TOUR IN THE UNITED STATES. 179 



and splendour, with colours as vivid as those of Turner's 

 pictures, or of the real sky. 



I came home at midday to dine, and then went back and 

 stayed on the same ground till sunset. I chose to call this 

 second visit going to evening service. To-morrow I shall have 

 more to see, so will adjourn, being now ready for bed, as I was 

 up so early. 



To Mrs. Harvey, Hyde Park, he writes next day as follows : — 

 " On my return from my first walk yesterday, I was delighted 

 to find your most welcome letter lying on the table, as grateful 

 as a new-laid egg after the six weeks of Lent. 



" What do I think of Niagara ? Well, it is a short question, 

 and may be shortly answered, for if I attempt a long reply I 

 should perhaps get puzzled, and you would get bored : so as 

 the Queen of Sheba said when she came, and saw, and heard 

 all the wisdom of Solomon, " Behold the half was not told me ;" 

 and like her, too, " There was no spirit left in me." It is the 

 one thing I have seen worthy of the vastness of this continent. 

 To speak of any other waterfall in the same breath with Niagara 

 is absurd. Some one told me that I should prefer Trenton. 

 There are a hundred falls as beautiful as Trenton, but where 

 will you find another Niagara ? Find me first another Shak- 

 speare. 



"I reached the Falls about half-past ten on Sunday morning, 

 and proceeded at once to Goat Island, where I spent the whole 

 day, with the exception of coming home to dinner. Don't tell 

 Mr. S — that I preferred the voice of the cataract to one of his 

 sermons. It was indeed a noble anthem, and brought vividly 

 to mind some of those fine passages from Handel, in the 

 choruses, taken from the Revelation, when a great multitude, 

 that no man can number, are introduced. I never heard the 

 Messiah performed, but we often have parts of it in our College 

 services, particularly those splendid choruses ; and now, as I 

 sat looking over the Falls, the whole scene, waters, sky, sunshine, 

 trees, and clouds, seemed to make up just such a chorus, 

 addressed to the outward senses, as the other is addressed to the 

 mind. 



" The day was superb, and the various rainbows on the glitter- 

 ing spray — seen from a number of points — were most vivid. 



n 2 



