sh, and
contemptible fear of immediate danger, but the fear which arises out of
the contemplation of great powers in destructive operation, and
generally from the perception of the presence of death. Nothing appears
to me more remarkable than the array of scenic magnificence by which the
imagination is appalled, in myriads of instances, when the actual danger
is comparatively small; so that the utmost possible impression of awe
shall be produced upon the minds of all, though direct suffering is
inflicted upon few. Consider, for instance, the moral effect of a single
thunder-storm. Perhaps two or three persons may be struck dead within
the space of a hundred square miles; and their deaths, unaccompanied by
the scenery of the storm, would produce little more than a momentary
sadness in the busy hearts of living men. But the preparation for the
Judgment by all that mighty gathering of clouds; by the questioning of
the forest leaves, in their terrified stillness, which way the winds
shall go forth; by the murmuring to each other, deep in the distance, of
the destroying angels before they draw forth their swords of fire; by
the march of the funeral darkness in the midst of the noon-day, and the
rattling of the dome of heaven beneath the chariot-wheels of death;--on
how many minds do not these produce an impression almost as great as the
actual witnessing of the fatal issue! and how strangely are the
expressions of the threatening elements fitted to the apprehension of
the human soul! The lurid color, the long, irregular, convulsive sound,
the ghastly shapes of flaming and heaving cloud, are all as true and
faithful in their appeal to our instinct of danger, as the moaning or
wailing of the human voice itself is to our instinct of pity. It is not
a reasonable calculating terror which they awake in us; it is no matter
that we count distance by seconds, and measure probability by averages.
That shadow of the thunder-cloud will still do its work upon our hearts,
and we shall watch its passing away as if we stood upon the
threshing-floor of Araunah.

Sec. XLII. And this is equally the case with respect to all the other
destructive phenomena of the universe. From the mightiest of them to the
gentlest, from the earthquake to the summer shower, it will be found
that they are attended by certain aspects of threatening, which strike
terror into the hearts of multitudes more numerous a thousandfold than
those who actually suffer from t