we erewhile sung)— Much agitated, and in rapid movement bounds, With undulating march, o'er rugged rocks A rough but sloping channel hastens on. The crowding waves with noisy flight descend With dreadful force, — accelerated speed, • 54 NIAGARA FALLS. J ' : I As they approach the quivering edge sublime, Where the stone tower overlooks the whiten'd sheet Of foam immense, agravitating down With force far greater — noise proportionate To the vast weight of waters, and the slope Of the rough channel, and the height sublime Of awful battlements which stretch athwart The river's bed ; but not rectangular, But to the opponent banks, in an oblique And somewhat curved descent abrupt it pours Its whiten'd mass towards the British banks ; Which thus command a fuller view direct ^ Of the vast Cataract's descent sublime, — Dividing thus the fallen from unfallen floods, , Forming in each an angular acute And stormy bay. The Foam-Girt Isle itself Divides the whitened mass, and naked shows Its barren bpsements, rocky, stratified, And strong contrasting with the whiten'd sheets Which move unceasingly while it stands still. Oh ! what an emblem of the flight of Time Marching his millions down the steepy slopo— • The slope of life, where none can retrograde A single step, but must each moment live ; Live but to move right onward to the brink Of Death's huge precipice invisible, ^ , j Unfenced, uncharted in the maps of life Because of its most strange ubiquity From heedless infancy to helpless age. CANTO SECOND. 55 Nor are Niagara's waves a mere parade Of usele^ splendour. In the Foam-Girt Isle Are Mills, wherein, transformed, the useless rag Becomes a vehicle of human thought Conveyed thereby to Earth's remotest bounds ; And on the British side stands Bridgewater, With Mills of various kinds driven by the force Of currents borrowed from the slope-sent flood Before it plunges in the dire abyss. Nor are we sure but in some future age The vast descending sheet itself may not Lend power immense to some vast engine formed By human skill, and useful to the race O^ ^fin existing men, whose views enlarged B '( ence, with its still progressive march or vast improvements, shall demand more power From Nature in propulsion of machines Of bulk and power exceeding far the bounds Which limit now the extent of man's designs. How grand the combination and effect Of such a scene as this I How various The objects which by contrast magnify And to advantage show each other off! The placid surface of the limpid pool, Green-shaded, and with emeralds adorn'd. With Grand and Navy Islands, and the shores On either side, alternate green and gold, Contrasting with the surgy mass which runs Around the Foam-Girt Isle, and then o'erleaps ■•}?•«• 56 NIAGARA FALLS. The cave by foam embowerM, of which we sang ; — In whitenM foam o'erleaps the battlements Into the boiling gulf, whose waves, impelled By compound influences much confused, Its rippling, whirling, smoking currents move ; — Contrasting waves above, which, in direct And bold and hurried march, to the bright pitch — The awful edge sublime, where bending floods Are whiten'd instantly, and in the form Of marble pillars white ; — contrasting, too, With the dark basements of the Foam-Girt Isle, Which firmly stand in centre of the shock And loud continuous roar of falling floods ; The green woods, too, around, which clap their hands And shake their plumes in honour of the march — The everlasting promenade sublime . . * Of continental reservoirs impelled ! m / : - By gravitation's force — the force which moves • Unseen the springs of nature, and at once Upholds, impels, and regulates the speed • •=> ! Of smallest particles throughout the vast Of matter's mixtures, and the wheels immense, ^ Of nature's engines, variously formed With symmetry exact and skill divine. ' \ '/ • > What sense of little insignificance Li- , • Is forced upon us by the view of powers r ; ', So much transcending physically - m , The puny arm of man, which bears no more Proportion to these falling waters wild CANTO SECOND. a? Than they to that which constantly propels Earth in her circuit motion round the sun I How does it show the deep depravity Of man, to see him sporting wantonly With the sublimities of Nature's grand And awful works, or feasting cruelty By sending harmless creatures o'er the edge Of the great Cataract in the Lake's crafls Disabled, and how sad to view the crowds, Both male and female, who enjoy the scene ! Oh, how deceptive is the principle Of a divided 'sponsibility With which each member in a numerous crowd Can lay a flattering unction to his soul ! " Yes, it is cruel to embark a bear And send him o'er the Falls, to feast the eyes Of idleness and cruelty combined ; I would not do so for a thousand worlds. And could I stop the exhibition, sure I would ; I only mean to go just now * . To spend an idle day and meet my friends, •< « And, like my neighbours, see the vessel thrown In fragments by the swift concussive pitch Of the dread Cataract ; and sure, such crowds Of people cannot individually " Be made to answer for the single act Of cruelty committed by these men Who catch the bear and send him o'er the Falls." Alas j how often is a plea like this f •. - : f2 58 NIAOAftA FALLS. Urged 'gainst the qualms of conscience, and how vain Is such a plea when weigh'd in the just scales Of Scripture and of reason ! Let us see : The deed is not done rashly, but with shrewd And certain calculation of a throng Collected thereby, and a profit, too. To Innkeepers, who are the principals And fore-front actors in the tragedy. If every one would, therefore, stay at home And leave the deed unwitnessed and unpaid, Such things as these would die a natural And speedy death. And those who, drawn aside From sober duty in thfeir younger years By means of such alluring baits, would be Preserved from many a snare to vice and crime Which meet them in such large, mixt multitudes Assembled cruelly to see God's brutes » ''^^ •' Irrational in suffering made a sport ' * For God's brutes rational to look upon ; And scenes where God's omnipotence, display'd In awful grandeur, fearfully held forth Polluted with a cruel butchery * ' Committed on an unoffending brute. ■ ' ,^ ' And has not God most solemnly decreed "'- *-• '' That they who are partakers of the crimes * - Of others, equally shall share their doom? And if the plea of crowds could aught avail, Why are the nations knowing not their God And Saviour sentenced to the burning glooms CANTO SECOND. 