New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-07-31
TRAVELS AT HOME.
III.
III.
n,~,enorSence Of The N. Y. Tribune

lisa fact that most of our railroad lines avo' +,
he best scenery Of the United States. Wit -
exception of portion of the New-York a. "0
the Hudson River, Pennsylvania Cent ~ E.'o'
timore and Ohio, / cannot now 80 ~'u nN,
, ,s affords fair pictures Of oc0aN any road
verses. This is especially - Va ~ 'ia-
artery Of Massachusett o.'A 'no A''n
oefASnno on " w .ceNn Railroad train, can per-
go one third of Its actual beauty
Io"e I'd, on eur way hsher, we he'd some
P"' s,inpses among the narrow dells of the
DIRE Hills, but the valley of the Connecticut,
ccaity so lovely, presents but tame appear
Ance.' The charm Of Sprirgfeld-its scni-c circular
sweep of suburban yillas--is invisible and Mount
Holyoke shows but low, blue, triangular mass in
the north.
To one fresh from tho exquisite pastoral scenery
of pennsylvania, so lie mid England in its smooth
fields, its hedge. rows, and magnificent trees, the
country between Springfield and Boston seems ex-
ceedingly bleak and sterile. The rocky, gravelly
soil, the gloomy woods of fir and pine, or dwarfsh
deciduous trees, the clap board villages, limiting o
a new Western State rather than of one of the
mothers of the Confederation, must disappoint, /
fancy, those who visit New-England for the first
time. At least, this was the with my friends.
sCan this be Observation-Disclosures barren region,
where il seems impossible for farmer, with all his
industry. to do more than barely liver" "Think
n moment" / answered, "and you will perhaps
remember that you have never heard the soil OF
Massachusetts praised, but her laws, her school
system. her morals, and her men ~ These it is
that have made her what she is while Virginia,
favored of Heaven in regard to soil and climate,
has become the degenerate Spain of our Republic.
Naturally, the eastern portion of Massachusetts,
with the exception of the region about Wachuset,
and some points on the sea-coast, is neither beau
tiful nor picturesque. 1t is not only rough, with
an Indifferent vegetable development but mOnot-
opous in its forms. The numerous lakes-or ponds,
as they are prosaicaly caled-constitute re-
deeming feature. 1t is astonishing how the CLEAN
of water brghtens the cOmmonest landscape. Here,
however, where Nature has done comparatively
little Man has done a great deal. AS you ap-
proach Boston the toughest region is yet region
Of homes The granite boulders, so unsghtly in
field Of grain, become ornaments, when breaking
the smooth turf of lawn; the scrubby pines, trim
med and cared for shoot into beautiful trees, and
one elm growing and expanding in the symmetry
which freedom gives is the glory of an entire land
scape. Man may sometimes deform, but he often
est improves Nature: it is mere cant to assert the
contrary. And know no better illustration of the
fact than the environs of Boston. =
AS we flashed past the quaint wooden cottages
of Newton and Brighton, my friend asked: "Are
those houses really meant for dwellings? They
seem to me 100 sportiye and toy.f as if some
body had been playing at vilage-making, putting
down house here and house there, to see how
il would look best" This playful character of the
villages never struck me before but it is one which
would naturally present itsefto an eye accustomed
to the solid, matter-offact unlOvely aspect of the
country-tOw of Europe. The rus in ur6e is a
thing never seen in the Old World, unless rarely
in England. We are too used to villages where
every house has its garden and its threshod-trees
to appreciate their novelty and freshness in stran-
gers eyes,
The approach to Boston is almost the only PIE
turesque city view We have on the Atlantic Coast.
The broad reaches of water, the cheerful suburbs |
ON either hand, the long, gently rising, brick hill in
front, crown ed with the yellow dome of the State
House. when seen in the tempered evening light, |
under cloudless sky, form an imposing and truly |
attractive picture. New-York, from the bay, sug
gests commercial activity only; Philadelphia from
the Delaware, is the tamest of cities; but Boston,
from any side, owing to her elevation, has stately
charm which her prouder sisters do not possess.
A Boston Sunday, in Winter, is day of sack
cloth and ashes. A foreigner would suppose there
was weekly fasting and prayer for some great ma
tional calamity Instead of an expression OF thank
fulness for rest, of joy in the relaxation from toll
of happy because spontaneous devotion, the city |
wears GRIM sullen funereal aspect, as if under
going the Sabbath perforce, but with strong 81
lent protest In the bright summer weather of
yesterday however, the painful precision of the |
day was considerably relaxed and the faces of the
multitude exhibited profane expression of cheer
fulness. The Rev. George w. Curtis occupied |
Theodore Parker's pulpit preaching to congre-
cation Of more than three thousand. His subject |
was Modern Infdekty"-the lecture he deliy-
cred last Winter, modified, however, to suit the
occasion. This truly Protestant discourse cannot |
be heard too often. The criticisms to which the
lecturer has been subjected are in Themselves full
justification of his seyerest utteranees. Taking
their cue simply from the title of the lecture his
conmentatOrs-amoDg them, to my knowledge,
Reyerepds-have not hesitated in denOuncing it as
defense of Infdety whereas it is precisely the
reverse. 1t is simply splendid denunciation of
that Intolerance, which, in its most un-Christian