Song Birds and Water Fowl 



This is not a disparagement of country life, but 

 one of its chief commendations. For, to se- 

 cure the healthy equipoise of human existence, 

 this lower vegetative element of our nature 

 cannot be ignored. Nothing is better for the 

 soul than periodically to go where, for awhile, 

 one can be "of the earth, earthy; " and Lake 

 George can be commended as a delightful and 

 economical spot in which to make the experi- 

 ment. 



But the foregoing is only the lower, earth- 

 ward side of rustication in such a region as this. 

 On the borders of this ever-changeful lake, that 

 gives a quick and fleeting transcript of all the 

 varying moods of earth and sky, and in this 

 noble amphitheatre of everlasting hills, whose 

 loftiness, solidity, and dignified repose are an 

 unobtrusive, and yet grave, rebuke to all the 

 transient, petty, fretful views and aims of the 

 immortal beings crawling at their base; with 

 numerous running brooks along the mountain 

 sides, breaking, but not marring, the country 

 silence, congenial substitutes for books, the 

 pleasantest sort of summer reading — in such 

 surroundings one may find ample diet for imag- 

 ination, and the choicest wine of inspiration, 

 to promote the growth of his higher powers, 



