Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. III.djvu/412

Rh train convey her out into the wide world. The trees waved, and beckoned her on into the world; the clouds advanced before her, and she followed; and as one new object exchanged itself for another, her spirits grew lighter, and the whole tone of her mind improved. She could think more freely; life and everything assumed a brighter aspect. After a journey of merely a few days, she was able to return home to her parents with recovered self-possession, and peace of mind. And now—two years later—she was amazed at the amount of happiness which she was capable of enjoying.

“The time of silent sighs is past,” said Geijer, on one occasion. Ah! there is much yet wanted for that; but this is certain, that the facility there is for a change of scene, for the receiving of new impressions, and the ease with which they are imparted, approximates this time. In a country where railroads and steamboats intersect the land in all directions, and enable people to fly through the world, there is no need for them to grow mouldy as it were, or to grow sour from sitting still.

August 20th.—Pity that these days of rest in this lovely home, among its kind inmates, are now drawing to a close. I have heartily enjoyed the glorious prospects, and the pomp of the sunsets which I have witnessed from my window. These lake districts are celebrated for their magnificent sunsets. Nor have I anywhere else seen such picturesque clouds, nor such splendid transitions of colour; there is in them a joyousness and a play of colour altogether unlike the soft and mild splendour of the sky of the south. The peculiar outline of the mountains is also very attractive to me, and Le lion couchant becomes apparently every day more animated. Lake Champlain has received its name from the brave and wise Frenchman, Champlain, who first discovered and then colonised this part of the country. Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont were, at the commencement, peopled from France; and have to