old pipe!

And WATER--that element of Life, that upon the plaintain-leaf looks so
like a molten mass of diamond that you can hardly persuade yourself it is
aught else, might as well have been created of a mere drab quaker-colour;
or not even as bright as a bit of Quartz Rock! and yet have satisfied our
thirst as well as if it had gushed forth from the limpid sources of the
Croton; or been drawn from the transparent body of Lake George; or from
those mountain streams of sparkling chrystal that, in alternate shade and
gleams of light of tropical brilliancy, bound and gush and dance their way
downward from rock to rock to the sound of their own musick, and make
themselves into rivers of joy as they descend along the _Grand Etang_ of
the Island of Grenada!

And WINE, that GOD hath sent to make glad the heart of man, and
hath blessed it in the cup; and which might perhaps have had the same
hilarious effect, though it were of the dingy colour of the ashes of the
grate by which I sit; but which, for our more perfect happiness, He hath
made to outvie the Topaz and the Ruby, in its lustre and its varied hue!

There are many of us who have this one quality, the love of colour, in
common with the magnificent DAVID, whose precious inspiration I have
quoted at the head of my Essay, and who in a thousand passages interweaves
it like a golden thread amid his works; but as in the minds of many
others, it may be a blessing only half appreciated, I have thought that a
few words upon this subject might fall not unfruitfully upon the heart,
perchance of some one young Reader of this article, just opening to the
knowledge of this peculiar work of the great Master of mankind, COLOUR.

Even Music, although itself an occupation revealed to us as of the Angels
of Light, is, except perhaps as they enjoy it--with whom poetry and
modulated sound adapted to the thought are inseparably one--even music is
less refined, less gentle, perfect, unobtrusive. For the enjoyment of
Colour involves no possible interruption of another's tastes; no outbreak
upon the quiet stillness of the day; no intrusion on 'the ear of night;'
nor yet any expression, that by pouring abroad the sensations, might
diminish the deep earnestness of the soul; which, all sight, all ear,
becomes the Recipient. The enjoyment of colour is the Spirit within us
listening to the language of GOD! to the mute expression of His
unspeakable Love! COLOUR--the conception He hath chosen for H