50 Of hell ? from whence His grace and favour 's barr'd For ever. But the conscience of a mob — If conscience in a mob resides at all — Is sear'd by the array of numbers, and The retrospect of what is done in crowds Collectively can never come to bear Upon the cong<*ier' ' with an equal force With smaller , imf ommitted unsc cJ By dint of partners in a deed of shame. END OF CANTO SECOND. NIAGARA FALLS, CANTO THIRD. ANALYSIS OF CANTO THIRD. Niagara at Evening and Moonlight — Appearance of the Falls as the darkness increases, and when it is quite dark —The Heavens become unclouded, and the Moon and Stars reflected on the waters, &c. — The Bridges, &c. The Moral Fall of Man— The Probation of Man explain ed, and its reasonableness demonstrated — Hymn supposed to be sung by Angels on Man's Creation — Messengers arrive in Heaven with the news of Man's /all — Its effect upon the Angels — Hymn sung in Heaven on Man's Fall — God the Father declares his plan for Man's Redemption by the substitution of his Son — God the Son declares his acquiescence therein— Its effect on the Angels — Hymn on Man's Redemption — The Fall of Man has brought to light new glories in God's character. A Winter view of the Cataract — The ice descending is caught below the Falls, and covers a part of the boiling gulf — The slopes around, moistened by vapours and frozen over, are thereby rendered slippery and dangerous —Snow caught in the shelving basements of Goat Island —A mount of snow accumulated before the farther sheet — A solitary rock above the Falls surrounded and guarded by 64 NIAGARA FALLS. the currents — The descending snow-flakes— Departure from the Falls — Winter evening sky — Absurdity of sup- posing such beautiful order produced by chance. The Author's prayer — Some things which proclaim con- stantly and regularly the existence of God — Addresfl to the Sceptic— His mischievous and dangerous companionship for youth painted in its true colours. ^u: . 3^^ •i'-'j'. \\'. ■ •' \ ,' 'i. ■-•■l'! bJl " * ' "■ 9--\Jj\lfi^i 'R ^t; NIAGARA FALLS. CANTO THIRD. Now Evening draws her veils around the sce^e, And, lengthening across the Cataract, Throws fainter lines adown the whiten'd maSB. And smoothes the roughness of the steeps sublkii«;' Of various-shaded green, and hides the shelves And rocky basements of the Foam-Girt Isle ; Which now appear a dark and square-shaped mass Beside two squares of white. The flood below. Still undulating, shows short streaks of foam Upon a dark-green ground, and changefuUy Alternate green and white, till near the edge Of the concussion, and around the \v < caths Of vapours thence upborne it grows apace In uniformity of white ; and all around At last is whiten'd as the sheets of foam, Which lose their colour in the dire descent. Niagara's limpid pool is seen no more, Nor Chippewa's wave : nought now remairisundrown'd 66 NIAGARA FALLS. In darkness, save the Cataract immense, ' With its attendant shades of darker hue, Which serve to show its whiteness and preserve Its form and size in glory unimpaired Upon the wearied optics which have borne The burden of inspection o'er its grand And varied lineaments throughout the day. The edge sublime of awful bending floods Can still be traced ; and, like the perilous tower, A darkened speck is seen upon the brink Of whitenM streams immense ; and all along The upper floods are curling specks of white • y;^ Innumerous, and all in motion timed To the deep, deep diapason murmurs down the Falls, Both day and night tuned to the march sublime Of continental floods, sent to the Main In order various, like a numerous host Of warriors in invasive march urged on To conquest of some hostile territory. Sometimes in broad compacted mass it pours Across the plains ; but, where the mountains meet, Defiles in narrow columns. So the march , - Of continental floods takes now the form Of wide-extended lakes, and then inclosed ^ By steep embankments, narrow'd for a while > In pebbly channels of the rivers' beds. But now the changing heavens betoken change Upon the aspects of the watery mass, ^Which, still reflective, beautifully bears CANTO THIRD. 67 e ver, e Falls, meet, lange Responsive images upon its waves, And with responsive splendours mocks the heavens, Which now, unclouded and bestarr'd, look down Into Niagara's limpid mirror mild. Which waits the fail of Chippewa's solemn wave. Once more the finer lineaments are seen Of the bright Cataract. And all around, And o'er the vast transparent floods above. And in the crystalline and moving waves Above and far below the Cataract, The Moon's majestic mildness pours adown Lpon the glittering surface of the stream. Which variously responds, but faithfully Reflects the glories of the vault bestrew'd With burnish'd points, and tinged with gold along The galaxy. The woods, with green once more Of various shade, with blacken'd tints behind And underneath their branchy canopies. Wave to the breeze benighted. In the bays And promontory-shelter'd pools along ^ • '' Niagara's coasts, the finny habitants ' \' '. Belt upwards from the floods upon the flies That skim unwarily upon the smooth And placid surface of the liquid mass. O, how beneficent the grateful change Of night! and O, how beautiful the flow ; < Of the white foamy Cataract as seen Under the glimpses of the gorgeous moon, Which, with majestic silence, swims along 68 NIAGARA FALLS. The dark blue vault of heaven, begilt and strewn With glittering isles innumerous, which pour Their gentle glories on the mirror pools And silvery sheets of foam that each return Responsive splendours, and the image fair Of Heaven's