midday
The laws are administered , some more farms are opened in the forest every year , blossoms come , and old men die and are buried on their farms , and their bones respected a few years . Our history is so pastoral that we must show some temper when it is assailed , or we might let out our ignorance of it . '' They rode in silence some hours through an older settled and more open country , with some large mill-ponds and a better class of farm improvements , and the sense of some large water near at hand was mystically felt . The Judge followed the old man 's eyes at one place , seeing that they were raised with an expression of tranquil satisfaction , like aged piety , and a beautiful landscape of soft green marsh lay under their gaze from a slight elevation they had reached , showing cattle and sheep roving in it , tall groves where cows and horses found midday shade , and winding creeks , carrying sails of hidden boats , as if in a magical cruise upon the velvet verdure . Haystacks and farm settlements stood out in the long levels , and sailing birds speckled the air . In the far distance lay something like more marsh , yet also like the clouds . `` It is the Delaware Bay , '' the Chancellor said .