RAMBLES IN EUROPE. LETTER I. MY DEAR S : SHIP R. C. WINTHROP, OFF NEWFOUNDLAND, I NEED not tell you, philosopher as you are, how mysteriously a single and often simple thought will take possession of the mind, vi et armis, and with wonderful tenacity maintain its position against all reasoning, all testimony, all passion, until at last a simple fact steps into the arena, when, lo, the intruder flies without show of resistance, or so much as the shadow of apology. And this is anticipated pleasure. Now you must know, mon ami, that the sea has ever been to me an object of intense and absorbing interest. Tales of the sea I read with indescribable interest when a mere child; and how I longed to behold the sea; and well do I remember the first view I had of it. I had travelled all day, and put up my weary beast at night-fall, and settled myself comfortably in my home for the night, when a distant and indistinct murmur, a suppressed moan, fell upon my ear. On inquiring, I was told it was the sea! I at once resolved to follow the sound; and I travelled on foot three miles, until, at last, rising a slight eminence, the sea burst upon me in all its glorious beauty. It was overpowering; I sat down and gazed upon it, listening to its sublime music, as it "Sung the deep, profound, eternal bass in nature's anthem, And made music such as pleased the ear of God," until the evening shadows mildly admonished me of the necessity of retracing my footsteps. Smile not at this, ye who have been reared on the sea shore, who have played from infancy with its crested billows, and sunk to repose under its soothing hum. Is it to you mysterious that a first view of such an object should fill the soul with such indescribable emotions? Thousands of you have grown up in the smoke and din of a city, without ever seeing the sun. rise or set. Shake off dull sloth, for once, and look upon. this glorious spectacle, as the god of day rolls up, either from his humid ocean bed, and marches forth from his chamber behind some wood-crowned hill, or as he wraps his scarlet mantle about him and sublimely sinks to rest when he has accomplished his day, and then you will appreciate the feelings of a simple child of nature who wept when he first saw the greatest of God's works. Хоге will not wonder, then, that to cross this wide waste of waters should be an object of strong desire with me. Well, the day came at last, and I was to realize my fondest hopes. My baggage was aboard, passengers were hurrying in, hands were shaken, cheeks kissed, eyes rained tears, the pilot was aboard, the word was given, "cast off the fasts, run up the jib," and the good ship "R. C. Winthrop" swung off from the wharf. We were afloat! topsails were hoisted, tacks hauled home, and off she started for a race of 3,000 miles! Two hours took us down outside "the Graves," her course was set east south-east, and the pilot boat Phantom run up to us, sent a small boat, the pilot, wishing us a good run, swung himself into her, pulled away, and we are cut off from the New World. The breeze was light, and the surface of the water smooth, but by the time darkness came upon us the goodly city of Boston, with her tall spires and lofty dome, was below the horizon. I felt a sadness stealing over me, and repeating the lines, "My native land, good night," I went below and "turned in;" but not to sleep, for the boards on which I lay were well seasoned, and, per consequence, not so soft as green ones would have been; and, moreover, as the adipose matter on my skeleton is in the minus quantity, the prominent points thereof came in impressive proximity with the bottom of my crib. My sad dilemma had three horns, and on these I hung, shifting my position like a skilful dialectician, from one to the other and all the while endeavoring to quote some lines from the "Bard of Avon," "Sleep, gentle sleep, how have I frighted thee;" but I could get no farther, for evident enough was it to the most obtuse intellect how I had frightened her -I had not the "appliances and means to boot" to win her to my couch and so I turned, and tossed, and groaned - and finally turned out. But it is due to "Train & Co." that this matter be explained, lest not only sleep be frightened from my couch, but a stampede should take place among the dollars now wending their way to their pockets. I had not made up my mind to take this packet until the day she was advertised to sail, and then the state rooms were all taken up, except a small one. This I took all to myself; but on this very day Rev. Mr. Thurston, of Maine, came up to take passage for Europe, and he could not go in this ship unless I gave him a part of my cuddy; this I joyfully did, both for his sake and my own, for a compagnon du voyage with whom one is acquainted is a blessing not to be lightly esteemed. By dividing our mattresses after the first night we got on admirably. Father Thurston is a very sociable and agreeable companion, and I regarded it as a providential interference that he should be thus thrown. into my company for this long, monotonous voyage. Let us return: Our first dinner found the table filled; seven English passengers, (four ladies and three gentle |