Page images
PDF
EPUB

to a white man's house at Albany, and ask for victuals and drink, they say, Where is your money? and if I have none, they say, Get out you Indian dog. You see they have not learned those little good things which we need no meetings to be instructed in, because our mothers taught them to us when we were children; and therefore it is impossible their meetings should be, as they say, for any such purpose, or have any such effect; they are only to contrive the cheating of Indians in the price of beaver.”

AN ALLEGORICAL DREAM.

In a dream I thought myself in a solitary temple. I saw a kind of phantom coming towards me, but as he drew near his form expanded and became more than human; his robe hung majestically down to his feet; six wings, whiter than snow, whose extremities were edged with gold, covered a part of his body: then I saw him quit his material substance, which he had put on to avoid terrifying me; his body was of all the colours in the rainbow. He took me by the hair, and I was sensible I was travelling in the ætherial plains without any dread, with the rapidity of an arrow sent from a bow, drawn by a supple and nervous arm. A thousand glowing orbs rolled beneath me: but I could only cast a rapid glance on all those globes distinguished by the striking colours with barbarians, the Greeks celebrated the Scythians for it. The Saracens possessed it eminently; and it is to this day the reigning virtue of the wild Arabs. St. Paul, too, in the relation of his voyage and shipwreck, on the island of Melita, says, "The barbarous people shewed us no little kindness; for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold,"

[ocr errors]

which they were diversified. I now suddenly perceived so beautiful, so flourishing, so fertile a country, that I conceived a strong desire to alight upon it. My wishes were instantly gratified; I felt myself gently landed on it's surface, where I was surrounded by a balmy atmosphere. I found myself reposed at the dawn, upon the soft verdant grass. I stretched out my arms, in token of gratitude, to my celestial guide, who pointed to a resplendent sun, towards which swiftly rising, he disappeared in the luminous body. self to be transported to the garden of Eden. Every thing inspired my soul with soft tranquillity. The most profound peace covered this new globe; nature was here ravishing and incorruptible, and a delicious freshness expanded my sense to ecstasy; a sweet odour accompanied the air I breathed; my heart, which beat with an unusual power, was immerged in a sea of rapture; while pleasure, like a pure and immortal light, penetrated the inmost recesses of my soul. The inhabitants of this happy country came to meet me; and, after saluting me, they took me by the hand. Their noble countenances inspired confidence and respect; innocence and happiness were depicted in their looks; they often lifted their eyes towards heaven, and as often uttered a name which I afterwards knew to be that of the Eternal, while their cheeks were moistened with tears of gratitude. I experienced great emotion while I conversed with these sublime beings. They poured out their hearts with the most sincere tenderness; and the voice of reason, most majestic, and no less melting, was at the same time conveyed to my enraptured ear.

I arose, and imagined my

I soon perceived that this abode was totally different

from that which I had left. A divine impulse made me fly into their arms ;—I bowed my knees to them; but being raised up in the most endearing manner, I was pressed to the bosoms which inclosed such excellent hearts, and I conceived a presentiment of celestial amity, of that amity which united their souls, and formed the greatest portion of their felicity. The angel of darkness, with all his artifice, was never able to discover the entrance into this world!-notwithstanding his ever-watchful malice, he never found out the means to spread his poison over this happy globe. Anger, envy, and pride, were there unknown; the happiness of one appeared the happiness of all! an ecstatic transport incessantly elevating their souls at the sight of the magnificent and bountiful hand which collected over their heads the most astonishing prodigies of the creation.

The lovely Morning, with her humid saffron wings, distilled the pearly dew from the shrubs and flowers, and the rays of the rising sun multiplied the most enchanting colours, when I perceived a wood embellished by the opening dawn. The youth of both sexes there sent forth hymns of adoration towards heaven; and were filled at the same time with the grandeur and majesty of God, which rolled almost visibly over their heads; for in this world of innocence, he vouchsafed to manifest himself by means unknown to our weak understandings. All things announced his august presence, the serenity of the air, the dyes of the flowers, the brilliancy of the insects, a kind of universal sensibility spread over all beings, whose vivified bodies seemed entirely susceptible of it. Every thing bore the appearance of sentiment; and the birds stopped in the

midst of their flight, as if attentive to the affecting modulations of their voices. But no pencil can express the ravishing countenance of the young beauties, whose bosoms breathed love. Who can describe that love of which we have not any idea, that love for which we have no name, that love, the lot of pure intelligent beings, divine love, which they only can conceive and feel; the tongue of man, incapable, must be silent! The remembrance of this enchanting place suspends at this moment all the faculties of my soul. The sun was risingthe pencil falls from my hand. O Thomson, never did thy muse view such a sun! What a world, and what magnificent order! I trod, with regret, on the flowery plants, endued, like that we call sensitive, with a quick and lively feeling; they bent under my foot, only to rise with more brilliancy: the fruit gently dropped, on the first touch the complying branch, and had scarcely grated the palate when the delicious sensation of its ices was felt glowing in every vein; the eye, more piercing, sparkled with uncommon lustre; the ear was more lively; the heart, which expanded itself over all nature, seemed to possess and enjoy it's fertile extent: the universal enjoyment did not disturb any individual; for union multiplied their delights, and they esteemed themselves less happy in their own fruition than in the happiness of others. This sun did not resemble the comparative paleness and weakness which illuminates our gloomy terrestrial prison; yet the eye could bear to gaze on it, and, in a manner, plunge itself in a kind of ecstasy in it's mild and pure light; it enlivened at once the sight and the understanding, and even penetrated the soul. The bodies

of those fortunate persons became, as it were, transparent; while each read in his brother's heart the sentiments of affability and tenderness with which himself was affected. There darted from the

leaves of all the shrubs which the planet enlightened, a luminous matter, which resembled, at a distance, all the colours of the rainbow; it's orb, which was never eclipsed, was crowned with such sparkling rays that the daring prism of Newton could not divide. When this planet set, six brilliant moons floated in the atmosphere; their progression in different orbits, each night formed a new exhibition. The multitude of stars, which seem to us as if scattered by chance, were here seen in their true point of view, and the order of the universe appeared in all it's pomp and splendour.

In this happy country, when a man gave way to sleep, his body, which had none of the properties of terrestrial elements, gave no opposition to the soul, but contemplated in a vision, bordering on reality, the lucid region, the throne of the Eternal, to which it was soon to be elevated. Men awaked from a light slumber without perturbation or uneasiness; enjoying futurity by a forcible sentiment of immortality, being intoxicated with the image of an approaching felicity, exceeding that which they already enjoyed. Grief, the fatal result of the imperfect sensibility of our rude frames, was unknown to these innocent men; a light sensation warned them of the objects which could hurt them; and nature removed them from the danger, as a tender mother would gently draw her child by the hand from a pitfall. I breathed more freely in this habitation of joy and concord; my existence became most valuable to me; but in proportion as the charms which sur

« PreviousContinue »