The Portland daily press., 1864-06-16
Portland in her Gala Dress.

Ia many respects June is the loveliest month
In the year. tbs the season of flowers, Of
green fields, of pleasant walks, of gurgling
brooks, of bracing air, of elastic spirits, while
all nature rejoices in the exuberance Of life
and activity after emerging from the long,
cold, Indictment, somnolent season Of winter
We are satisfied that no State in the Union
can furnish landscape scenery Of more unriv-
allied beauty. at this season of the year, than
our own. The air is clear, the sky deeply
blue, the foliage of "living green" the stars
bright, the flowers gay. the song Of the birds
rich and melodious, and the surface OF the
country sufficiently broken to relieve 1t of all
appearance OF monotony and sameness. This
Is true Of the State generally, with Its un-
broken forests and cultivated fields, Its hills
and dales, its mountains and valleys, its lakes
and rivers, its inland scenery and ocean views.
The eye never tires OF looking upon the beau
ties of nature, nor the ear OF listening to the
melody coming up from countless groves, or
the music Of cascades and waterfalls. Tour
lists come from afar to see and enjoy these
things, though hundreds and thousands of our
own people seem totally oblivious TO the fact
that their lines have been cast in pleasant
places. They think of the prairie with its
endless regularity and sameness, and, forget
ting that @variety is the spice of liie," become
restless and uneasy, tired of the old home
stead, and sigh TO make their homes far from
the graves of their fathers and the associa-
lions Of their childhood. They forget or cease
TO realize that, as "nature abhors a vacuum"
SO an active spirit soon tires of and becomes
disguised with monotony, no matter whether
Of sound, sight or employment
Having said thus much of the State, we pro-
pose to say few words Of this city Ia par,ic-
ular. That Portland is possessed Of great
natural beauty, we suppose all her citizens arc
aware, but perhaps some of themmay not be
aware Of the exceedingly high rank which
she occupies in this respect, in the estimation
Of strangers. As long ago as 1s47, when our
shade trees were less stately than now, and
when some of the loveliest spots in the pres
ent city were given up TO burberry bushes
and sheep pasturing,-as we have been told
the party of Cabinet Ministers and other
dignitaries who accompanied President Polk In
his visit to New England, were about equally
divided Oh the question as to whether Port.
land or New Haven presented the most at
tractive appearance to the mind of stranger.
All other places through which the august
travellers passed were left entirely out of the
comparison, and the "City OF Elms," In Con-
necticut, alone was brought into competition
for the palm of rural beauty with our own
Forest City,
II person wishes to catch glimpse of the
morning under the most favorable circum-
stances, let him stand at sunrise, OF a clear
morning, on the Eastern Promenade land allow
his eye TO sweep the beautiful bay before him.
with Its hundreds of islands, Its ripling waters,
Its myriad of vessels-large and small, at an
Choir or under sail-its bristling forts, its blue
expanse in the distance, and all the enchant-
ment that nature in her lavish moments has
thrown around and over the scene. The Bay
OF Panama is said to be second only, In natu-
raj and romantic beauty, to the Bay of Ma
pies, of world renown. We have not seen the
latter place, but 1t has been our good fortune
TO look out upon the Bay of Panama, both
from the land and from the water, at various
points and under the most favorable aspects.
and we deliberately assert that, aside from ex
uberant tropical foliage, in no respect do the
views there obtained rival, If indeed they
equal, the views Of our harbor,-its islands
and contiguous coast,-as 1t may be seen from
the standpoint to which we have referred.
Nor Is the inland view from that point by any
means inferior. The eye sweeps over the fair
iace OF the country, and takes In scenes Of