bright arch bestarrM upon the smooth Elastic surface paints so faithfully, Doubling the glories of the solemn night. The Foam-Girt Isle, with sable verdure crown'd. And resting on the upper level, shows Once more its basements, and the bridges, too. Which overleap the hurried downward march Of slope-sent floods of foamy currents wild Swift-rushing down upon the precipice. Bridges overleaping floods of frightful force Conduct the curious traveller across More than half-way, and first upon the isle Re-lands him safe, and then upon the tower, Which now is visible once more, and throws A moon-beam shadow down the dire descent. And awfully o'erhangs the hastening waves. Thus have we day and night Niagara's waves And dreadful Cataract traversed ; and whiles Adown or far above the pitch sublime, Or o'er the quivering edge where bending streams Immense are whiten'd and precipitated, — We've roU'd our numbers rude to the rough noise — The boisterous music of the w ild cascade— Which, even at midnight serenades unchanged, CANTO THIRD, 69 n )Otll vn'd, ;ams Under the glittering lattices of heaven, Its various splendours awfully displayed In the rude fall of continental floods, Where their grand march is broken suddenly, And with continuous thunders falls abrupt Into the vortex which, in stormy mood, « Receives the shock sublime, and sends up mists Of drizzling spray, which in the moon-beams dance Like golden dust, and o'er adjoining groves — Besprinkling day and night throughout the year. Thus, as we've hinted, in the moral world A Fall more grand took place — a moral fall. When, from the innocence of Eden's bowers, Man fell from holy intercourse with Heaven And sweet communion with the Deity, And lost at once the image which impress'd Upon his soul resemblance fairer far Than ought created else ; the image plain Of Godhead in his holiness and truth, And love disinterested, with knowledge large Enough to know his God, and know untaught His duty to his God, himself, and Man. Father of countless millions who should stand i In good and in the love superlative Of God throughout eternity — ^should grow ' •• In holiness proceeding from their head, Their federal head, — who, had he stood the test Of fair probation, would be bless'd throughout Eternity, by millions from him sprung, o2 70 NIAGARA FALLS. Inheriting his virtues and the fruits Of firm allegiance to the laws of Heaven. O, how exalted was that place he held Among the works of God ! How honourable And happy while he stood ! With opportunity Of rendering happiness perpetual To unborn myriads of his progeny, How easily he could have kept the sole And reasonable negative command Which bade him not " do this," but just forbear To do this harm, and all shall ever stand In holiness secure throughout the vast ■ Of broad eternity, both thee and thine. • ; He had no task to do to gain the crown Of life which God had placed upon his head, But only to refrain from giving up The post assigned him by the will of Heaven. Though he was free to fall, his will at first Was much inclined to holiness, and could Be only circumvented at one point, Which, had he guarded well, he would have stood And gain'd the eternal prize for all his race. No wonder, then, the morning stars sang joy. And that the sons of God, with rapturous notes, Sang praises when they saw a glorious world Created — with such blooming prospects crown'd Of a secure succession, and a line Of holy beings beautified in soul And body through the bounty of their God» CANTO THIRD. n And shortly to be sealed for ever up, Through the obedience of their federal head, In holiness complete for evermore ; For let it not be for a moment thought That Adam's standing could have left a door For others falling in the -shoreless vast Of broad eternity, or left the risk Of state probational to any one Of his vast race. No ! such a thouglit Makes the Almighty cruelly unjust To risk us both in Adam and ourselves ; For if in justice we must fall through his Most foul rebellion against the law of Heaven, So equal justice rightfully requires That in his standing we should also stand. The scale was poised with nice equality. Most scrupulously exact, without a hair Of difference but would soon preponderate On either side, according to the will — The free, but holy will — of our grand Siro And Representative, by whose life held By fair probation tried, we all should live,— Or, lost by fair probation, all should die. And was there not a greater probability Of Adam's standing than there could have been In any one or each of all his race ? What motives had he not which on his sons Could never have been brought to bear at all 1 He was the first and great progenitor— 73 NIAGARA FALLS. The father of the whole embryoed world ; And, holy, must have loved the will of God, And must, whilst holy, tenderly have felt The dread responsibility he held To guard the welfare of his future race, As well as personally to secure " The favour of his God, He, too, was made A man complete at once, and not like us From childhood rising up by gradual steps To the maturity of Man's estate. He was a man complete at once, and armed With knowledge certain of the dreadful point On which his duty hung ; a simple point Most plainly taught him, too, in simple words By God himself in language which could not Be twisted to a meaning different. Thus, armed at every point, our Sire was forni'd,— Most admirably fitted for the task, The easy task, of letting but alone , • The fatal Tree of Knowledge, better hid Since knowing was to know himself undone,— By knowing good by contrast, which sometimes Is a good teacher ; but the lesson learn'd Was fatal to the pupil, who that day Should die a spiritual death, and all his race Should die in him, — though, being born corrupt, Would not, like him, be sensible of change. But, Oh ! how strong the inducement was to stand When standing was so easy, and a world CANTO THIRD. 