190 WILD SCENES AND WILD HUNTERS. 



joyous bounds, overtake the objects of my desire. At other 

 times I was gladdened by the sight of my beloved family, 

 seated by their cheerful fire, and anticipating the delight 

 which they would experience on my return. The glorious 

 sun would rise, and as its first rays illuminated the earth, I 

 would cheer myself with the pleasing prospect of the happy 

 termination of my labors, and hear in fancy the praises which 

 kind friends would freely accord. Many times, indeed, have 

 such thoughts enlivened my spirits ; and now the task is 

 accomplished. In health and in sickness, in adversity and 

 prosperity, in summer and winter, amidst the cheers of friends 

 and the scowls of foes, I have depicted the Birds of America, 

 and studied their habits as . they roamed at large in their 

 peculiar haunts. 



That concluding passage is far nobler than " Vent, vidiy 

 vici!" as the simple expression of a proud triumphant con- 

 sciousness ; for, instead of the intense egotism which renders 

 that repulsive as it is celebrated, this is modest and severely 

 classic. What a day that was when he could say, " I find 

 my journeys all finished, my anxieties vanished, my mission 

 accomplished !" What a magnificent perspective could he 

 look back through, down the past, more glorious than all 

 royalties, than any heritage of earthly princes — and all his 

 own ! That day has now come in the fulness of time — and, 

 glorious old man, thy mission is indeed accomplished ! 



