The Portland daily press., 1865-08-22
MAINE AND THE wEsr-AGAIN.


wayy ocean prairies! bounded only by the
distant horizon on all sides, and where the
entranced voyageur enjoys the sea-like luxury
OF being out of sight of land for whole days
toeetherl o, the rich prairiesl the ever
blooming prairies of the Westi where cattle
feed without being fed; where they. find pas
lures with no restraint of fences; where pars-
nips penetrate to the Chinese wall. and where
gophers grow to mastodons. Are not the
Great Prairies of the West the Euphratean
paradise Of Milton regained?
Well, they can have pastures cithoat fences
where no fencing stuff can be found; they can
build houses without timber or boards, where
no Maine pines do grow; they can save all ex-
penses for cellar walls and underpinning for
their tabernacles of mud, where there are none
of our granite boulders, quarries to deface the
interminable plains; they can, indeed, raise
greatvegetables and great animals; but can the
prairies raise great men? This is the interest
ing question to human beings after all-can
they propagate great men in hill-less coun-
try? Did you ever hear of agreat scholar or
statesman raised amidst the monotonous
scenery Of the prairies? Great men, indeed,
there have been in the West, but they were
born and reared where mountains rear their
majestic forms, for the young eye to behold.
Douglas was great man, but he was born
amidst the Green Mountains; Cass is a great
man, but he was born in the hi-country of the
Granite State; Lincoln was great man, $50
I,o,s. ~
up high amongst the mountainous ranges Of
Kentucky; Chase is great man, but he first
beheld the light in New Hampshire
Some few summers ago, at the close of
beautiful day, was riding alone amongst the
fee hills of a town in the county of andre
scoggin. AS assembled the road, lined with
neat cottages and well cultivated farms on
either side, the view over hill and dale to the
distant mountains that environ Old Oxford in
the rear, FURNISHED by the golden rays Of set
thought was one Of the grandest and most
beautiful had ever beheld. Sure / am, that
the intermihable prairies of the West can pre-
sent no scenery so sublime and picturesque,
and at the same time SO suggestive of lofty
thoughts, as was the view upon which my eye
then rested with exquisite delight. At
the summit of this long and grand elevation,
stood, marked by a row Of stately elms, the
handsome white mansion of the venerable
friend whose guest was to be for the night,
the western windows Of which rejecting the
red rays of sinking sun, appeared like SO ma
nv hriIlionte in a fairy oactla II xuae ,,ood;
tatiye hour, and improved it in seeking for a
solution of some of the seeming enigmas of
life.
As | arrived at the hospitable mansion of
my ancient friend, whom / had known in
those early days when his faxen haired boys
were clustered at his happy fireside, and
We'd with each other to become my groom,
l was met at the door by the matron of
the house, fnow alas no longer of earth y who,
with characteristic urbanity and intelligence
welcomed me to the ever generous hospitality
of her rural home. MADAM" said /, very re-
spectfuly, of course, ~my ride Cor the last hour
amidst the beautiful scenery of Old Oxford,
has suggested some thoughts to my own mind,
which have solved one question, as interesting
W yOuloCn do IL Cddl NC " inC VI OblcIo, anu
which, with your permission, will venture to
disclose" With the modesty and good sense
which make any lady worthy of being called
"a mother of Israeli" she begged that would
proceed, even before l had fairly assumed my
seat in her parlor. 81 was thin king" said l
shat Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, one ofthe cor
responding editors of the N. Y. Independent,
declared in that paper, not long SINCE that
history gives us no account of great mana
man of lofty thoughts and high emprise-born
in a low, fiat country" She thought it might
be even so. 81 think too" resumed |, stIlat it
was a remark of John Quincy Adams, who
could speak almost by experience in this mat.
ter, that no great man ever made good mark
in history, who was not indebted to an intelli-
gent mother for right direction to his young
ambition." She seemed quite at loss to COM
prehend the point of my problem, till 1 assur-
ed her that it was thus | accounted for the
fact that three of her sons, born in that man.
sion in view of the magnificent scenery around
it, were now them three distinguished Repre-
Sentatives from three different States, in the
Congress OF the United States, making whole
row of her own boys occupying continuous
seats in the Council Hall of the Republic, one
of whom has since been Governor of his ma
tive State, another Major General in the Ar
my Of the United States, and another himself
an addition to the three fellow-C Congressman.
minister of this Government to FOREIGN
court On thus alludmg to her matronly hon
ors, she blushingly sank into her chair, and beg
ged that would be seated upon the sofa and
tell her the latest news of the day.
Where were your Washingtons, your Jeffer-
sons, your Madisons, your Patrick Henrys,
your John Marshalls, and your Henry Clays
born? Under the lofty SUBMITS of the Ale
ghany Mountains or Blue ridge of Virginia.
Where were your Hancocks, your Otises, your
three patriotic Adamses and your Parsons
born? Mount Wollaston marks the place of
their BIRTH And where, first, did that great
est Of all intellectual giants, Daniel Webster
open his piercing eyes upon the light of day
1t was under the inspiring shadows of the
White Mountains of New Hampshire, appro-
priately enough the highest mountain of New
England, and probably of all the United States
east of the Mississippi.
repeat, ii anything gives excellence to a
country but great vegetables and animals; if
the capacity of country for the raising of
great men, who can be benefactors to their age
and The world, is to be credited for the i'm
portance of its products, our own rugged hills
ana mountains may well claim to be the envi-
aDle nome of men who take pride and pleasure
IN whatever secures the elevation and happi-
ness of the race. TRAM
COMPOSITIONS INDICATED.
In the dispatch in Saturdays Press an
nouncng the appointment of Mr.. Hamlin to