73 Was thereby to be thrown beyond the reach Of evil influence, and confirmed in good Without the possibility to fiall ! Here was a fountain inexhaustible ; A fountain of immortal life from whence Might flow, more numerous than the grains of sand Upon the briny shores around and 'neath ^ The Ocean's brim, a race immortal all, And all in holine'"' completely clad, Array'd in robes of righteousness most fair. Unworn, untorn, unstain'd, unstainable. Which never could wax old ; woven by their Sire, And handed down as an inheritance Most rightful and divisible throughout The endless generations multiplied Throughout the earth, immortal each and all. Thus was Man formed, and thus might Angels praise The Father Infinite on Man's account : — ,^-*ti/ _',-, 1 ( .'■ 74 NIAGARA FALLS. HYMN ON CREATION. ■ /■" -'"5 Ye everlasting Lyres, sing praise to God The Father Infinite, whose bounty pours Around Him new existences throughout] New reahns created, and this creature, Man, Has formM of dust similitude divine, To bear his bounty forth and multiply ^^^ Indefinitely these lovely beings form'd ; i-H v With baauty exquisite ; and in their Sire, No doubt, shall ijill be soon confirm'd in good ! Ye heaven-toned Lyres, respond and sing sublime The wonders of creating power and love, — Disinterested love which thus overleaps Once more Creation's bounds ; and not content With blessing everlastingly the throngs Which day and night surround His sovereign throne, And blessing, too, those myriadi. .v^hich swarm Innumerously throughout the vast, vast worlds And varied realms which own His sovereign sway ; But for the bounteous, overflowing stream Must ever thus create new channels wide. And new recipients for His gifts unearned ! These beauteous beings soon conflrmM in good. For evermore confirmed shall multiply By millions, and shall fill that lower realm CANTO THIRD. 75 With worshippers whose love intense shall burn Unquenchably, — whose happiness shall grow Proportionable to their knowledge of the plans And character and government of Heaven, Till, crowding o'er the puny ball not large Enough to hold their increase, they shall rise And be promoted in the gradual scale Of loyal worshippers, and reach at length This last ascent of virtue where we dwell. With what delight we'll own the brotherhood Of millions of these beautiful young sons And daughters of a covenant-keeping sire ! Sing loud, immortal bards, in joyous strains The praises of creative power divine, Of loving, life-imparting goodness infinite, Which ever thus adds to the hosts of heaven By wise extensions of its empire grand Throughout the vast of space ; and in the world. The moral universe's vast extent. Beneficent arrangements oft transpire i - - ^ By which progressive being rises up Throughout infinity's ascending scales, rV And while eternity's bright horologe Shall measure out its endless cycles vast. Which never terminate but vary still The endless song of praise for ever new ; Because new realms and beings spring to life Of various character and form and state, To witness new evolutions in the plans ?.,■«*'., '•: *'• !'*.< •\. ■ . 76 NIAGARA FA^LS. Of Wisdom which no error knows, but seeks Ends most beneficent by means untried Before, and oft, to finite minds like ours. Mysterious and perplexing ; but the scheme Of Man's probation is so simply laid That no suspense o'erhangs our vision there. But all at once our songs unite to praise Once more the Power creative and the Arm Omnipotent which still sustains untired The ponderous burden nicely poised, and holds Each link secure in being's endless chain ! But now along the balmy breeze which blows Aside the embowering foliated arms k v: > i Which everlastingly embrace the towers — , - The blissful towers and terraces of Heaven — Where varied songs of heaven-leam'd melody Resound unceasingly, — but while the hosts Of Heaven's great King require the dutiful Attendance of these happy spirits bright On errands to the farther provinces Of Heaven's broad empire, — on the balmy breeze Were heard the hasty strokes of seraph's plumes, And messengers of speedy wing fast rose O'er distant horizontal battlements CANTO TfllED. 77 Ids )lows > ■ H >" dy breeze umes, Which skirt and guard the blissful palaces Of the bright, grand, and throng'd metropolis Of universal empire. Near the throne The messengers approach, and reverently Upon its steps they kneel with folded wings, Which veil'd their faces from the glory bright— Too bright for eyes created to behold : They spoke, and told with modesty and grace That they had done their errand, but that Man, Tempted by felon spirit in the shape Of serpent, had presumed to eat the fruit Of knowledge of contrasted good and ill. A sudden silence seized the harps of Heaven : Fingers that sprung the gold melodious wires Were stay'd, and voices that but now had hymnM In holy harmony with A ngel harps Were silenced ; for the seraph throng, amazed, Though not dismay'd, stood still, and in the face Of fellow-spirits for a moment gazed. And gazed with sympathetic wonderment . Though Angels never for a m(Mnent lose Their faith in God's foreknowing providence. Yet stand surprised, and wonder at the fall, — The dreadful Fall of Man from height sublime Of happiness entire, from holiness unstain'd. And down the gulf of everlasting wrath \ ♦ t They saw, in sure conjecture, men descend By millions, when their lyres but recently m V6 NiA&AftA FALLS. Had rung their welcome to the bowers of blii^. They stood not long amazed, but to the songs Of everlasting love once more attune The lyres of melody, which thus resound : — HYMN ON MAN'S FALL. ■i,fi ;»,: .f f^ Ye everlasting Lyres, sing praise to God, The King eternal, holy, just, and good, — The Arbiter of right and wrong, who holds > .^"; The even scale of justice, and who gives To each his due, nor ever can remit The penalties most certain which ensue > Upon a single act of disobedience ; Nor can, one moment's space, relax the laws— • The wise, the just, the holy laws — ^which bind The creature, and declare his loyalty i' As due to Him who rightfully holds sway Over the Universe his hand has form'd ! This creature Man, who of the gifts of Heaven Bestow'd so lavishly makes small account, CANTO THIRD. 