102 THE HIVE OF THE BEE-HUNTER. 
farther ;” and but for this interposition of Divine power, 
here so signally displayed, the fair fields of the South 
would become mere sand-bars upon the shores of the 
Atlantic, and the country which might now support the 
world by its luxurious vegetation, would only bear the 
angry ocean wave. 
Suppose; for an instant, that a universal spring 
should beam upon our favored continent, and that the 
thousands of streams which are tributary to the Missis- 
sippi were to become at once unloosed: the mighty flood 
in its rushing course would destroy the heart of the 
northwestern continent. 
But mark the goodness and wisdom of Providence ! 
Early in the spring, the waters of the Ohio rise with its 
tributaries, and the Mississippi bears them off without 
injuriously overfiowing its banks. When summer sets in, 
its own head-waters about the lakes, and the swift Mis- 
souri, with its melting ice from the Rocky Mountains, 
come down; and thus each, in order, makes the Missis- 
sippi its outlet to the Gulf of Mexico. But were all 
these streams permitted to come together in their 
strength, what, again we ask, would save the Eden gar- 
dens of the South ? | 
In contemplations like these, carried out to their 
fullest extent, we may arrive at the character of this 
mighty river. It is in the thoughts wt suggests, and not 
in the breadth or length visible at any given point to 
the eye. Depending on the senses alone, we should 
