Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1857-07-27

| would most likely stop you in the outset with
! the observation, that she was already better ac-
| quainted with that subject than yourself" And
| with propriety he might do SO, since, under
| equally favorable circumstances, the opinions
| aud conclusions which person forms from his
| own personal observations, are to him the most
| reliable and correct
But l cannot so easily refrain from paying a
passing tribute to that relic of the olden time,
that memento of past generations, which, sui
'hae and hearty stands arrayed in all the mag
nifcent luxurance (pardon the adjectives in hon'
of the subject) of foliage of its primal days,
in the park IL mean "The Old Elm" Glorious
old tree! As l gaze upon thy still handsomely
graceful and symmetrical form, and list to thy
wavy music. the breeze plays upon thy leaves
and branches, am ''almost" constrained to be-
lieve thou art intelligent Say, old tree, hast
thou a mind, wherein are recorded the events OF
past centuries? hast thou memory, IN which
are stored the treasures of past generations
The record says thou vert at least in middle age
If not old age, a century and half agone; that
thou art doubtless older than the great city over
which thou now stretchest thy waving arms, as If
to protect and defend it Certainly thou seem
est to regard with parental fondness, and to
look down smilnglY upon thy citizen children,
they pass to and fro, sit happily beneath thy
cooling shade. How can they pass thee, without
some sign of love and reverence
Like a good and faithful sentinel at his post
there thou stoodst when Otis, and Hancock, and
Adams, with their compeers, first whispered and
then Numbered forth those "seditous" words,
which ended in nations free dom. Thou heardst
the first dread war cry, as it reverberated from
the forests and hills on the road to Lexington !
Thou heardst the booming Of the artillery from
Bunker Hill, and bowedst thy head in sadness,
when her brave hero fell
And say, old tree hast thou ever bowed thy
head in shame, as well as sorrow, at some of the
deeds of thy younger children, SO unworthy the
and character Of THAR strulV ma fTiOtin and
phianthrOpic ancestors Methinks l hear thee
sigh in sadness over the degenerate sons of noble
sires Oh, thou must be stored monument
would thou couldst relate all that thou hast seen
and heard
By the way, the Bostonians have reason to feel
proud of their " Common" aud so, too, have the
Worcesterians, of the miniature one which they
are fostering and rearing.
The sail from Boston to Portland lost much
of its interest, because it was through mist or
fog. which very much limited our prospect l
could see enough of Boston harbor, however, to
know that it was fine one, and enough of the
islands around and within it, to that they are
fast wearing away, from the action OF the Allan
tic waves upon their gravel formations, and that,
at no very distant period. they must mostly, if
not entirely, disappear. Nor could l avoid the
thought, that they are only the remnants of a
continuously connected portion of land, of grav-
ely formation, which once stretched far out
into the ocean, perhaps nearly filing the place
now occupied by the harbor.
Portland harbor is also full ofislands, but of an
entirely different character, being rocky, instead
OF gravelly, and covered with forest trees, of
which the Boston islands are almost destitute.
The rain god Zone of the Neptunian family,
presume) thought fit to be pouring the contents
of the clouds over Portland, when was there,
which prevented my having good view of that
place, as one can have in fair day, from its OBJ
servatory. 1t is considered delightful place of
residence, by many. Among its finest private
dwellings and gardens, that of Hon. J Nj. Wood,
the well known railroad contractor, is one of the
first. think his garden rather superior to the
really excellent and creditable ones in Worces-
ter, and he has the handsomest green house ever
saw. He is constructing the largest building "a
hoteD in Portland The public buildings in
Portland do not compare with those in Worces.
ter for beauty and magnificence. Its depot, how
ever, surpasses any in Worcester.
The country through which passed in Maine
reminds me more of Vermont than of any other
State in the Union. So far as | saw, it has a
productive soil, and intelligent, industrious,
hospitable, and thriving population.
One thing struck me favorably--the great mum
Der of elm trees which grow spontaneously on hill
ami in valley. l have often lamented the sparsity
Of these in their native growth in Massachusetts.
love almost all trees, especially elms The rail.
road route from Portland to Gorham 1.-THE stop
ping place for visitors to the White Mountains, J
is rather picturesque and beautiful, several small
lakes and mountains being in the immediate
| neighborhood F. NJ B.