romantic experience, in which the youth wh6 h&,d wandered 

 no farther than to MontgCmery Academy and to the top 

 of the South Beacon,— the .highest hill of the Fishkill. 

 raiige,— had so deeply read of scenes and a life that suited 

 him, was closed forever. , 



Little record is left of these years of application, ■ of 

 work, and study. The • Fishkill hills and the broad river, 

 in whose presence he had .always lived, arid the quiet 

 country around Newburgli, which he had so thoroughly ex- 

 plored, began to claim some visible token of their influence. 

 It is pleasant t6 know that his fest literary works w^re re- 

 cognitions of their charms. It shows the intellectual integ- 

 rity of the man that, despite glowing hopes and restless 

 ambition for oth,ei: things, his first essay was written from 

 his experience ; it was a description of the " Danskamer," 

 or Devil's Dancing-G-found — a point on the Hudson, 

 seven miles above Newbiirgh — ^published in the New- Tort 

 Mirror, A description of Beacon Hill followed. 



He wrote, then, a discijssioii of novel-reading, and some, 

 botanical papers, which were published in a Boston journal: 

 Whether he was discouraged by ■ the ill ^success ,of these ' 

 attempts, or perceived that he was not yet sulficient mas- 

 ter of his resources to present them properly to the public, 

 does not a,ppear, but he published nothing moreifor several 

 years. Perhaps he knew that upon the subjects tp whicli- his 

 natural tastes directed his studies,^ nothing but experience 

 .spoke witb. authority. Whatever the reason of his silence, 

 however, he worked on unyieldingly, studying, proving,, 

 succeeding ; finding time, also, to read the poets a-nd the 

 philosophers, and to gain, that familiarity with elegant 

 Kterature which always- graced his own composition. Of 

 this period of his life, little record, but /great results, 

 rerttain. With his pen, and books, and microscope, in the 



