Sabbath Musings and Every-Day Scenes, by the Author of 'Souvenirs of a Summer in Germany'.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1839. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XI. THE RIVER LEE.--DEATH OF THE REV. HORACE TOWNSHEND. When the halo of old endeared association is flung over scenery whose beauty is in itself sufficient to rivet the gaze and extort the admiration of even the passing stranger, the charm is complete. I read this truth in every wave of yonder shining river, that rolls so musically by. Beautiful Lee! once more I am on thy banks! Once more my eyes revel in delight upon that lovely picture to which familiarity but seems to add fresh charms;--more fair, more precious now that for the hundredth time I gaze on thee, than when thy beauties charmed in days gone by, my childish imagination. Never since then have I beheld the stream I would compare with thee. The lordly Rhine, whose majestic banks, rocky and bare or clad with vines, are crowned with bold baronial towers;--the Elbe flanked with eternal forests, dark fir or gloomy pine;--the Meuse, rich and smiling in all its quiet loveliness;--the lonely Wye that murmurs on so tranquilly in the deep stillness and seclusion of its romantic shores;--the Churnet, winding and lingering, loth to quit the woods, and hills, and lovely vallies that skirt its varied course;--none are to me as thou, sweet Lee! Their beauties fascinate my taste, while admiration deeper than words can tell, fills my eye: --the homage of my heart is thine. No wonder I should love thee! Thy banks are dotted with the homes of cherished friends; amongst them is the hospitable roof of One dearer than all, deeply and fondly loved. Thy waters as they murmur by are fraught to me with other music than their own;--kind welcomes, old familiar tones, voices of love, sounds hallowed by affection. Each fairy bay, each curve and headland of thy well-known shores brings with it scenes of childhood, ...