In one
particular, touching which we do not remember ever to have seen
anything said, we were actually astonished at the surpassing glory
of Niagara. It was the character of sweetness, if we can so express
it, that glowed over the entire aspect of the scene. We were less
struck with the grandeur of this cataract, than with its sublime
softness and gentleness. To water in agitation, use had so long
accustomed us, perhaps, as in some slight degree to lessen the
feeling of awe that is apt to come over the novice in such scenes;
but we at once felt ourselves attracted by the surpassing loveliness
of Niagara. The gulf below was more imposing than we had expected to
see it, but it was Italian in hue and softness, amid its wildness
and grandeur. Not a drop of the water that fell down that precipice
inspired terror; for everything appeared to us to be filled with
attraction and love. Like Italy itself, notwithstanding so much that
is grand and imposing, the character of softness, and the witchery
of the gentler properties, is the power we should ascribe to
Niagara, in preference to that of its majesty. We think this
feeling, too, is more general than is commonly supposed, for we find
those who dwell near the cataract playing around it, even to the
very verge of its greatest fall, with a species of affection, as if
they had the fullest confidence in its rolling waters.
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