The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1854-08-19
WHOLE NO. 500.

not the work OF mans hand. but the casual
architecture OF some conyulson-thc tum
bling down OF fragments from the mountain
side 10y raging torrents, or partial earth.
InaAc: for al ,..c sccn.r: a.,ou; Is torn 10
rlccc>--iikc the scaitrrin. of some w;d. r,;,
ihe Imagination dreams Of the earliest dam
OF our race, when men harbore,l. Ike
'ic other creatures, III places provided bv ma
lure. l'ut even here, there are visible traces
OF cultivation working in the spirit Of noun
famous resici:-a a few .lales Of the pures.
'criurc Opened cut among the tall brachens,
with b'rcl-:r'e or two dropped Just where
the eye o tis;c could have wished, had tbf
painter planted the saplins, instead of the
winds o: heaven having waited thither the
sced-a small! croft O. barley, surrounded bya
cairn-like wall. made UP Of stones cleared
IRON the soil. and patch of rotatoc ground
neat almoS; As IA garden that shows in a nook
lis fruit-bu>hcS and few flowers. All The
blasts that ever blew must be unavailing a.
ganst the hrcry rock that shelters the hut
from the art Of storms: and the smoke max
rise under lis lee, unwaverirg on the w;,a;-
est day. There is sweetness in all the air
and the glen Is noisclcss, except with the u,.
certain murmur of the now uuswo,,n wafer
falls. That is the croak of the raven sitting
on his cliff halfway up Ben Oura: and hark.
the last bcl!ln. of the red deer. as the herd
lies down in the mist anon. the last ridge Of
heather, bending with the shrubless stones.
rocks and cliffs that girdle the upper region,
Ul the vast mountain
"Ni!hii the dIulness Of that hut YOU hear
greetings in the Gaelic tongue. in a female
voice; and when the eve has by and b. be-
come able 10 endure the smoke, it disccrns
the household veterans ancient dame
"A ;0nns man that may be his son, or rather
iiiS grandson. lut whom vou soon know to bc
neither. ith black matted locks, the keen
eye. and 'hc light limbs of the hunter-a
Nouu- womaI, his wife. sucking 4 ebili and
90 b. ]. Il Siiii>ii iooh '> II tut one year be-
tore her >i!kcn Snool had been un;ied-and
a las>ic of ten Years, who had brought home
the goats. and now sits ,inidly in a nook eve
Ing :ic stranger The low srowl OF tn.
huge, hrindlci >tac-hounl had been flushed
tv IA wore; Un Your first entrance, and the no
blc aiiiii.a, watches hi> masters eve, which he
obcv> in his freedom thoroushout al, the for
c>t-rlii>,. \ Napkin is taken ont Of an old
worm eaten chest. and spread over strange
lv-carvcd talic. that seems TO have BELONGED
once I" place of pride: and the hungry and
thirsty stranger scarcely knows which most
to admire. the bread hannocks of barley-mcal
aud the huge roll 't butter. or the giant bot
tie. whose mouth ,.Nhalr< the strong SAVIOR of
ronIucrin- Gicili.,;. The ioar,, is spread
why not fall 10 ana eat : Firs; be thanks
gwen 10 the Lord God Almighty The blind
man holds NJ his hands and pravs ina low
'hariii.. :oicc. ..i.l ,l.rn breaks irea,! for the
lbs OF the stranger. Tn such an occasion is
clt the >anciity oi Tie meal shared hv human
hcin.> ironcht accident. forcthcr-the salt
i sacred - and he hearth az altar.
No great travellers are we, vet nave We
seen something Of this haigtallc s,olc The
III .llis.n,,> of Scotland i iut small repion.
nor is lis interior j. any means 50 remote as
,iic interior of Africa Yet lis remote. The
iit of that very blind veteran might. in be-
ter hands than ours. make an interesting his
tory. la l.i> yon;ll h. had been 4 shepherd
= heri>man a hunter something even Of
. poet. For thirty years he had been a SOL
iirr. iii many climates and many conflicts
since fir; L. iiloolicd his bavonet low MANY
Is. h. comrades had been buried IN heaps,
fan. iafo trenches :ur on the field of battle
How many i..tnoas captains had shonc in the
hlazc O, their fame i..icd into the light of
coi.n.on dav-iitI in nbsruri;v. a,.l been IT,
tcrlv forgotten, What fierce passions must
have aeitairl the frame of that now calm old
man On what dreadful scenes. when forts
and towns were taken 10y storm, must those
ewes. how wiilrr-d into nothing have claretl
with all th- fury OF man most wrathfnl soul
Now peace i with han tor c,"rmorc. Nothing
la speak n the tii q, battle. bat hi own ,dr,cs
waiii:.~or ,a.irr ..i"ua" the hollow OF the
IA r,iai;on 10 lii> campaigning
career hi> present iiic l. a> the lite q, ano,h-
.r state. The i'agcantiv of war has all rolled
a a,.d away for ever: all its actions but
ram,on.s now ., Il iinly- remembered dream
H. thinks al his former self. rs sergeant in
hc Black Watch. and almost ;maCines hc le-
loldS another man. Ia his long. Ion. blind
ness. he has created another world 10 himself
,ut of new voircs-ihc voices of new genera
ions, and OF torrents laundering all years
onr round about his hut Almost all the
avace has been tanned within him, and an
'wful religion fall deeper and deeper upon
,in,. as he knows how be is nearing the
rave. Often his whole mind is dim. for he
; exceedingly old, and then BE- sees only
Of lis vonihfrl life-.lc last forty
ears are "a il they had never been-and he
,eais shouts and huzzaS. that half a century
90 rent the air with victory. lie can still
hant. in hoarse broken voice, ,battle-hvmns
nd dirses and thus. strangely forgetful and
iransey tenacious Of the past, linked to this
fe hy ties that only the mounsaineer can
now. and vet f..eling himself on the br;;nl