18 SALM0NIA. 



country, nourishing only the uncultivated 

 tree or flower by its dew or spray. In this, its 

 state of infancy and youth, it may be com- 

 pared to the human mind in which fancy and 

 strength of imagination are predominant — 

 it is more beautiful than useful. When the 

 different rills or torrents join, and descend 

 into the plain, it becomes slow and stately in 

 its motions ; it is applied to move machinery, 

 to irrigate meadows, and to bear upon its 

 bosom the stately barge; — in this mature 

 state, it is deep, strong, and useful. As it 

 flows on towards the sea, it loses its force 

 and its motion, and at last, as it were, be- 

 comes lost and mingled with the mighty 

 abyss of waters. 



Hal. — One might pursue the metaphor 

 still further, and say, that in its origin — its 

 thundering and foam, when it carries down 

 clay from the bank, and becomes impure, it 

 resembles the youthful mind, affected by 

 dangerous passions. And the influence of 

 a lake, in calming and clearing the turbid 

 water, may be compared to the effect of rea- 

 son in more mature life, when the calm, 



