San Andreas independent., 1858-06-26

Let us ask the good woman OF the house
for something to eat. Ha /! did you ever,
in all your experience between brick
walls, taste anything half SO delicious
Kings might envy us our simple bread
and milk. And now cast your eyes to-
ward the east, and what do you see? Is
it not one of the grandest sights that they
have ever rested on, and richly worth
the tolls of the way? Stretched out be-
fore us like map, lie the Alleghenies.
The eye roams over thousands and thou
sands of acres of dark forests, inter-
spersed and dotted with cultivated farms,
the sites of many happy homes. The
village of Somerset appears plainly in
the distance, and the eye follows the
winding course of the Somerset and Bed
ford turnpike, past the poor house, until
1t becomes lost in the sombre forest
Away Oft toward the south the same vast
expanse appears, measureless and sub
lines What thoughts fill the mind as it
slowly takes in this panorama, painted
and adorned by an Almighty hand
How little appear human ambition and
all the works of mans boasted might, in
comparison. 0 mani if you wish to see
yourself as you really are-a mere speck
in the immensity of creation-leave for
little while the dust and ashes of the
earth, to which your soul is so fondly
clinging, and come up here with me-
Standing here on this great throne of ma
ture-the brow of one of Gods "frm
hills"-in comparison with which the
gilded thrones of the proud monarchs of
the earth appear like the works of the
veriest insects-let your spirit bow itself
in humble submission to the Governor of
the universe. If your soul is not utterly
dead to every sense of the sublime and
the beautiful, you cannot but feel quicker
throb in your heart, and new life ting
ling through every vein, as you gaze upon
the panorama before you, and feel the
touch of this gentle breeze upon your
brow. Unconsciously your spirit will join
with the feathered songsters around you
in swelling song of praise. You will
acknowledge, with a sense of the beauty
of life that has been a stranger to your
bosom hitherto, that it is good to be here
that life has sources of pleasure and
man has capabilities of enjoyment, that
you never dreamed of before-and when
you again mingle with the busy throng,
it will be with a purer, better heart in
your breast.
Sheptic! this is no place for you, un-
less you come here to recant your skepti-
cism. What. would you enter into the
very Temple of the living God with your
inidel principles +? Nol you may 90 out
into the world, land in the great cities
and thickly settled places of earth, where
all traces of nature have been carefully
obliterated, you may blast the hopes and
embitter the lives of many of your fell
low beings by your wretched system of
philosophy;-but here-why every wa
wing branch, and every little songster,
and every object that meets your eyes will
be living confutation of your principles.
But pass we on. We have one more
hill to climb. Another mile, and we
stand upon the very summit of Laurel
Hill, where, without changing our posi-
tions, we can cast stones both into Fay
cite and Westmoreland counties. Here
a view opens, quite as magnificent and
extensive as the other, but more to the
south, and embracing the village of Cen
treville. The scene is pretty much the
same. Vast tracts of diversified hill and
dale greet the eye of the tourist, stretch
ing away until all seems to ,mingle with
the blue sky in the dim distance We
gaze upon it with the same sense of new
life bounding through our veins, the same
spirit of boundless freedom in our hearts.
Here is the dwelling place of liberty and
standing here, we feel, in all its exalting
greatness, the thought that we are free
and unshochzcd as the air. This is the
great Temple of the Most High; and
here stand Alteration and Faith and
Hope, pointing ever with their bright
wings to happier world above, and
whispering words of consolation to the
dropping heart of man.
But the shadows of evening are closing
around us, and warning us that it is time
to seek some place of lodging for the
night. Yonder is farm house that will
afford ample accommodation Let US
first, however, wash the dust off our faces
and quench our thirst with this delicious
cold water, that is bursting so plentifully
through natures opening in the ground.
How little do your topers and walled-up
children of the world know of the invig-
Grating power of such draught Now
let us enter the house. All. this is
famous old building. 1t was at one time
one of the principal public houses on this
road, and daily and nightly thronged
with travellers. While the good wife is
preparing supper, we can look about over
the farm; and then, till bed time, we
can amuse ourselves with recounting to
each other many legends of the old place
of the almost fabulous number of wagons
that used to be ranged around the old
barn, of night-of the immense number
of emigrants that passed daily and hourly
along the road, seeking home in the
then almost unbroken wilderness of Ohio
urging their way towards that land of
promise with weary steps but with high,
hopeful hearts; many of the trains ac