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Article DESCRIPTION OF THE SOURCE OF THE RHINE, ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Description Of The Source Of The Rhine,
scenes of carnage with which the ambition of monarchs has so often crimsoned its waters , but which then heard the songs of republican * triumph resounding along its distant banks . Happily these banks re-echo no longer the din of war , or the shout of victory ; the thunder of the confederated powers on the continent of Europe against the liberties of France is hushed ; and the fate of this confederacy , likethat of Roman greatnessso elegantly described by Montesquieu ,
, may be compared to the course of this river , which , swollen by auxiliary streams to a tremendous flood , sinks at length , a sedgy rivulet , into the boundless ocean . Alas ! so long has the iron storm of war raged around us , that the ear is become familiarized to its sounds , and the heart is grown callous to its desolation ! While the rest of Europe is safely sheltered from its furywhy are two nationsformed
, , for mutual esteem and admiration , still fated to brave its horrors , and remain the only votaries at its unhallowed shrine ? Ah ! when will peace , with all her meek-eyed beamy train , with all her blessed attributes , revisit the earth , and begin , once more , her holy , her universal empire ! The valley of the Rhinewhich is ten miles in length , from the
, foot of St . Bernardin to Splugen , is to . ) lofty for any other cultivation than that of pasturage ; on the one side , the rocks hung over the river clothed with woods ; on the other , the hills rose in successive lawns to the Glaciers ; and no scenes amidst the mountains we had traversed had presented a series of objects more mildly picttiresaue .
At Splugen this character of soft and placid beauty changes again to the wild and the majestic . This town is the principal depot of merchandize that passes from Germany and the Orisons into Italy ; arid ' is the place where the roads divide that lead to the Valteline and the Swiss Italian * Bailliwicks . At a little distance from Splugen , the piny forests which cover the mountains along the shadowy way , and ciimb up the lofty steepsdark
, , wild , and impenetrable , are half-leafless , and withered on the highest peaks ; as if vegetation had- been worsted in struggling with nature for existence . Here the . Rhine , which had hitherto rolled sometimes a placid , and always an even current , begins first to display its bold and daring character ; its waters now fall in one broad expanse over the ledge of rocks that cross the streamdown into the gulph ; then
, , rebounding from the abyss , glide , swift as li ght through the strei ghts of granite that open to admit their passage , or , where the rocks oppose their way , lift high their feathery surges , of which the great mass fall foaming into the depths beneath , and the rest are lostinair . As we descended the mountains into the valley of Schams , the savage perspective of the forests softened into graceful scenery .
Trees of milder climes diversify the prospect , among which the mountain-ash reddens the rocks , over which it throws its beautiful clusters of berries in lavish profusion . The valley of Schams , along which the Rhine winds a slow and gentle stream , amidst a number of scattered villages and hamlets , abodes of tranquil existence , presents a soft reposing- landscape , peculiarly soothing to the traveller , among
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Description Of The Source Of The Rhine,
scenes of carnage with which the ambition of monarchs has so often crimsoned its waters , but which then heard the songs of republican * triumph resounding along its distant banks . Happily these banks re-echo no longer the din of war , or the shout of victory ; the thunder of the confederated powers on the continent of Europe against the liberties of France is hushed ; and the fate of this confederacy , likethat of Roman greatnessso elegantly described by Montesquieu ,
, may be compared to the course of this river , which , swollen by auxiliary streams to a tremendous flood , sinks at length , a sedgy rivulet , into the boundless ocean . Alas ! so long has the iron storm of war raged around us , that the ear is become familiarized to its sounds , and the heart is grown callous to its desolation ! While the rest of Europe is safely sheltered from its furywhy are two nationsformed
, , for mutual esteem and admiration , still fated to brave its horrors , and remain the only votaries at its unhallowed shrine ? Ah ! when will peace , with all her meek-eyed beamy train , with all her blessed attributes , revisit the earth , and begin , once more , her holy , her universal empire ! The valley of the Rhinewhich is ten miles in length , from the
, foot of St . Bernardin to Splugen , is to . ) lofty for any other cultivation than that of pasturage ; on the one side , the rocks hung over the river clothed with woods ; on the other , the hills rose in successive lawns to the Glaciers ; and no scenes amidst the mountains we had traversed had presented a series of objects more mildly picttiresaue .
At Splugen this character of soft and placid beauty changes again to the wild and the majestic . This town is the principal depot of merchandize that passes from Germany and the Orisons into Italy ; arid ' is the place where the roads divide that lead to the Valteline and the Swiss Italian * Bailliwicks . At a little distance from Splugen , the piny forests which cover the mountains along the shadowy way , and ciimb up the lofty steepsdark
, , wild , and impenetrable , are half-leafless , and withered on the highest peaks ; as if vegetation had- been worsted in struggling with nature for existence . Here the . Rhine , which had hitherto rolled sometimes a placid , and always an even current , begins first to display its bold and daring character ; its waters now fall in one broad expanse over the ledge of rocks that cross the streamdown into the gulph ; then
, , rebounding from the abyss , glide , swift as li ght through the strei ghts of granite that open to admit their passage , or , where the rocks oppose their way , lift high their feathery surges , of which the great mass fall foaming into the depths beneath , and the rest are lostinair . As we descended the mountains into the valley of Schams , the savage perspective of the forests softened into graceful scenery .
Trees of milder climes diversify the prospect , among which the mountain-ash reddens the rocks , over which it throws its beautiful clusters of berries in lavish profusion . The valley of Schams , along which the Rhine winds a slow and gentle stream , amidst a number of scattered villages and hamlets , abodes of tranquil existence , presents a soft reposing- landscape , peculiarly soothing to the traveller , among