71 



A storm, not an uncommon event in this region at that 

 season of the year, arose and shrouded the mountain in 

 thick darkness. He wandered from his way, and never 

 reached the point of his destination. The fact of his being 

 missed and the consequent uneasiness of his son and daugh- 

 ter were soon made known to the hardy sons of this region ; 

 who, touched with the genuine feelings of sympathy and 

 humanity so characteristic of all people whose dwellings 

 are in proximity to Nature's grandest and noblest works, 

 assembled speedily and in large numbers to begin the 

 work of search for him who was missing, and whose visits 

 to their mountain homes, and whose affability of manners, 

 simplicity of deportment and instructive conversation had 

 gained for him a sure lodgment in their respect and in their 

 hearts. It mav indicate the sava2:e wildness of the reo^ion 

 to state, that this search was continued for ten days dili- 

 gently but without success. At length, at the end of that 

 time, perseverance and diligence, animated by affection and 

 led by love, were rewarded by the discovery of the body. — 

 His manly, breathless form was discovered in a deep, clear 

 basin of water at the foot of a precipice forty feet high, from 

 which he had fallen in the darkness of the night, when none 

 but God was ni^h. His noble features were not disfio-ured 

 and not a bone of him was broken. M^iat a death, my 

 hearers ! probably without a pang — without consciousness 

 of pain or suffering ! In the mysterious appointment of 

 Heaven, his hour had come, and his transition from the 

 mortal to the immortal state, was as rapid as the ascent 

 of Elijah, by a "chariot and horses of fire. " We know 

 not of the communings held with his own heart, in the 

 loneliness of that last walk upon the mountains, while the 

 storm-cloud wrapped its folds of darkness around him, and 

 the hoarse thunder uttered its loud dirge to herald the 

 passage of his spirit from the cares and toils of a weary 

 world, to the rest and peace of the better land. Did in- 



