20 THE HARMONIES OF NATURE. 



half their charms if the breeze had no power to awaken their 

 dormant melodies. The picturesque beauty of the murmuring 

 brook, of the bubbling source, of the river bounding over its 

 rocky bed, or of the foaming cataract, is wonderfully enhanced 

 by the grace or sublimity of their peculiar music, and even the 

 ocean would be far less majestic if he had not voices harmonising 

 with all his humours, now gently rustling over the pebbles of 

 the sunny beach, now frantically raving against the rock-bound 

 coast. 



Thus, through our ear and through our eye, the transparent 

 sound-bearing atmosphere holds sweet communion with our 

 soul, and opens to its contemplation the portals of another 

 world. 



