Lewisburg chronicle, and West Branch farmer. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1850, 1850-03-27
The State of Maine.
FROM THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT KATAHpIN.
By TIE REV. JOHN TODD DID.

FROM THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT KATAHDIN.
By TIE REV. JOHN TODD. D. D.
As you sit down on the top OF Ka ahdin.
with the eye aching as you try to pierce
the interminable forests, or follow the no
BILE rivers beneath ID the immense valley
not able 10 see the footsteps Of man, or re.
alize that he has cut even a walk,ngs,ick
out Of the forest-your mind becomes
crowded with new and strange thoughts
You ask yourself, Is i, possible .Aa, the
IRON pathway will ever come up these val
leys, and the scream Of the steam. whistle
ever star,le the eagle 10 his lonely eyre.
and moose 10 his trackless swamp! Is it
possible that the sunlight will break in up.
on these wilds,a ,and towns and villages ever
spring up here T. Perhaps in half a CEN
tury men will wonder if their then beau,i.
ful valley Of the Psnobsco, could ever have
been as wild and as awful as il is how des.
cribed The fact is, that the State of
Maine, though old enough to be celebrated
in song and story, is yet in her infancy.
Among her thousand islands. sparkling
along her rocky coast, she will ever find
the treasures Of the deep to employ multi.
,ud de Of hardy fishermen. From her for
ests, for long time to como, she will send
forth lumber over the civilized world. But
these are not to be her ultimate reliance.
Her towns and cities and villages hang like
beautiful fringes on the skirts OF her forests
You might lay all the rest Of New England,
and other fine States down upon her terri.
tory. and she would have forty thousand
acres lefi . You are amazed to see how
very small part Of her territory is yet
occupied. At Bangor. you are in city.
large. rich and inviting a walk OF twenty
minutes will carry you into forest never
yet cut down BY the hand Of man The
wild deer has broken out and rushed into
her streets within few years. When we
read Of OUT commerce, of our cities, of our
population Of over 30,OO0,OOO, of our ia-
creasing desire for more territory, Of the
amount which our cultivated acres pro
ducs, we are apt to feel that we are almos,
an old country. But we forget that the
greater part Of our country lies jus, as j,
did when the eye Of Columbus first gszed
upon it, and jus, as it was when the May.
flower first beat round Cape Cod. While
our flag is known and respected the world
over. and our Republic has already name
that can never perish. we are only as We,
On the shores Of our possessions. We
hardly know. as yet, where our mighty
rivers take their rise. While The grea,
are moving up and down the
Potomac, the Penobscot, and the Hudson,
you can not visit the head waters OF these
rivers without an Indian TO guide you,
without carrying your canoe for miles on
your back through unbroken forests, and
sleeping on the ground wherever nigh,
finds you. The bear and the deer and
The moose, with the wolf and the panther.
have their home among these wilds in
numbers almost as great as ever The
moose and the deer have been eniangled
in the shipping Of huge vessels as they
10 swim the penobscos And
while we have stretched the wires Of the
telegraph from Halifax TO New Orleans,
part of the way. and that Not small part,
they run through unbroken forests and
while we have leared across continent.
and are building up cities on the Pacific,
we have LEFT terra incosnita behind-a
vast unmeasured waste where the buffalo
goes in herds miles in length and where the
Indian must rosm on horseback TO cs,rh
his prey. When will all this great terrific.
ry be subdued and occupiedi And what
is TO be the history and the destiny Of this
uncoun,ed race!
II strikes your mind with great force,
too, when j, occurs 10 you-as it will be
the most likely to occur on Mount Katah-
din-that almost all the northern part of
the earth is yet unoccuped by man. The
hills and wales Of India are worn out and
look as if exhausted. Asia, the cradle Of
the human race. has warm climate end
genial soil. From the center and home Of
the human family. man has been working
his way up towards the cold wilds Of the
north. In proportion as they move north
ward, they become more hardy in consti-
tuition, more industrious 10 supply the lack
Of plenty and exuberance which a warm
climate affords. and more skillful to meet
and overcome the difficulties Of nature.
They must have warmer clothing; more
nutritious food. and greater curt,riand
over matter, in order 10 live in a c6la tli'
mate have tho inventions. the ats; the
skill, the industry, the hardness Of the
northern races ef men: And ~ mes ~