7» And casts them at his feet so carelessly, Must now be doom'd to feel God's justice arm'd, Most justly armM against the soul that sins, — To prove beyond the reach of controversy The evil and the bitterness of sin, When one offence committed by the sire Of unborn millions arms the hand of Heaven Against them all ; and, rather than relax His law most holy in so small a point As eating of an apple, He condemns A world of beings to the endless curse Of everlasting death that never dies. Sing loud, Immortals ! let the organ peal — The deep-toned organ of Eternity — The solemn thunders of God's wrath provoked And justice justly arm'd against a race / Hereditary enemies of God, Who bountifully placed their federal head. Their sire and representative, above The reach of want, and gave him a large choice Of bounty to fulfil his just desires. Ungratefully he must that small command Infringe, and seek to rise above the state Which God had given him by a way forbid With awful threatenings of eternal death. Let Justice take its course, and glorify The God of Justice. Sing, Immortal Lyres, The awful grandeur of the Fall of Man And dread inflexibilities of God's 80 NIAGARA FALLS. Most holy law, which cannot qait its grasp Upon the meanest thing intelligent That stands amenable to the Great King Eternal, Uncreated, Infinite, Whose word so sure is our security Of future blessedness ; whose righteousness Is pledged to righteous, holy beings, but Is also pledged to- punish those who sin. ■)!•->■ CANTO THIRD. ai m They sang, and watch'd to see the Ministers Of God's unsparing vengeance move direct Upon that guilty world and guilty man To banish to the penal provinces Of Heaven's vast empire. Now the voice supreme Of God the Father in mild majesty Sounds solemnly upon the Angelic thrcMig : One instant, and tho millions infinite Of Heaven's inhabitants are bending low Upon the golden streets and in the towers And terraces of glory unreveal'd ; And every wing, with glittering plumage clad, Is clasped across their foreheads, while the voice Of the Omnipotent thus holds their ears : — ** Angels of Light and Spirits which my word Created holy, and have kept your first And holy state ! R ight have ye sung the praise Of Justice and of Holiness and Truth, And right your songs apply the precepts just To Man's lost state ; and well ye've sung the wrath Of this right hand provok'd and thundering ^^ . Upon that guilty world of creatures stain'd And tainted in their great progenitor. H 62 NIAOAllA FALL9. But other counsels, heretofore unnamed In Heaven, shall move our policy towards This new-found province of our vast domains. My law, which cannot pass transgression by, Shall be upheld, yea, honoured, magnified ; And Meii — these guilty men your songs have doom'dt And justly doomed, to lie beneath the stroke Of this right hand eternally provoked And unappeased throughout Eternity By millions dying in a living death For one offence committed by their sire- — For them Pve found a Ransom, for I give % -, ? f » My only Son, the image most express . Of Glory Infinite ; on Him shall fall My wrath, and not on Man. The stroke, most just^ Shall fall on One more able to bear out The penalties v;hich Justice arm'd demands." He said ; aiJ. paused not long, when, from the cloud Which veils eternally the Godhead Three, The voice of filial Deity, with calm And love-responding accents, thus replies :— *• My Father, lo I come ! — to do thy will I take delight, and from this throne on which Eternally Pve sat by heritage I will descend a season. And from songs CANTO THIRD. 83 Of saintly Seraphs and of Angels bright, And lyres of everlasting melody, I will descend a season, and put on The garb of manhood and obey thy law, And work out righteousness complete, unstainM, In place of Man, and bear thy wrath provoked Against this race, and let thy justice fall With fullest weight upon my head, — and let Thy Law's most rigorous demands be paid Without the least remission ; only save All those of human race who hear the sound Of this glad message and believe the same With living Faith, that for Repentance meet Brings forth the fruits of genuine piety From love to God, arising from this Faith In God's disinterested love to them. Those who reject this message I give up To the full weight of all those penalties Which thy unbending law demands, unsoothed, Unmitigated, and unsolaced by a hopv^ Of any future remedy throughout The shoreless ocean of Eternity." 1 1' ll Ite said ; and, while he spoke, the seraph-plumes Which veil'd their saintly faces prostrated Were often waved as strong emotion moved The millions infinite who audience gave To the love-mandates of the Deity ; 84 NIAGARA yALLS. And, when he ceased, Heaven's tuneful bands immense Sprung all at once erect, and to the harps And lyres of everlasting melody Added new chords and wires of sound unstrain'd Before in Heaven, and for p. space gave twangs Of jarring notes discordant as they toned Anew the eternal instruments of song To melody of depth unheard before : And thus Heaven's concave, echoing, resounds ; — CANTO THIRD. 86 HYMN ON MAN^S SALVATION. Ye everlasting Lyres, with added chords And wires of melody untuned till now, Sing praise to God Jehovah, and let themes Of various song cease through the vast, vast realms Where love and holiness forever dwell ! Let every song but this be set aside, And sing the awful mystery sublime Of Man's Salvation and Redemption wrought By substitution of the innocent Eternally-begotten Son of God. O flame of love unquenchable, which braves • The terrors of the Arm Omni[)otent Provoked with justice, with vindictive tire ArmM 'gainst a world of enemies to God ! Thou r v/ful organ of Eternity, Peal forth in strains more solemn than e'er heard By oldest of the sons, the tuneful sons Of glory, and give praise to God with tones Of deep solemnity unheard before ! Sing praises to the terrors of that Law » Which cannot quit its grasp on God's own Son, Though in Himself most innocent and jpure, 86 NIAGARA