the noblest
picture of all, the existence of a maturing civilization upon its banks.
Associated thus with an ever-present suggestion of a remarkable and
ever-forming antiquity, the Mississippi becomes indeed the wonder of
waters. Ponce de Leon, that most romantic of early Spanish explorers,
traversed the continent in search of a 'fountain of everlasting youth;'
the powerful republic of the West, has _found_ in the 'Father of Waters'
a fountain and a stream of everlasting, vigorous life, wealth, and
convenience.

SKETCHES OF AMERICAN LIFE AND SCENERY.

IV.--MOUNTAIN WAYS.

LUCY D----. Aunt Sarah, did you ever read the Declaration of
Independence?

MRS. GRUNDY. What a question! In my youth it was read
regularly, once a year, at every Fourth of July celebration.

LUCY D----. Did you ever, when listening to it, consider that
your interest in its enunciation of principles was merely incidental,
not direct?

MRS. GRUNDY. How so?

LUCY D----. The 'all men' that are born 'equal,' and with an
'inalienable right to liberty,' does not include you, because, although
you are white, you are a woman.

MRS. GRUNDY. What covert heresy is this, Lucy, with which you
are endeavoring to mystify my old-fashioned notions?

LUCY D----. I advocate no theory. I merely state a fact. My own
belief is, that men are born very _unequal_ (I do not mean _legally_,
but _really_, as they stand in the sight of God), and that they, as well
as we, are free only to do what is right in the fulfilment of
_inalienable duties_. 'Life' and the 'pursuit of happiness' must both
yield to the exactions of such duties. I must confess, however, that,
let my abstract views be as they may, I have occasionally embraced in
their widest extent the generalizations of the Declaration of
Independence; and nowhere has the right of 'Life, Liberty, and the
Pursuit of Happiness' seemed to me so precious and delightful a
possession as, when seated on top of a stage coach, I have breathed the
exhilarating atmosphere of some elevated mountain region. As to
equality, I must also say, that _there_ especially do I feel my
inferiority to, and dependence on the driver, who, in his sphere, reigns
a king.

MRS. GRUNDY. In my day, _ladies_ were always expected to take
inside seats.

LUCY D----. Yes, and be shut up behind a great leather strap, so
that if anything happened, they would be the last to reach the door! I
have a few notes of a stage-coach journey, made la