s if
there were fellowship with the mouldering clay. It is of no use to
argue against this--it is better perhaps to encourage the feelings,
and assist in their gratification. They refine the mind, they elevate
views, they meliorate passions and keep alive affections. Let the
resting-place of the dead be sanctified to all, it is the home of the
temple of God. It is the Moriah of the Christian dispensation.

I cannot leave Harrisburg at any season of the year, but especially in
the early part of Autumn, without seeking the shore of the Susquehanna
at sunset. All day long the river is beautiful, the quiet stream as it
goes shining down to the ocean is full of loveliness, and all upon it
or near it, partakes of its character. But it is exquisitely rich and
attractive near the close of the day. I went alone to enjoy the scene.
And placing myself upon the bold bank between the town and the river I
looked westward for the sight that had so often been enjoyed. It was
there; no change comes over such beauties; they are immortal, they are
without mutation. In the bosom of the broad river--glowing with the
golden beams of the retiring sun--sat the islands that break the unity
of the stream and augment its beauties. So rich, so full was the
sunlight upon the river, that these islands seemed to be floating in
the gorgeous light. Some shot out prominent angles into the water, and
presented salient points to break the uniformity, while others sat
swan-like down, their rounded edge touching the stream, as if they had
been dressed by art to present the perfection of symmetry; the dark
green of the shrubbery that sprung up in the moisture of the islands
was mingled with the golden hues of the sun, and here and there the
gentle current, by passing over some obstructing object, broke into a
ripple, that danced like liquid gold in the sunlight.

It was a rich and lovely sight, one to which frequency of enjoyment
can bring no satiety, and he who sits down to such a scene finds the
impressions of unfriendly association passing away--the resolutions of
revenge, which unprovoked rudeness excited, melting into the better
determinations of the heart--and all of bitterness and animosity which
unchastened pride encourages, are neutralized and lost in the deep
emotions of love which such a view of God's works and such a sense of
man's enjoyment necessarily promote.

I sat absorbed in the scene until the sun began to drop below the
hills, and the