East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1864-05-25
Rare ropographical descriptions.

Hon. Edward Everett gives the fol-
lowing description of the Tennessee
River:
Tha! river, fellow citizens, is in some
respects ono of the most remarkable
on the continent It's northern afilu-
ents rise in the State Of Virginia, but
as If to read lesson Of the Union in
the very face of the soil-as if to prop
the fabric of the Union by the eternal
buttrosscs of the hills, instead Of flow
ing to the Atlantic like the other riv-
ers of Virginia, it gathers up the
waters Of its tributary streams, and
connecting Virginia and the Carolinas
with East Tennessee, flows southwark
down to the northeastern corner Of
Georgia.
There, after kissing the feet of tho
glorious hills Of Chattanooga, instead
of flowing TO the Gulf, its seeming
natural direction, it coquets with north
ern Alabama, breaks into the Muscle
Shoals, plants Decatur at their head,
and Florehce at their feet, and then
sweeping back TO its native North,
traverses the entire width of Tennes-
see second time, seemingly running
up hill, for while it is flowing north
ward, the Mississippi parallel to It,
and at no great distance, is rolling its
food southward-enters the State of
Kentucky, and empties at last into the
Ohio, fifty miles above its junction
with the Mississippi, thus binding
seven States in its silver circuit, and
connecting them oil with the great ba-
sin of the continents.
Tho soil of Eastern Tennessee Is
rich, the mountains are filed with coal
and almost every variety of ore; their
slopes bubble with mineral springs /;
tho climate is temperate and healthful;
the territory mainly divided into farms
of moderate size, for the most part
titled by frugal industrious men, who
own the soil which yields them its well
earned abundance. In no part of the
State are there so few slaves in none
is there more substantial population;
in no part of the South is the slave in
terest so feeble. East Tennessee
greatly resembles the lower ranges
and fertile valleys of Switzerland, and
it has been often called the American
Switzerland. 1t is divided into thirty
counties, and its population does not,
/ think, fall short of 100000 souls
My friend Col. Taylor, mods assent.
But this grand valley, with the hills
that enclose it, possesses an interest
for us, far beyond that which attaches
to its geographical features, mcrelyra
SUCH, 1t is one Of the most important
links in that chain of valleys and
mountains which traverse the entire
North American continent, from north
east to northwest, separating the
streams which flow into the Atlantic
from those which seek the st. Law
ronce, the Ohio and the Mississippi =
Forcing its way down into the heart o
the region, whose alluvial plains ar'
devoted to the culture of tobacco, cot
ton, rice and sugar by the slave labor
this ridge of highlands, with the val
leys enclosed in them, from the tim'
you leave the State of Pennsylvania
begins to assume the highest politica
4 importance, in reference TO the prcsen
stupeddous struggle. Extending +
the southwest as far as Northern Al
ALBANIA, this noble mountain tract am
the valleys enclosed in its parallel am
traverse ridges, by the character of it
climate, soil and 81. nIptaral lgoAaUGittifRpn.
Here, if nowhere else, we may tl'ul
say, with the German poet:
Auf den Bergen list Freikeit der IIaach dc
Grufte,
steight nieht hinauf, in die reinc Lufto.
That means
On the mountains is Freedom; the breath of IA
vrles,
Rise not up to the pure mountain gnlos.