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THE NATURAL BRIDGE IN VIR GINIA. mmm HIS wonderful curiosity of nature is in Eock- WSpdflK& bridge county, Western Virginia, 63 miles from jfL the White Sulphur yk\ Springs, and about 14 from Lexing- My ton, the nearest point. The road to m is said to tlie most abominable even in that part of the country, where all the roads are bad. A writer who has visited the Natural Bridge thus describes it: “The first sensation of the beholder is one of double astonishment; first, at the absolute sublimity of the scene ; next, at the total inadequacy of the descriptions he has read, and the pictures he has seen, to produce in his mind the faintest idea of the reality. The great height gives the arch an air of grace and lightness that must be seen to be felt, and the power of speech is for a moment lost in contempla ting the immense dimensions of the sur rounding objects. The middle of the arch is forty-five feet in perpendicular thick ness, which increases to sixty at its junc ture with the vast abutments. Its top, which is covered with soil, supporting shrubs of various sizes, is two hundred and ten feet high. It is sixty feet wide, and its span is almost ninety feet. Across the top passes a public road, and being in the same plane with the neighboring country, you may cross it in a coach without being aware of the interesting pass. There are several forest trees of large dimensions growing near the edge of the creek directly under the arch, which do not nearly reach its lowest part. “The most imposing view is from about sixty yards below the bridge, close to the edge of the creek ; from that position the arch appears thinner, lighter, and loftier. From the edo'e of the creek at some dis- O tance above the bridge, you look at the thicker side of the arch, which from this point of view approaches somewhat to Gothic. A little above the bridge, on the western side of the creek, the wall of rock is broken into buttress-like masses, which rise almost perpendicularly to a height of nearly two hundred and fifty feet, termi nating in separate pinnacles which over look the bridge. It requires a strong head, (perchance a thick skull,) to stand on one of these narrow eminences and look into the yawning gulf below. “ When you are exactly under the arch and cast your glances upwards, the space appears immense; and the symmetry of the hollow concave formed by the arch, and the gigantic walls from which it BURKE’S WEEKLY. springs, is wonderfully pleasing. From this position, the views in both directions are sublime and striking from the im mense height of the rocky walls, stretch- BaWMBi . wgSBBKs* ing away in various curves, covered in some places by the drapery of the forest, green and graceful, and in others without a bramble or a bush, bare and blue.” Scaring Herself into Bed. Little Alice found out an ingenious way of getting to bed in a hurry. The crib in which she slept was so low, that by placing one foot on the inside, and ta king hold of the post, she could easily spring in. “Mamma,” she said to her mother, “do you know how I get to bed quick ?” “No,” was the reply. “Well,” said she in great glee, “I step one foot over the crib, then I say ‘ rats,’ and scare myself right in.” __ ♦<»« No Good from Passion. « Will putting one’s self in a passion mend the matter ?” said an old man to a boy who had picked up a stone to thiow at a dog. The dog had only barked at him in play. “Yes, it will mend the matter,” said the passionate boy T ANARUS, and quickly he dashed the stone at the dog. The animal, thus enraged, sprang at tho boy and bit his leg, while the stone bounded against a shop window and broke a pane of glass. Out ran the shop-keeper, and seized the boy, and made him pay for the bro ken pane. Conflict and Conquest. Courage, brother, do not stumble, Though thy path be dark as night; There’s a star to guide the humble: “ Trust in God, and do the right.” Lot the road be rough and dreary, And its end far out of sight, Foot it bravely—strong or weary, “ Trust in God, and do the right.” Perish “ policy ” and “ cunning 1” Perish all that fears the light! Whether losing, whether winning, “ Trust in God, and do the right.” Trust no party, sect, or fashion; Trust no “ leaders ” in the fight; But in every word and action “ Trust in God, and do the right.” Simple rule, and safest guiding, Inward peace and inward might, Star upon our path abiding: “ Trust in God, and do the right,” Some will hate thee, some will love thee, Some will flatter, some will slight; Cease from man, and look above thee, “ Trust in God, and do the right.” Only One Brick upon Another. ARNBSTLYaboy watch- a lar S e building, as the workmen from day to day carried up bricks mortar. “My son,” said his father, “you l seem taken with the bricklayers, i Bo you think of learning the * trade?” “No, sir; I was thinking what a little thing a brick is, and what great houses are built by laying one brick upon an other.” “Very true, my son; never forget it. So it is in all great works. All your learning is one lesson added to another. If a man could walk all around the world, it would be by putting one foot before another. Your whole life will be made up of one moment upon another. Brops added to drops make the ocean. “Learn from this not to despise little things. “Be not discouraged by great labors. They become easy if divided into parts. You could not jump over a mountain, but step by step takes you to the other side. Bo not fear, therefore, to attempt great things. “ Always remember that the large buildings went up only one brick upon another.” Keep Them Out.— “l don’t want to hear naughty words,” said little Chailie to one of his school-fellows. “It does not signify,” said the boy, “ that they go in at one car and out of the other.” “No,” replied Charlie, “the worst of it is, when naughty words get in they’stick ; so I mean to do my best to keep them out, for it is sometimes hard work to turn them out when they once get in.” 141