traditions of the neighborhood. He recollected Rip at once, and corroborated his story in the most satisfactory manner. He assured the company that it was a fact, handed down from his ancestor the historian, that the Kaatskill Mountains had always been haunted by strange 5 beings. That it was affirmed that the great Hendrick Hudson, the first discoverer of the river and country, kept a kind of vigil there every twenty years, with his crew of the "Half-moon," being permitted in this way to revisit the scenes of his enterprise, and keep a guardian 10 eye upon the river and the great city called by his name. That his father had once seen them in their old Dutch dresses playing at ninepins in a hollow of the mountain; and that he, himself, had heard, one summer afternoon, the sound of their balls, like distant peals of thunder. 15 To make a long story short, the company broke up, and returned to the more important concerns of the election. Rip's daughter took him home to live with her; she had a snug, well-furnished house, and a stout cheery farmer for a husband, whom Rip recollected for one of the urchins 20 that used to climb upon his back. As to Rip's son and heir, who was the ditto of himself, seen leaning against the tree, he was employed to work on the farm, but evinced a hereditary disposition to attend to anything else but his business. Rip now resumed his old walks 25 and habits. He soon found many of his former cronies, though all rather the worse for the wear and tear of time; and so he preferred making friends among the rising generation, with whom he soon grew into great favor. . . . -Washington Irving. HYMN TO DIANA. Queen and huntress, chaste and fair, Now the sun is laid to sleep, State in wonted manner keep. Earth, let not thy envious shade Heaven to clear when day did close: Lay thy bow of pearl apart, And thy crystal shining quiver; Ben Jonson. Space to breathe, how short soever: FAME. Her house is all of Echo made Where never dies the sound; Her feet do strike the ground. - Ben Jonson. THE VISION OF MIRZAH. When I was at Grand Cairo I picked up several Oriental manuscripts, which I have still by me. Among others I met with one entitled, "The Vision of Mirzah," which I have read over with great pleasure. I intend to give it to the public when I have no other entertainment for them; and shall begin with the first vision, which I have translated word for word as follows: Joseph Addison. On the fifth day of the moon, which according to the custom of my forefathers I always keep holy, after having washed myself, and offered up my morn- 15 ing devotions, I ascended the high hills of Bagdat, in order to pass the rest of the day in meditation and prayer. As I was here airing myself on the tops of the mountains, I fell into a profound contemplation on the vanity of human life; and passing 20 from one thought to another, "Surely," said I, "man is but a shadow and life a dream." Whilst I was thus musing, I cast my eyes towards the summit of a rock that was not far from me, where I discovered one in the habit of a shepherd, with a little musical instrument in his hand. 25 As I looked upon him he applied it to his lips, and began to play upon it. The sound of it was exceeding sweet, 5 and wrought into a variety of tunes that were inexpressibly melodious, and altogether different from anything I had ever heard. They put me in mind of those heavenly airs that are played to the departed souls of good men upon their first arrival in Paradise, to wear out the impressions of the last agonies, and qualify them for the pleasures of that happy place. My heart melted away in secret raptures. I had been often told that the rock before me was the 10 haunt of a Genius; and that several had been entertained with music who had passed by it, but never heard that the musician had before made himself visible. When he had raised my thoughts by those transporting airs which he played, to taste the pleasures of his conversation, as 15 I looked upon him like one astonished, he beckoned to me, and by the waving of his hand directed me to approach the place where he sat. I drew near with that reverence which is due to a superior nature; and as my heart was entirely subdued by the captivating strains I 20 had heard, I fell down at his feet and wept. The Genius smiled upon me with a look of compassion and affability that familiarized him to my imagination, and at once dispelled all the fears and apprehensions with which I approached him. 25 35 He lifted me from the ground, and taking me by the hand, "Mirzah," said he, "I have heard thee in thy soliloquies; follow me." He then led me to the highest pinnacle of the rock, and placing me on the top of it, "Cast thy eyes eastward," 30 said he, "and tell me what thou seest." SCH. READ. VIII. 5 “I see,” said I, “a huge valley, and a prodigious tide of water rolling through it." "The valley that thou seest," said he, "is the Vale of Misery, and the tide of water that thou seest is part of the great Tide of Eternity." "What is the reason," said I, "that the tide I see rises out of a thick mist at one end, and again loses itself in a thick mist at the other?" 5 "What thou seest," said he, "is that portion of eternity which is called time, measured out by the sun, and reaching 10 from the beginning of the world to its consummation. Examine now," said he, "this sea that is bounded with darkness at both ends, and tell me what thou discoverest in it." "I see a bridge," said I, "standing in the midst of the tide." "The bridge thou seest," said he, “is human life; consider it attentively." 15 Upon a more leisurely survey of it, I found that it consisted of threescore and ten entire arches, with several broken arches, which, added to those that were entire, 20 made up the number about an hundred. As I was counting the arches, the Genius told me that this bridge consisted at first of a thousand arches; but that a great flood swept away the rest, and left the bridge in the ruinous condition I now beheld it. "But tell me further," said he, "what thou discoverest on it.” "I see multitudes of people passing over it," said I, "and a black cloud hanging on each end of it." 25 As I looked more attentively, I saw several of the pas- 30 |