CASTLES AND RUINS. 8/ 



river, whose surface, like everything far and 

 near, was covered with a mantle that sparkled 

 in the sunlight. 



It has been often said with truth that all 

 that is needed by our river to make it as 

 picturesque as the Rhine or the Rhone, is his- 

 tory and its accompaniments. We have now the 

 green banks, the widened lakes, the narrow 

 channels, palisades, and highlands, as beauti- 

 ful and as romantic as theirs ; but they tell us 

 that we have no such castles and ruins. Still 

 we are making the attempt to equal them. 

 Greystone, for instance, represents a castle with 

 some effect. It has not the merit of ugliness 

 certainly, but from its commanding height it 

 is quite as desirable a structure to the eye as 

 if it had more of fancied architectural merit and 

 had been built a thousand years ago. We are 

 trying our 'prentice hand at ruins, too. Our 

 great landscape painter, Bierstadt, has offered 

 an unwilling contribution to such scenic effect. 

 A few miles above Greystone, perched upon a 

 high hill on the opposite side of the road, stood 

 his stately mansion. The fire has been more 

 powerful than his brush. It has made a picture 

 that can be seen for miles around, of lone 

 chimneys and blackened walls, such as the 