PALLS. And thinks not robbery to sit here supreme, In glory of his Godhead Infinite, Upon the throne of everlasting state : Yvit, standing in the room of guilty Man, He for a season lays aside his crown, And from the highest seat of glory goes Down to the abodes of sin-stain'd creatures vile, To save them from the Father's wrath, and bring Millions of beauteous creatures to the realms Of everlasting life and love and joy. Sing praise of Justice, and sing Mercy's praise ! Sing Holiness and Truth, with Wisdom joined ! Sing Love unquenchable to guilty Man I Sing Hate unchangeabio to sin's vile stains ! Sing the strict Law which never can remit ' ' 1 The penalties for least transgression done ! ' Which thus condemns a world for single act, And thus holds fast the Son immaculate Of God when He stands in the sinner's place. Sing Mercy whioa thus pours its plenteous streams Upon a world of enemies ! and thuu Mercy and Truth with open arms embrace, And Peace and Righteousness forever smile And kiss each other in this wondrous plan, , ,' Which shows \ ohue God's everlasting hate Of smallest sinn, but showL lis love the while To worlds of smners by this act severe Of justice, and this generous giving up His only Son to die for guilty Men. CANTO THIRD. 87 Sing, welcome millions of immortal men Redeemed from peoples, kindreds, tongues, thro'out The earth ! Sing welcome to the realms of love. To songs of boundless love, to endless songs With love-enraptured tones melodious. Which cease not day and night around the throne — Messiah's throne of glory evermore ! To Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God Three One, and One in Three, for ever praise And glory everlastingly returned From worlds unending through Eternity, For evermore we'll sing. Amen ! Amen ! it^ 88 NIAGARA FALLS. Thus was the Fall of Man a foul, uncouth, Abrupt declension in the glorious march Of Providence, which made the streams to bend — The copious streams of Love divine to turn. . But as Niagara's Cataract sublime, When viewM too near, is dangerous, and seems A rough, uncouth, and violent descent, — Yet view'd connectively with scenes around, It sheds a grandeur on the landscape's face Peculiar ; so the Moral Fall of Man From height sublime of holiness unstain'd. And happiness which flow'd in limpid stream Exhaustless from the Fount of Life, and pure. Without admixture of the least alloy ; — The Fall of Man when viewM too near, or viewM Apart from other things reveal'd throughout The glorious Revelation God hath given. Presents a fearful picture of the state In which we stand, and fearfully presents. In moral grandeur thrillingly sublime, The strictness of the unbending laws of God, Which, for the eating of an apple, dooms UnnumberM millions to eternal death. Yet view'd as giving rise to the great scheme Of Man's Redemption by the sacrifice CANTO tHIRD. 89 Of God's own Son, who, rather than let go A single small, small province of his vast And rich domains, descends in humble garb Of manhood, and with voice beseechingly Entreats his rebel subjects to return And build their hopes of pardon on His blood ; And for Man's sake, and for God's law which Man Had rashly broken, and could never mend, Endures the Father's curse and braves the storm Which threaten'd on our guilty heads to burst, And leave us deluged everlastingly Below the surges of a sea of wrath. It brings to light new glories, and it pours A fresh, sublime, and awful radiance o'er The character of God ; and, while it gives A sure foundation for a sinner's hope. It also gives him fearfully to see The deadliness of sin, which took no less - ' Than blood Divine to wash its stains away. .^■d- r . s 3 • ' ■■ if 96 NIAGARA PALLB. ; . ' -A Again the Lyre-strings ring with numbers rude : From the soft strains of moral wonders grand It pours abrupt back to Niagara's pitch, Which chimes with notes commingling with the storms Of Winter, which have clad surrounding plains '^*^ And slopes, and scenes around, in livery white. The Cataract descends spite of the frosts ^U Which now have seized and bound th' adjacent streams ; The ice in pieces large descends the steep And dire abrupt and awful pitch sublime, And floating 'neath the mist which still surrounds The fell concussion of descending streams : Emerging irom the mist it floats again Adown Niagara's noble course till caught In somf rjear winding sinuosities Of the steep banks which long have bound the flow Exhaustless of Niagara's winding waves. The boiling gulf, o'ersheeted, partly hid By a huge bridge of ice in pieces join'd By frost cemented, forms a wintry way Both rough and dangerous to the opponent shores. Below the perilous tower the icicles Hang down and point quite perpendicular To the rough waves below, which still breathe forth CANTO THIRD. 91 ind the flow Ascending mists which veil the Cataract, And with perpetual moisture hathe the slopes, Which frozen o'er by the keen air which now Attends the march of Winter's wasteful train, And makes the paths around unsafely smooth : — And now with wary steps we must survey The white-robed grandeurs of Niagara Falls. The shelving basements of the 1 am-Girt Isle Have caught in heaps the snow ich lately fell, And a huge mount of which has ered close Before the further ^eet, and hides its fall Upon the boiling mass of foam immense. ,, Upon the upper floods the ice-blocks borne With rapid force and floated to the edge, And thence precipitated o'er the Falls, , / fj ^ Unseen among the foam they plunge and sink, : But soon re-float among the fallen spray, . . r And then move on with slow and winding march .' To join the arrested mass which lies across - i The waves conceal'd, which still pursue their course Below the frozen bridge, and wind away To blue Ontario and the dangerous Main. ;■ Far out upon the upper floods is seen A solitary rock which stands unmoved ..jr Among the rushing waves above the pitch : It stands alone, but firmly bears the shock Of currents rude, which crowd continuously And press its solid sides with ruthless force. It never was