The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1839-10-09
CHANCES AT MEN AND THINGS
MAssAcHUsETTs.

CHANCES AT MEN AN
MASSACHUSETTS,.
Have vou ever passed from Boston north
w.rd - 4mesbury Mills, Isn't tia delight
ful ride I Taking the railroad 10 East DOS
,,.n you skim over the salt marshes, miles,
~ Lvnn-the open, blue Atlantic on your
r;obt with Nahant in the "ofiing;' the
summer watering place Of the sea-serpent,
and other gentlemen Of leisure" And what
4 sioht TO behold is Lynn! Here is popn-
lation of 900, something less than 10000
Of whom are shoenakers. How tidy, simple,
and handy is every thing. See the pretty
white and yellow houses, and the little Tiny
shoe. shops, as neat as wax, and the men as
busy as bees, and the focks of young Qua
keresses, beautiful and modest as the flowers
of the laurel. The Queen of Sheba, in all
her glory, was not arrayed like one OF these.
Aristocracy is a contraband article in Lynn,
and vice an obsolete term. The Inhabitants
are practical democrats-and yet, strange 70
say, they usually vote the Wing ticket As
you leave this lutte republic OF Cordwainers,
you see in the distance Marblehead, the cele-
brated fishing town, juiting out into the ocean,
pile Of rocks with houses built IN the cleits,
teeming with industry and intelligence. Aud
Salem, the city Of witchcrah and Roger
Williams. is just before you. Here the
Eastern Railroad" terminates, for the pre-
sent. The "city of peace" has often been
the theatre of war. In the times Of yore, It's
citizens hung the witches, and prosecuted
that extraordinary man, Roger Williams, even
unto Punishment. You are pointed TO
deacon Giles distillery," smoky, scorch-
ed building, about which Cheever dreamed
once, and prented 1t. The Deacon long ago
stopped payment, and the worm is now still.
In the centre OF the town stands large,
elegant brick house, in whose dark chamber
the aged White was murdered by his DISCO
Lutte, but fashionable nephew, for little paltry
peif. A. Salem you take the stage. and four
hours see you in the rich town of Newbury
por, situated at the mouth of the Merrimack
the birthplace Of Dana, the poet, and the
residence of Miss Hannah F. Gould, and of
Caleb Gushing, the eloquent Representative
Of Essex North, in the U. S. House of Re-
representatives..
Mr.. Gushing is the pride Of the Merrimack
Valley and proud of being its pride. His
mind is clothed with the varied beauties OF
that delightful spot. Polished, chaste, CLASH
cal, and energetic in his oratory, hc deserv-
eddy stands in the front rank Of accomplished
debaiers on the floor OF Congress. He is
the chivalrous champion of Old Massachusetts,
in the lower house jealous of her honor, and
ever ready TO shiver score of lances in de-
fence Of her rights and reputation. He is a
ripe scholar, and rare-ripe writer-distin-
guished no less for the beauty Of his style,
than the depth Of his research, and the COM
pactness Of his reasoning. In his published
productions, the strong links Of his argument
are studded with the brilliant gems of his
Imagination; and when the tides Of emo
ton break out from full fountains, his diction
sparkles with the very effervescence of poe
try. Witness the closing paragraphs of his
speech in reply to Waddy Thompson, on the
motion TO expel John Quincy Adams from, the
House of Representatives. There are few
specimens Of more polished Congressional
eloquence on record.
Newburyport is the burial place of White
field. All that remains Of that meteor genius,
sleeps under an humble stone in one of the
churches Here, too, that eccentric being,
"Lord Timothy Dexter, First in the East,
and the greatest philosopher in this Western
World" lived and died. 1t was he who
wrote "rhe Pickle for the Knowing Ones
- uOOh Which, III ilS tCAts
comma, senicolon, colou. or period. He de-
voted a few pages at the close of his work
exclusively to these characters, saying, that
''all who read it might put them in to suit
their notion The house he formerly occu-
pied is pointed out to you, standing on the
fringes of the village. A few of the hume
rous images with which he adorned it, repre-
senting things neither in heaven above, or in
the earth beneath, or in the water under the
earth, remain undemolished. Ii was Dexter
who acquired an ample fortune by sending a
cargo of ,oarming-pans to the West Indies
the lids being used TO skim, and the pans
10 dip, molasses! Truly, he was Yankee
Of the Yankees---one Of the straightest of the
sect.
But, we will cross the Merrimack, and
wind along the banks of the "swift Pow
wow," which Whittier has immortalzed in
one Of his Indian songs, till we aight among
the factories Of our destined village. Near
it is the spring,
"Gushing up 10 sun and air"
which !" the Quaker Poet" has hallowed in
his legend Of g The Fountain" transcribe
the first two stanzas a specimen which does
injustice to the writer:
"Traveller on thy journey toiling,
By the swift Bowwow
With The summer sunshine falling
On thy heated brow,
Listen while all else is still,
To the brooket from the hill.
Wild and sweet the flowers are blowing
BY that streamlet's side,
And greener verdure showing
Where its wa,ers glide
Down the bill-slope murmurng on,
Over root and messy stone"
Probably could not do better than to
transcribe the whole of this exquisit story