The Rodney telegraph. (Rodney, Miss.) 1838-1840, 1839-12-30
RAIL ROAD TRAVELLING.

NAIL MAI NAV E1zLlNSi.
The poetry Of travelling l. gons-the 10.
nance of roadside adventures i at an end:
in vain will the modern novelist attempt 10
distinguish his heroine in the passing train,
forms and faces glide by like the mingled
colors on a schooIboy's whipping top--an
amalgamated mass ofhues which the raDid
motion seems to blend into one. EIope-
menis may now be made in safety, If the
lovers can only secure the first train; asth-
NAUTICAL old guardians can never give chace,
the rapidity with which the vehicles move
will prevent the short-winded from breath
ing: no being cvertnken by brothers; DUEL
ling and changing horses, and separate
rooms, are at an end-our light literature
must now become woven with steamer
incidents must arise from blow-ups, and
love be made over broken legs: while tho
novelist will have 10 record the falling in Of
tunnel, the oDly chance left "for touch
at the sublime -
The good old days Of chance courtship
have vanished; il lady happened to let
her glove fall from the coach, there was an
opening for some gallant to leap off and re-
turn it with good grace. But now there
is no stopping; one might as well call upon
the wind as upon the conductor to check the
speed of his fiery dragon; It's as much as the
guard can do to make him hear with bis
shrill whistle; ere one can say, .smy hats
blown off," we have shot mile ahead, and
the conductor mourns the accident ut the
next station, and there is no lack Of sympa-
thy at the distance Of thirty miles. The
tables within the carriages. are like those
which held the feasts Of the enchanters;
whatever is laid upon them less weighty
than brick, is whisked away by viewless
spirit, and carried you wot not whither.-
Wo be unto the wight that layeth down his
gloves, handkerchief, or umbrella-tliat un.
looseneth his pocket book to spread out his
letters, for they will be given as prey unto
the winds, unless he carrieth his own cur
tanning, or is rich enough to travel IN first
class carriage. Then there are those gloo-
my tunnels opening their grim portals to re-
ceive us, and darkening around us like the
valley and shadow Of death. You are i'm
mersed within the bowels Of black cavern,
the groaning monster which has borne you
away utters his most hellish means in the
darkness flakes of fire hero and thefe f31lt
ter along the low browed vault-the earth
seems rocking beneath, while one dull,
prolonged echo throws back the continued
chatter. Perchance solitary lamp il fixed
in the roof Of your carriage, and the sickly
yellow light falls upon the face Of some
wrinkled old man who has closed his eyes
from fear. All beside is dark-nothing ID
visible but that hideous face in the distance
At first he appears like fiend, you cannot
separate him from the fakes Of red Ere, the
darkness, and believing Of the monster -
By degrees be becomes bandit; you have
seen just such face in the caverns in Sal
vator Rosa's pictures; then be is dead Ibis
face grows sharp and thin in the yellow
Ilight-his eyes move not under the l1rid
gleam-and you are. in the tomb with him!
By-and-by you feel the wind Of heaven upon
your cheek-the day light breaks in upon
you and you are again rolling between un-
! heaved banks, or on the brown backs Of
massy arches-rubbing the fakes Of sool
from your face, or writhing under some
sharp particle which has chosen your eye
for an abiding place; you seem as If racing
against the wind, and that, out Of sheer yex'
alton at being beaten, it blows with all it
might, as if it would lift the heavy trair
from the ground.