approach'd by human tread— .vr ^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // -^ 1.0 I.I 11.25 ■ii Hi |2.2 - li us U 11.6 ^ <55l ^ ^ /. »^ 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation ^.y "^ v <«^ ■4 33 WIST MAIN STMIT WnSTU.N.Y. MStO (716) •72-4 JOS '^ '«*)'■ 92 NIAGARA FAtLS. The waves from age to age are rushing past, And guard its sacred precincts awfully, And loudly roar around before they plunge. Niagaj'a's awful song with cadence wild O'ertones the rudeness of the wintry winds, Which play among the cedars on the slopes, And on the isles, and o'er surrounding heights. The snow-flake streams descend upon the scene. And aid the darkness of ascending mists Which tower aloft and kiss the lilac clouds, And bear Niagara's incense to the sky. But now the Evening draws her curtains round. And we must leave these dangerous ice-bound slopes And home to muse upon this wondrous scene ; Our steps retrace the Field of Lundy's Lane, , Where sleep the heroes of the i*ge by-gone. How varied are the changes which are ix>ured Upon this varied world! How well-attuned Is Nature's organ ! Now the Evening breeze Sings soothingly the snowy storm to rest. With cadence mild it plays upon the wires . Of silver'd branchlets, and the sky grows cleai*. ; It mitigates the rigours of the storm, And Evening paints the partly-clouded vault ^ With beautiful vermilion as the Sun Has gain'd his chambers in the glorious West. And can Man dare to doubt this vision grand Of Nature's glorious harmonies sublime ? Or throw away the moral lessons taught CANTO THIAD. id, lopes By ever-moving miracles of power — Of power exhaustless which thus guides the wheels Of Nature in a march so sublime round His doubting eye-balls ? or enthrone weak chance Upon a scene so glorious as this ? His fond imagination paints, 'tis true, A miracle far greater, for he sees Effects without a cause — the elements Of Nature tamed to harmony, and made To move with regularity exact By what his fancy justly deems the while Suppler than air and feebler than a fly ! O Thou whose Spirit, speaks in every breeze, Whose breath invigorates the rolling spheres, Whose pencil paints the ever-changing hues Of Nature's vestments ! — Write upon my soul, In *' rosy characters of love," Thy name. And lull my warring passions into rest. If Fancy wander o'er the endless wastes Of wild imagination, where the tracts Of thought bewilder and confuse the brain. Let the soft image of a God enthroned In boundless love beam on my straying thoughts, And give me peace of mind and pillow'd faith Securely resting on that Word which call'd The light from darkness, and illum'd the heavens With the bright Lamp of Day, and bade the mild And crescent Moon with spangles bright betrain'd Peep through the black robes of the solemn night I 94 NIAOAEA FAlitiB. Let consecrated thoughts of Love Supreme ,,;) And Power that walks upon the whirlwind's crest« s And regulates the ravings of the storm. Fill up my fancy and shut out the fears ■ ]() Of superstition wild, or dark despair ; And ever let me watch and shun the shoals Where lie the wretched wrecks of blasted minds Who dared to deify that phantom strange That bars Divinity from human thoughts ! " A God there is !" the howling blasts proclaim : Hear it, ye Nations, and adore that Power That fiercely rides upon the troubled deep ,^ ., And marks the bounds of Ocean's sentry-march Along the winding shores, with tides each day. He passes not his bounds ; but though the storm Howls fiercely o'er its ridges, still it hears The voice of God say, ** Hitherto thou shalt, .' But farther than thy destined bounds go not." The obedient sea retires, nor sends a wave ,. Across the line prescribed, but quick returns Back to his caverns in the boundless deep. ** A God there is" the rising solar beam That falls upon the Ocean's mirror vast Proclaims each morning — solemnly proclaims - And wakes a slu iring world, and calls our thoughts From airy visioi.o of the curtain'd glooms ,.,;/. jy Of night's repose, and regularly calls . .y jjv«} To sterner duties of the restless day. . f iq Look on yon varied tints ! ye Sceptics, look I— : i;r U •/; r ■ f CANTO THIRD. 95 &im: '■■'it A ^ iir. m It Y |ought8 ■• )0 I. Could sightless Chance paint so exact the lines And shaded colours nice which serve to show So exquisite the elemental folds Of heaven's habiliments % Could Chance direct With certainty the stream of solar light, And heat that re-creates and re*illumes Each morn the darken'd world, and pours around Life's quickening essence on the sprinkled locks Of Nature's beauty, and enthrones in smiles The wakening glance of Earth's extending scenes t Ten thousand varied voices ever cry, — And had not moral deafness seized his brain. The Sceptic, too, would hear the lovely tones Of Nature's organ, and believe in God. O what a direful sight of moral woe And pestilential poison, dark as Death's Untomb'd and putrid loathsomeness, revolts My sicken'd senses when I'm doom'd to see The serpent Infidel with fiendish glare Pour out his venom-stream upon the shoots. The infant shoots of warm immortal life That withering lie beneath its deadening power ! Yes, I have seen the Sceptic, and I've tried To burn his venom with the vials full Of God's vindictive wrath ; I've tried the power Of Mercy's love-notes, and with reason calm I've vainly tried to antidote the spell Of his mysterious venom as it wrought Upon himself with fearful throes which sent * 96 NIAGARA FALLS. Around his dragon-breath upon the place Where he long lived. Like Upas, forth he threw Incessant streams of poison'd atmosphere ; But, much unlike the Upas, he was fear'd By few, for a delusive kindliness Play'd on his lips. With jesting sly he wrought And twisted doubts on souls of heedless youth, And flatter'd when he chain'd them down for Hell. He argued not, but jested at the Cross — O hideous blasphemy of blasphemies ! My memory be still : paint now no more. p 1 N 1 e. I ' » » # ■ ?i '■}{'''' Air That] OfEa Was c In bril Todr] Which Of the Of mo Thebi Welcoi Of stol Baiz