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Show 1836- 1837] F/ agg's Far West 141 Brightly were the moonbeams streaming over the blue lake Pinatahwee as our steamer glided from its waters. Near midnight, as we swept past Pekin, we were roused from our slumbers by the plaintive [ 113] notes of the " German Hymn," which mellowly came stealing from distance over the waters; and we almost pardoned the " Menagerie " its multifold transgressions because of that touching air. There is a chord in almost every bosom, however rough and unhar-monious its ordinary emotions, which fails not to vibrate beneath the gentle influences of " sweet sounds." From this, as from the strings of the wind- harp, a zephyr may elicit a melody of feeling which the storm could never have awakened. There are seasons, too, when the nerves and fibres of the system, reposing in quietness, are most exquisitely attempered to the mysterious influences and the delicate breathings of harmony; and such a season is that calm, holy hour, when deep sleep hath descended upon man, and his unquiet pulsings have for an interval ceased their fevered beat. To be awakened then by music's cadence has upon us an effect unearthly! It calls forth from their depths the richest emotions of the heart. The moonlight serenade! Ah, its wild witchery has told upon the romance of many a young bosom! If you have a mistress, and you would woo her not vainly, woo her thusl I remember me, when once a resident of the courtly city of lieutenant, Henri de Tonty, who was soon succeeded by De Baugis. In 1690 Tonty and La Forest were granted the proprietorship of the stronghold, but in 170a it was abandoned by royal order. By 1718 it was again occupied by the French, although when Father Charlevoix passed three years later, it was once more deserted. The tradition whkh gave rise to the name Starved Rock was well known; see Tales of Ike Border ( Philadelphia, 1834); Osman Eaton, Starved Rock, a Historical Sketch ( Ottawa, Illinois, 1895); and Francis Parkman, La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West ( Boston, 1869). Pontiac was assassinated in 1769 instead of 1767. For accounts of the Ottawa and Potawotami, see Croghan's Journals, in our volume i, p. 76, note 37, and p. 115, note 84, respectively.- ED. |