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270 never disturbed by the axe, save to prune their luxuriance. On its margin, and partially sustained by the trunk of a strong oak that bent over the water, a rustic recess with two or three seats, called the Hermitage, had been constructed. It was approached by a kind of wilderness path through the lower grounds, and, so far from vindicating the propriety of its name, was said to be the spot where many of the courtships of the city were negotiated, under the auspices of Luna. An adjoining eminence was crowned by a summer house, on whose vane, which was in the form of an arm and hand, with a pointing finger, was the classic inscription, "Ut ventus vita"—our life is as the wind. Garden-seats were placed in different positions, so as admirably to reveal the charms of nature and art which were here combined—the velvet lawn, the turrets of the neighboring college, the stream that at one point exhibited a slight cascade, and at another seemed to have a lake-like termination, neither of which gave the slightest indication of the torrent-fury of which it was once in a year capable, when, swollen and disturbed by the attrition of the dissolving spring-ices, it rushed onward like a maniac. The trees which were scattered here and there seemed instinct with the spirit of grace; and methought I had never beheld such enchanting moonlights as fell through their chequering branches.

The iron horse has since tramped over those