As, str( To the All fori Of Ottj Of broa From o Bute With a Betwee] A small And, in Reflects Betw< Two str The one Divides 7he oth THE BEREAVED FATHER: A POEM. Autumnal Heavens, with placid looks of loye. That morn smiled down upon the new-shorn locks Of Earth's exuberant plenty ; and the air Was cool, and clear, and bracing ; and the Sun, In brilliant beauty, climb'd from out the East, To dry the dew-cfrops from the lingering flowers, Which, with wild loveliness still deck'd the edge Of the Two Mountains' Lake, on which his beams Of morning rested. Beautifully still The bright reflective mass, in level smooth, Welcomed the eye, and with inverted curves Of stolen loveliness pictured the skies. Baizar's large Isle in harvest beauty smiled, As, stretching west, it form'd a southern shore To the still Lake. The smaller isles above All form and beautify innumerous forks Of Ottawa's flowing to the clear blue waves Of broad St. Lawrence, where the commerce wincb From out this continent to Europe's shores. But down the Lake is beauteous Jesu's Isle ; With a small islet by its upper point. Between Isle Bai^ar and the continent, A smaller Lake on lower level shines ; And, in responding mirror, day and night Reflects the ever-changing hues of heaven. Between this and Two Mountains' Lake there ruQ Two streamlets, between which the Islet stands ; The one circuitous from Jesus' Isle Divides it, and is shallow, almost dry. The other, short, but deep and rapid, falls i 9 98 THE BEREAVED FATHER. Upon a dangerous tournant, formed below The Islet, and disturbs the calm which else Pervades the surface of the little Lake ; And, close beside it on the continent, The Mill-wheel's clack invades the silence round. The *» Little Lake" is beautifully deck'd With many islets green, and verdant shores Encompass it around ; and here and there The '' maisonettes," and rural sheds a.Ad barns, Spread their wash'd shingles in the morning rays ; And down the Lake the tin-clad papal spires And roof,, both shining with a silvery glow, Surmount a Roman edifice of prayer. Two Mountains' Lake in mirror purity Shines, and the Mountains conical are seen , , Pointing to heaven and pictured on the Lake, ., With Indian villages around their base. The wood-raft fields of forest spoils afar, Floating adown upon a lovely bay, . .: . Are there unbound and broke in smaller cribs j To pass 'tween Baizar's rocks and Jesu's Isle. ^ • A dangerous, angry rapid, o'er a rock. Called the " White Horse," demands the pilot's skill ; And human lives are often sacrificed To float the timber down the dangerous foam. The forest crowds around in livery green, And shades the margin of the Lakes and streams ; St. Eustache, beauteous village, near the spires Of shining tin, peeps through the wood's green robes Varied irregularly and overlooked By tallest " tamaracs," with branches short And rudely formed. The opening day draws forth The fragrance of the woodland flowers, and culls From various plants, and scents the groves anew, As the sun walks the azure vault on high. ♦r ■f '-i A POEM. 00 Could sorrow rise in such a scene as this, Where rural loveliness seems deck'd for joy Alone, and the blithe bridal robes Of Nature's beauty court the ravish'd eyes Of those who meditate on Nature's God ? But Man is fallen, and sorrow Man attends, Even in the sweetest sublunary scenes ; And happiness secure, unmixt, and full, Is never to be found, till, past the gulf Of Death and on the Heavenly shore, The blest soul enters those abodes sublime Where sorrow cannot enter, and where tears Are wiped away and from their fountains dried. The aged Seigneur of St. Eustache, clothed In sorrow's black, with trembling steps surveys His carpenters constructing bridges o'er The streamlets, which we said flow'd down between Two Mountains' Lake and the small Lake which lies Between St. Eustache and the Jesus' Isle ; And waiting on his aged steps were seen Two lovely maids in weeds of sorrow clad, — Young, fresh, and blooming in that bl^ jant age When first the heart to Love's bewitching tones Wakes all its sympathies unfelt before. Two moons had not increased and waned away Since the sad scourge of Asia had consign'd Their aged mother to the sacred ground Near by the village-spires of shining tin. The aged Seigneur with his daughters fair Pass'd slowly down the Islet's woody shore ; With filial care they walked on either side. And propp'd his trembling steps till, 'neath the shade Of a tall tree, to rest he felt inclined. And sleep upon his eye-lids gathered fast ; I 100 THB BERBAVBD FATHER. And the young Ladies strollM about the banks Of the short, rapid streamlet sung before. The carpenters, who lodged about the mill, Had laid a plank across the torrent stream For their convenience 5 aijd the Ladies thought To cross it and inquire the family's health, And quick return to watch their reverend sire. The younger nimbly stepoed upon the plank. But, looking down upon the torrent wild, Was seized with dizziness and screamed and fell. And down the torrent floated helplessly ; Her sister shriek'd and ran into the stream, And tried to catch her ; but the current's force Soon threw her down, and hurried both with speed Into the dangerous ** tournant" on the Lake. Meanwhile the shrieks had brought the Miller out, Who saw them floating down the rapid fast ; But succour was in vain. The waters closed Above them both, and hemm'd them out from help Of man. ; The Father waked, and heard the noise Of many voices mingling with the din Of rippling rapids ; called his daughters' names, And slowly walk'd alone, untended now ; And soon he learn'd the sad and awful truth. His aged cheek grew pale — and down he sunk Upon the sod, and rose again and cried. And raved and leapt, in agony convulsed. Till from the scene insensible they bore And forced him ofi*. The boats were mann'd the while, And dragg'd the tournant o'er and o'er again. For two whole days the bodies were unfound. Till, cannon fired upon the waves, at length Both rose at once ; and O, how dismal now The Seigneur's home \ ;i