But , hark ! -- a broken warbling of voices , and now , attuning its grandeur to their sweetness , a stately peal of the organ . Who are the choristers ? Let me dream that the angels , who came down from heaven , this blessed morn , to blend themselves with the worship of the truly good , are playing and singing their farewell to the earth . On the wings of that rich melody they were borne upward . This , gentle reader , is merely a flight of poetry . A few of the singing men and singing women had lingered behind their fellows , and raised their voices fitfully , and blew a careless note upon the organ . Yet , it lifted my soul higher than all their former strains . They are gone , the sons and daughters of music , -- and the gray sexton is just closing the portal . For six days more , there will be no face of man in the pews , and aisles , and galleries , nor a voice in the pulpit , nor music in the choir . Was it worth while to rear this massive edifice , to be a desert in the heart of the town , and populous only for a few hours of each seventh day ? O , but the church is a symbol of religion ! May its site , which was consecrated on the day when the first tree was felled , be kept holy forever , a spot of solitude and peace , amid the trouble and vanity of our week-day world ! There is a moral , and a religion too , even in the silent walls . THE WAYSIDE . INTRODUCTORY . A short time ago , I was favored with a flying visit from my young friend Eustace Bright , whom I had not before met with since quitting the breezy mountains of Berkshire . It being the winter vacation at his college , Eustace was allowing himself a little relaxation , in the hope , he told me , of repairing the inroads which severe application to study had made upon his health ; and I was happy to conclude , from the excellent physical condition in which I saw him , that the remedy had already been attended with very desirable success . He had now run up from Boston by the noon train , partly impelled by the friendly regard with which he is pleased to honor me , and partly , as I soon found , on a matter of literary business . It delighted me to receive Mr. Bright , for the first time , under a roof , though a very humble one , which I could really call my own .
Nor did I fail -LRB- as is the custom of landed proprietors all about the world -RRB- to parade the poor fellow up and down over my half a dozen acres ; secretly rejoicing , nevertheless , that the disarray XXXXX the inclement season , and particularly the six inches of snow then upon the ground , prevented him from observing the ragged neglect of soil and shrubbery into which the place had lapsed .
On amid at for in of that though to under