The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1860-12-07

While here with her hu usband few week, AGO.
Mrs. ]. c. Fletcher wrote a letter to the Boston
Transcript, for which there is 50 much enquiry
that print portion of it below. In speaking
Of this letter the editor of the Transcript truth.
fully says We are permitted to present our
readers with the following letter from an intclli-
gent foreign lady, who has frankly given express
society 1t has often been the case that forei ign
ers who have visited our county have remained
here too short time to give clear view of the
workings of our social fabric they have coorcd
it by their prcjudice-but are sure that the fo.-
lowing remarks on Vermont scenery ana Yer
mont society will be received with interest aid
pleasure:
ST. JoHNsBrRY, VT, October. 1860.
Here am in American Alp-land. Since left
my own home on the borders of limpid lake Iu
ccrne. have seen nothing comparable to the pic
tuIesQue scenery around st. JohnSbury. his
place. with its envronS is one Of the pretticst in
New England. "Pretty' is not the exact word to
qualify scenery which combines the bea,t iful.
the graceful and the sublime in mountains
wooded hills, sweet valleys, and those blue ewes
of nature as Goethe calls them-thc lakcs-anti
gorgeous cloudland. My standard is lofty one.
have often been disappointed in the boastcd
scenery of some locality which Eiy enthusiastic
American friends described as not SURPASSED by
the glorics of The Oberland
NV first introduction to the White Hills was
to me great and lasting disappointment. Twas
mountain hon.eyick and longcd to gaze once more
at the resemblance OF Alpine scenery. 1t was
therefore with an indeScribab!c emotion that | set
nv face towards the AndrGScoggn valley But
with all the respect | have for my much esteemed
friend, Rev. 7. Starr King, who has so eioauent-
+ " idcalt-cd nsturc in his charming book on the
White Mountains, must here say, without any
intention of taking down single inch from the
lOftiness and honor of the New Hampshire Alps
that he could not write the same volume after
travelling beneath the SHOWS of he Sierra Neva-
da or under the sublime wonders Of the MI
Blanc range.
The ride from Springfield. Mass, up the Con
necticut Valley is unsurpassed in beauty and
wild loveliness. The railroad follows the wind
ings Of the river, and breaks through regions 50
Swiss like in their character. and so PEACEFUL,
beautiful. that enchantment succeeds enchant
ment, till the mind Is overwhelmed with adnlira
tiOn. But comparatively few Americans know o.
the attractions of this State. Vermont is the
poetry of New England. There nature sings like
no other poet can. in strains of sublime and ex
haustless beauty. Laughing, crystalline brook.
come down the sloping banks like so many JOY
Gus Spirits and Tranquil, transparent lakes woo
in their turquoise waters the pure brillancy O
the sky above. Hills and valleys. woods ant
plains-eveTythng is there that can charm ant
delight the lover of nature. st. JohnSbury is {
most attractive spot where to spend the summer
From its position it is central, not far from tn,
Canadian boundery nor very distant from thu
Franconia Mountains, which like misty franz
of blue, hang at the horizon
There is an air of cOmDleto lonp ohIiS Shnt
comfort all over the village. Some residence
are very fine. l have seen nothing more bCauti
full around Boston than the grounds IF the Messr
Fairbanks. whose ample wealth has been cxqui
sitely aided by perfect taste III the internal an
external arrangement Of their respective countr
seats.
St. Johnsbury must have been lovely spo
when none but those red men, IN whom peopl
of the old world take such my sterious interest
made it their home. But give ne those hill
, with their sunny pastures, and their cultivate
golden corn fields, with the comfortable cottage
t near at hand, in preference to the smoky, dirt
: wigwam, and its unattractive and equally filth
inmates | must confess that | have but yer
little enthusiasm for the Leatherstochings. tn
Tecumsehs, and Black Hawk>-I never coul
fall in love with any of then. What has rende
ed this valley so attractive: reply. the indus
try, activity and enterprise, and consequent pro
perity of its leading men. Here. thirty yeal
ago, one of the brothers Fairbanks constructed
wooden platform scale; and what prolific fami
has grown out of it I! 1t was first made for the
own use. but tout le monde ct femme. finding OF
its exactness and great superiority, would ha'
:. it.
To-day, more than one hundred modification
of this parent-scale are found scattered in inn
merable numbers throughout the United State
Cuba, South America, the Islands of the Pacii
China and India, ard following the Westwa
march, Old Europe-for Messrs. Pooley Sol