Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1858-07-29
Works of Nature.

that at this season of the year, when people OF
the cities and populous places are !" fleeing to
the mountains to seek refuge from the sui
triness Of the summers heat, letter or two on
the 90 Works Nature" would be acceptable to
you and your readers.
Tourists from Boston and other places, have
already made their appearance in our quiet vii
lage and are making daily ascents to the sum
nit of'' Old Mansfield Every one on his re-
turn, is ready to e1claim in the language Of
Hewitt, . Thanks be to God for Mountains -
One of them asked the other day, what proper
ton of the people of Vermont had ever visited
these mountains, and being told that the pro-
portion was probably less than one in thou
sand replied +" Then the language of Byron
might be we'll applied to them
90 Poor pary slaves yet born midst nobest scenes,
Fl Why Nature, waste thy wonders such men,"
Perhaps he was little severe, yet one who
listened to his glowing description of the scenes
} he had witnessed in his excursion that day,
could but believe that he was conscientious
As it would not be possible to give the language
) of his description, give that Of Hewitt which
SO nearly resembles it that one cannot fail to
f get from it lively impression of the intensity
of delight which the scenes of beauty, grandeur
and submlty, that these mountains afford, had
impaired to him
g There is charm connected with noun
| tans SO powerful, that merest mention Of them,
} the merest sketch of their magnificent features,
kindles the Imagination and carries the spirit
: at once into the bosom of their enchanted re-
l gions. How the mind is filled with their vast
5 solitude How the inward eye is fixed on their
silent, their sublime, their everlasting peaks
: How our heart bounds to the music of their
solitary cries-to the tinkle of their gushing
t rlls, to the sound of their cataracts How
: inspiring are the odors that breathe from the
e upland turf, from the rook-hung flower, from
r the hoary and solemn pine how beautiful are
J. the lights and shadows thrown abroad, and
= that fine, transparent haze which is diffused
o over the valleys and lower slopes as over vast
e inimitable picture. Whoever has not seen the
d rich and russell hues Of slopes and eminences,
C the livid gashes of ravines and precipices, the
n white gittering line of falling waters, and the
&c cloud tumultuously whirling round the lofty
e summit and there stood painting on that sum-
n nit, and beheld the clouds alternately gather
and break over thousand giant peaks and
Il ridges of every varied hue,-but all silent as
:. images of eternity and cast his gaze over
n lakes and smoking towns, and wild lands to the
# very ocean, in all their cleaning and reposing
II beauty, knows nothing Of the treasures of pic
II torial wealth which his own country pos
sesses.'
> Such was the language of the immortal
Hewitt, but thousands who are Us enthusiastic
- admirers of the beauties of natural scenery as
,s he, have given utterance to sentiments as beau
= tifu or sublime as these, after they have asccn-
ded &c Old Mansfield
Ia Whose height commands, as subject all the vale,"
v and been possessed and absorbed, as all lovers
ts of Nature will be by the awful magnifcence of
s. its scenery and character.
" Lord Bacon has observed, in his /" Wisdom
Vi luc ailCleHa, LudC run, uHu6r WlOSc peISUH
v in their mythology, they exquisitely described
7 Nature, was held to be lord president on the
d mountains because in the high mountains and
is hills Nature lays herself most open, and men are
d there most apt to view and contemplate. But
" is it not deplorable that, while all have this
g. book of nature at command multitudes should
T. live through a long life, and die with the ab-
solute loss of such pure, certain, and per-
manent source of happiness as the beauties of
nature, to be witnessed from such stand point,
afford In vain for them the wide prospects
# the erer-varying lights and shadows; and
aerial hues ; the spicy odor of flower and
= shrub the pure, spirit-elating breezes, sound
N ing through the dark forests; the cloud, the
70 silence, the cavernous gloom, the terrible vista
II tions of heavens concentrated lightnings dark
ness and thunder, awful as that which descen-
ded upon Mount Sinai, enveloping the man of
ne God the savage rocks and precipices; the
= fearful and unfathomable chasms, filled with
re the sound of -preciptating waters. To
u such people might well be applied the language
IS of Scripture" Eyes have they, but they see
Y not ears, but they hear not"
re Some may say that the above language is too
intensified, but let me remark that precisely
s. such scenes as are mentioned above have been
witnessed repeatedly by those who have visited
Us Mansfield Mountain, and experienced all the
an vicisitudes of storm and sunshine. And
NJ this description is no intensified than has
~, been that of hundreds with whom have con-
to versed after they have returned from an excur-
ly sion of few days to it's summit, and to the
points of interest that are pointed out to the
he travellers by the ever-laithful guides.
III Here will close this letter. The excursion
ol season has already commenced. The two excel
III lent hotels in our village have been put in read
Is mess, and the Summit and Halfway Houses
'ee are opened and provided with amplest accom-
'e- modations. Horses and guides are in atten.
Il" dance at oil hours, and prospects predict tina
lS- they will not lack employment. Stages rur
ny from Waterbury station, on the Vt. Central
eh Railroad, at any hour desired, Distance t.
81 Stowe 10 miles. RIP,
I'll Stowe July II, 1858.
Wuo TO +ho no,uoo..l:,