forth by the moral and religious movements of the day. His poetry is characterized by energy of expression, and a generous tone of feeling. The following poem was written for the celebration of the anniversary of the Pilgrim Society of Plymouth, in December, 1824.]

1 THE Pilgrim Fathers—where are they?
The waves that brought them o'er
Still roll in the bay, and throw their spray,
As they break along the shore;

Still roll in the bay, as they rolled that day,
When the Mayflower.moored below,
When the sea around was black with storms,
And white the shore with snow.

2 The mists, that wrapped the Pilgrim's sleep,
Still brood upon the tide;

And the rocks yet keep their watch by the deep,
To stay its waves of pride.
But the snow-white sail, that he gave to the gale,
When the heavens looked dark, is gone; -

As an angel's wing, through an opening cloud,
Is seen, and then withdrawn.

The hill, whose icy brow

Rejoiced, when he came, in the morning's flame,
In the morning's flame burns now.

And the moon's cold light, as it lay that night
On the hill-side and the sea,

Still lies where he laid his houseless head;
But the Pilgrim — where is he?

4 The Pilgrim Fathers are at rest:

When Summer 's throned on high,

And the world's warm breast is in verdure dressed,

Go, stand on the hill where they lie.

The earliest ray of the golden day

On that hallowed spot is cast;

And the evening sun, as he leaves the world,
Looks kindly on that spot last.

5 The Pilgrim spirit has not fled:

It walks in noon's broad light;

And it watches the bed of the glorious dead,
With the holy stars, by night.

It watches the bed of the brave who have bled,
And shall guard this ice-bound shore,

Till the waves of the bay, where the Mayflower lay,
Shall foam and freeze no more.

THE GOOD GREAT MAN.

COLERIDGE.*

How seldom, friend, a good great man inherits
Honor or wealth, with all his worth and pains!
It sounds like stories from the land of spirits,
If any man obtain that which he merits,

Or any merit that which he obtains.

For shame, dear friend; renounce this canting strain.
What wouldst thou have a good great man obtain ?
Place, titles, salary, a gilded chain —

Or throne of corses which his sword hath slain?
Greatness and goodness are not means, but ends.
Hath he not always treasures, always friends,

The good great man? three treasures — love and light, And calm thoughts, regular as infants' breath;

And three firm friends, more sure than day and nightHimself, his Maker, and the angel Death.

"See page 347 for biographical sketch.

XXXIII.

THE FALLS OF NIAGARA.

HOWISON..

From "Sketches of Upper Canada," by JOHN HOWISON, published in Edinburgh, in 1821.]

Now that I propose to attempt a description of the Falls of Niagara, I feel myself threatened with a return of those throbs of trembling expectation which agitated me on my first visit to those, stupendous cataracts; and to 5 which every person of the least sensibility is liable, when he is on the eve of seeing anything that has strongly excited his curiosity, or powerfully affected his imagination.

The form of Niagara Falls is that of an irregular semicircle, about three quarters of a mile in extent. This is di10 vided into two distinct cascades by the intervention of Goat Island, the extremity of which is perpendicular, and in a line with the precipice over which the water is projected. The cataract on the Canada side of the river is called the Horseshoe or Great Fall, from its peculiar form, and that 15 next the United States, the American Fall.

The Table Rock, from which the Falls of Niagara may

be contemplated in all their grandeur, lies on an exact level with the edge of the cataract on the Canada side, and, indeed, forms a part of the precipice over which the 20 water gushes. It derives its name from the circumstance of its projecting beyond the cliffs that support it, like the leaf of a table. To gain this position, it is necessary to descend a steep bank, and to follow a path that winds among shrubbery and trees, which entirely conceal from 25 the eye the scene that awaits him who traverses it.

When near the termination of this road, a few steps carried me beyond all these obstructions, and a magnificent amphitheatre of cataracts burst upon my view with appalling suddenness and majesty. However, in a mo30 ment the scene was concealed from my eyes by a dense

cloud of spray, which involved me so completely that I did

not dare to extricate myself. A mingled rushing and thundering filled my ears. I could see nothing except when the wind made a chasm in the spray, and then tremendous cataracts seemed to encompass me on every side; 5 while below, a raging and foamy gulf of undiscoverable extent lashed the rocks with its hissing waves, and swallowed, under a horrible obscurity, the smoking floods that were precipitated into its bosom.

At first the sky was obscured by clouds; but after a 10 few minutes the sun burst forth, and the breeze subsiding at the same time permitted the spray to ascend perpendicularly. A host of pyramidal clouds rose majestically, one after another, from the abyss at the bottom of the fall; and each, when it had ascended a little above the edge of 15 the cataract, displayed a beautiful rainbow, which in a few moments was gradually transferred into the bosom of the cloud that immediately succeeded. The spray of the Great Fall had extended itself through a wide space directly over me, and receiving the full influence of the sun, 20 exhibited a luminous and magnificent rainbow, which continued to overarch and irradiate the spot on which I stood. while I enthusiastically contemplated the indescribable

scene.

The body of water which composes the middle part of 25 the Great Fall is so immense that it descends nearly two

thirds of the space without being ruffled or broken; and the solemn calmness with which it rolls over the edge of the precipice is finely contrasted with the perturbed appearance it assumes after having reached the gulf below. 30 But the water towards each side of the fall is shattered the

35

moment it drops over the rock, and loses as it descends, in a great measure, the character of a fluid, being divided into pyramidal-shaped fragments, the bases of which are turned upwards.

The surface of the gulf below the cataract presents a very singular aspect; seeming, as it were filled with an

immense quantity of hoar frost, which is agitated by small and rapid undulations. The particles of water are dazzlingly white, and do not apparently unite together, as might be supposed, but seem to continue for a time in a 5 state of distinct comminution, and to repel each other with a thrilling and shivering motion which cannot easily be described.

The noise made by the Horseshoe Fall, though very great, is far less than might be expected, and varies in 10 loudness according to the state of the atmosphere. When the weather is clear and frosty, it may be distinctly heard at the distance of ten or twelve miles nay, much farther when there is a steady breeze; but I have frequently stood upon the declivity of the high bank that overlooks 15 the Table Rock, and distinguished a low thundering only, which at times was altogether drowned amid the roaring of the rapids above the cataract. In my opinion, the concave shape of the Great Fall explains this circumstance. The noise vibrates from one side of the rocky recess to the 20 other, and only a little escapes from its confinement; and even this is less distinctly heard than it would otherwise be, as the profusion of spray renders the air near the cataract a very indifferent conductor of sound.

The road to the bottom of the fall presents many more 25 difficulties than that which leads to the Table Rock. After leaving the Table Rock, the traveller must proceed down the river nearly half a mile, where he will come to a small chasm in the bank, in which there is a spiral staircase enclosed in a wooden building. By descending this stair, 30 which is seventy or eighty feet in perpendicular height, he will find himself under the precipice, on the top of which he formerly walked. A high but sloping bank extends from its base to the edge of the river; and on the summit of this there is a narrow, slippery path, covered with an35 gular fragments of rock, which leads to the Great Fall.

The impending cliffs, hung with a profusion of trees