The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-04-20
GORREsPONDENCE
Egyptian Cor. esp5ndance.

I
NEw LIBERTY Ill, April 8, 1852
Eds Portage Co Denoeat: |.
To one who has never been beyond the Dor
iers of his own neighborheod. the gros ing
west presents q thousand stfrat tons.
g Leaving tbeintie farm which has beeuthe
home of his youth, or perhaps those Eollege
Halls eIdeared by thousand recollectiens
he Journeys towards the setting sun and feels
for the e st time that his little bark is fairl,
af1oat on the sea of life Fast as steam can
carry him, he leaves the cherished scenes OF
early DAYS, and is soon in the valley OF the
great Father of Waters Here nature has
hes,oaed her gifts With a lavish hand. The
rolling pi airip covered with its carpet of flow
prs, and the rich timbered land that skirts the
-,reams. tell of a wealth as yet scarcely ex
plored.
OF this fertile valley, no part is 90 little
known and understood as Egypt Yes, dis
pissed and wrorged Egypt not ike Egypt of
Of old SHINING against light, hut erring FIR
want of light What may have been tn :
cause of this part of Illinois first being called
Egypt. we do not know. but as the ancient
bore rich harrests of corn 20 does the mod
ern and as darkness once overspread the ain
ful hosts of Pharaoh, go Egypt of Illinois has
long been cropping in thick mists We need
not stop here to speak of Incidence. poverty
and il norance.
1t is needless to say, that her farmers are
not the enlightened cuIiivators of the soil
they should he. bnt most of them mere pIod
ders upon il for a poor piitaDce, that her me
ehanics are mere cobbiers, that her -iawver.
seldom rise higher than pettifoggers. that her
ledagoeuts are the laughing stock of more
favored regions. These things are all familiar
to her neighf,ors and are the taunts and jeers
which are d4iIs heaped upon her.
With a soil rich in cereal productions. nm
derlaid with a mineral wealth from which
Vulcan might forge thunderholts for all the
Gods, with forests of exhausiless capacity
and unsurpassed commercial highways, WHY
should Egypt be fifty years behind the res,
Of the world? ASS any Of the pale faced
dwellers here what is the reason of this, and
he will ansu er you with sbiver. %! we have
such heap of chills.' Sickness is undoabted
ly one of the principal causes ofthis back
ward State But CO existent with this and "a
great extent the canse of it is intemperance
Travel through the by~ays and forests and
the principal signs of life d;scernahle are large
herds of swine; stop at anv of the cabins and
the owner win invite YOU to his table of corr
bread and meat, of which latter article 81 cf
quantiti,ies are devoured as would make 9
Grahamie turn pale. But this is not the
worst form which the monster as umes Here
unchecked bv wholesome public opinion
Rum rules King
He has ruled with an iron swav. and Ief
abundant marks Of his power in the pale ia
ces. annken eyes and trembling limbs of his
snhjeeis
But the great agitation which has swept sc
powerfully over the North and East. is heein
nit e here annd we may hope that the ange
of temperance will soon stir the healing wa
ters. There is another subject upon which g
more thar. n..Egypiian darkness seems to reigr
here Talk to them of the influence SLAYER,
has to hinder their advancement and they
seem utterly at loss TO comprehend rou -
Tell them of the deg, adation of labor in fheil
sister States-from which many of them arr
emgraris-aud they will only say shat does
not affect us any, But who that has behelo
the Hourishirg farmes of the Reserve car
fail to see among the wretched girdlngs call
ed plantations, and the novels called farm
houses, the footsteps of this monster. If he
fails to see it there let him behold it in the
race of copper colors that are daily increasing
ir our midst; a race which are represent arives
at once of the degraded Ethiopian as well as
the noble Anglo Saxon.
But notw athstandi,g the gloom that has
long hung over its horizon light is breaking in
Egypt Ever advancing civilization j.. leav
| ing its marks here. There is growing thirsl
for knowledge of all kinds. Agricultural pa
pers are being circulated and Information OF
their business is eagerly sought by the farm
| fers, e8a 7r a-g
I Already the school master is abroad anG
the white painted sahool houses are beginning
| TO dor the rich valleys and verdant hills -
Grown dissari fed, at last, with the old reda
engne who could onlv read. write, and ciphei
TO Rule of Three, they are calling for educat
ed teachers.
And here too as ever. where civilization has
gore. we fiud the Methodist I,inerant liz
alone for a long period, has been the TEACHER
tof higher morality. A morality which We
NAV hope will soon prevail throughout onl
land. ss' Respectfully yonrs
@ 54te}sst os7 u 81 w. Fl. T.. :