Filled With Those
Vast Waves And Undulations, The Immense Edifice Seemed A Creature,
Tremulous With A Life, A Soul, An Instinct Of Its Own; And Out Of Its
Deepest Heart There Seemed To Struggle Upward Breathings Of
Unutterable Emotion.
LETTER XLII.
COLOGNE, 10 o'clock, Hotel Bellevue.
DEAR: -
The great old city is before me, looming up across the Rhine, which
lies spread out like a molten looking glass, all quivering and
wavering, reflecting the thousand lights of the city. We have been on
the Rhine all day, gliding among its picture-like scenes. But, alas I
I had a headache; the boat was crowded; one and all smoked tobacco;
and in vain, under such circumstances, do we see that nature is fair.
It is not enough to open one's eyes on scenes; one must be able to be
_en rapport_ with them. Just so in the spiritual world, we
sometimes _see_ great truths, - see that God is beautiful,
glorious, and surpassingly lovely; but at other times we feel both
nature and God, and 0, how different _seeing_ and _feeling!_
To say the truth, I have been quite homesick to-day, and leaning my
head on the rails, pondered an immediate flight, a giving up of all
engagements on the continent and in England, an immediate rush
homeward. Does it not seem absurd, that, when within a few days'
journey of what has been the long-desired dream of my heart, I should
feel so - that I should actually feel that I had rather take some more
of our pleasant walks about Andover, than to see all that Europe has
to offer?
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