Of all the points in
which America has the advantage of England, the one I felt most
sensibly was the clearness and brightness of the atmosphere. By
day and by night this exquisite purity of air gives tenfold
beauty to every object. I could hardly believe the stars were
the same; the Great Bear looked like a constellation of suns; and
Jupiter justified all the fine things said of him in those
beautiful lines from I know not what spirited pen, beginning,
"I looked on thee, Jove! till my gaze
Shrunk, smote by the pow'r of thy blaze."
I always remarked that the first silver line of the moon's
crescent attracted the eye on the first day, in America, as
strongly as it does here on the third. I observed another
phenomenon in the crescent moon of that region, the cause of
which I less understood. That appearance which Shakespear
describes as "the new moon, with the old moon in her lap," and
which I have heard ingeniously explained as the effect of _earth
light_, was less visible there than here.
Cuyp's clearest landscapes have an atmosphere that approaches
nearer to that of America than any I remember on canvas; but even
Cuyp's _air_ cannot reach the lungs, and, therefore, can only
give an idea of half the enjoyment; for it makes itself felt as
well as seen, and is indeed a constant source of pleasure.
Our walks were, however, curtailed in several directions by my
old Cincinnati enemies, the pigs; immense droves of them were
continually arriving from the country by the road that led to
most of our favourite walks; they were often fed and lodged in
the prettiest valleys,and worse still, were slaughtered beside
the prettiest streams.
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