18 SALMONIA. 



country, nourishing only the uncultivated 

 tree or flower by its dew or spray. In this, its 

 state of infancy and youth, it may be com- 

 pared to the human mind in which fancy and 

 strength of imagination are predominant 

 it is more beautiful than useful. When the 

 different rills or torrents join, and descend 

 into the plain, it becomes slow and stately in 

 its motions ; it is applied to move machinery, 

 to irrigate meadows, and to bear upon its 

 bosom the stately barge; in this mature 

 state, it is deep, strong, and useful. As it 

 flows on towards the sea, it loses its force 

 and its motion, and at last, as it were, be- 

 comes lost and mingled with the mighty 

 abyss of waters. 



HAL. One might pursue the metaphor 

 still further, and say, that in its origin its 

 thundering and foam, when it carries down 

 clay from the bank, and becomes impure, it 

 resembles the youthful mind, affected by 

 dangerous passions. And the influence of 

 a lake, in calming and clearing the turbid 

 water, may be compared to the effect of rea- 

 son in more mature life, when the calm, 



