sombre bower, to come forth again in
some more varied and more lovely form.

Pleasant indeed were the hours I passed here; lovely was the climate,
beautiful was the landscape, hearty was the welcome: every day found
some little plan prepared to make their hospitality more pleasant to the
stranger; nature herself seemed to delight in aiding their efforts, for
though I arrived in a deluge, I scarce ever saw a cloud afterwards. As
the morning light stole through my open window in undimmed transparency,
the robin, the blue-bird, the mocking-bird, the hosts of choral
warblers, held their early oratorio in the patriarchal elms. If
unskilled in music's science, they were unfettered by its laws, and
hymned forth their wild and varied notes as though calling upon man to
admire and adore the greatness and the goodness of his Maker, and to

"Shake off dull sloth, and early rise,
To pay his morning sacrifice."

If such were their appeal, it was not made in vain; for both morning and
evening--both here and at Shirley--every member and visitor gathered
round the family altar, the services of which were performed with equal
cheerfulness and reverence. I felt as if I could have lingered on and on
in this charming spot, and amid such warm hospitality, an indefinite
period; it was indeed with sincere regret I was obliged to bid adieu to
my agreeable hosts, and once more embark on board the steamer.

The river James lacks entirely those features that give grandeur to
scenery; the river, it is true, by its tortuous windings, every now and
then presents a broad sheet of water; the banks are also prettily
wooded; but there is a great sameness, and a total absence of that
mountain scenery so indispensable to grandeur. The only thing that
relieves the eye is a glimpse, from time to time, of some lovely spot
like the one I have just been describing; but such charming villas, like
angel's visits, are "few and far between." Here we are, at Norfolk. How
different is this same Norfolk from the other eastern ports I have
visited!--there all is bustle, activity, and increase,--here all is
dreariness, desolation, and stagnation. It is, without exception, the
most uninteresting town I ever set foot in; the only thing that gives it
a semblance of vitality is its proximity to the dockyard, and the
consequent appearance of officers in uniform; but in spite of this
impression, which a two-days' residence confirmed me in, I was told, on
good authori