The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1849-09-29
C.Ii,o,u,.-Romnnce and Renii,y.

18th enthusiasm. The strarge tidings from inc u
ew E-Dorado, seemingly too wondsrfn to vi !,
rue, psssed with electric speed from onssA
remiiy Of the land to the other, Thef W" !,
lot village in the Union which did ST. par :
axe OF the excitement, and althougAmsas y
he wiser and more cautious membsf' oi so''e''
fought earnestly to restrain tbs sveiiing ''ue'
heir efforts were but peftialiy sueceSs,"
They spake Of the dangers and dihculues "a'
would encompass the path Of th' em'g'a"''
Of the heart.sinking consequent upon long
and perhaps unenSing absence from the seems
and friends Of youth; Of sickness on 'he wiz
dreary plains or among the more reary noun
tains, sickness among strangers with no dear
familiar faces to cheer the hour OF loneliness
and no hand of affection pressin; gently on inc
throbbiug brow; of death in thfwilderness ana
neglected grave.
The picture presented was ark enough but
it was held up in vain. Th1 sanguine believed
that the difficulties were osf-stated, the adVen-
turous saw in danger ont nm Incentive, TO the
restless no hardship WIS so appalling as the
monotOny of peaceful, bery-day life, and be-
fore the eyes of all ioig the gliltering price,
which, when attaine. would cause all danger
and suffering to be 0gotten. Thus reasoned
thousands Of the yong, and not of the young
only. for in Ame'ean hearts the love OF adj
venture and the i've Of gold pass not away with
the fleeing yars Of youth. The volcano,
whose lofty ammit is white with snow but
within whod bosom the fierce flames roll cease
lessly, is 70 just a type and symbol Of age in
this newAnd restless western world. Hence
old and; Dung We'd with each other in enthu-
siasm I'D the fire burned only the more bright
Iv for he efforts made TO extinguish it, as the
ragin, flame will sometimes seize the quench-
ing yater, and convert II into fuel. In few
wees thousands and tens of thousands, full Of
lifeand h'pe, were ready to begin their hazard
GU, pilgrimage TO the golden shrine.
rhis Wis the Romance Of the California emf
CATION. The Reality was to be learned after
wards. By many of the pilgrims it has already
teen learned. Some of vigorous frame aud
dauntles spirit have not shrunk from the les
son, but how hard, how fatal, il has been TO
others, he many graves which mark the trail
of the ,migrants too plainly tell. We have
from iAe 10 time seen letters which revealed
the unre and degree of the hardships encoun-
tere by the pilgrims, but nothing has given us
so vivid an idea of these hardshps, as the fol.
loving extract from letter written from Fort
: Larmis by an intelligent physician to his son
in louisville.
'erom Independence to this place, as far Al
weiaye gone yet, the road-sdes are streweC
win graves. The continued scenes OF disaster
ca be compared 10 nothing can think OF Sc
appropriate as TO that Of u retreatlng army
loosely pursued by the enemy hanging on the
rear, cutting relentlessly of all stragglers aE'
all those who have Jagged behind from fatigue
exhaustion or otherwise. At one spot on tn
banks Of the south branch of the Nebraski
I there are four graves side by side, fresh, all o
I the month of June. Hardly a day has passe'
in our travel without our seeing from one 4
!, four new graves. The day before we arrives
here Qast Saturday, saw a grave that tn
!. wolves had opened: l found the skull twenty
4 two steps from the grave, picked as clean as
il had been prepared by the most perfect ma
ceration by an expert anatomist, the ribs seat
tered about, one Of the superior maxillary bone
H and one Of the shoulder-blades. These wer
all the bones that saw. The blanket in whic
, he had been wrapped was torn to tatters, IN
handkerchief that had been round his head wa
$ still near his grave. | scraped the dirt off tn
lead-board and read as follows: 4. p
Of Chlicothe, Ohio, departed this life 2lst June
lS49'
saw all this on the 3Oth June, nine days al
ter he lied. One day last week passed gray
D of a by twelve years old, the first have see
Of onsso young"
THIS sadly was dispeed as fair vision, Per
haps, of worldly success as ever visited III
mind of man. To the tender youth and tn
mature man, who, il may be, had been draw
, from their homes by the beautiful Romano
which Fancy told, the Reality was revealed b
a mortal sick ness and lonely grave in the vii
plans Of the West.
Tut though much of the coloring in Fancy
picture was falsely bright and much on Resli
tvs canvass Is fearfully dark, the canvass !
not altogether gloomy and rePulsive. Man,
emigrnts, it is true, will suffer and sink unde
untold hardships, many will drag exhauste,
frames to desolate graves, but many in ful
health and vigor will reach the land of gold
OF these, it is true, that many, who have born
bravely all the dangers of the journey, will fal
victims to the more terrible dangers which viii
besel their path amid California; golden sands
the dangers of dissipation and vice; but others
many others, it is to be hoped, will stand Sc
curely in the midst of all peril, and. holdin;
fast TO their integrity, will, at once, do homo
to the land of their birth and justice to the Ian,
of their adoption. Resisting the aurements o
too sudden success and standing firm agains
the encroachments Of the hard spirit Of avarice
may they lay deep in industry, intelligence an
freedom the foundations OF State which vii
be warmly welcomed by the great sisterhood
Such a State, doubtless, would soon be con
nected by iron-roads with the older States @
the confederacy, and thus would the shores G
the Pacific and the shores of the Atlantic
brought together and indissolubly united. Thu
resources Of inexhaustible wealth would b
opened to our country, while a new thorough
farewouId be presented to the commerce Of IN
world. Nor would the bsnsfi infinsncss b
confined TO commercial and pecuniary welfar
In the new modes and increased facilities
intercommunication civilization and christian
ty would find the means and agencies of il
calculsble good. 1t is only necessary that II
settlers in the new territory, the founders Of II
new State, should act as becomes men conscioI
OF their accountability to their age and the
God to have the future condition of Californ
a far brighter and more beautiful Reality this
any golden picture which Romance has draw