Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1866-08-03
NIGHT ON MI. MANsFIELD.
REV. TnEo. L. cUYLER.

In company with my friends, Nichols, Of
Burlington. and Lambert, Of Brooklyn. |
took carriage from Waterbury to the snug
little village OF Stowe. that lIos under the
shadow of the mountain. That ride thro'
the soft green farm-country took me back
thro' thirty years 10 the days Of boyhood.
The quiet rural homes nestled under the
naples by the roadside-the crystal brook
that
''In the leafy month Of June
Singeth It's quiet tune"
to AZ rs We drive along-thc white inject
IN house" s;eeples telsgrphing the villages
from afaT-the neat schoyl-h0uscs. with
their tsxcn heads starting up 30 the
wind vs. to see the carriagc Ta=s-t'ic en-
crald meadows waiting TOR the sycthc-aH
;h,se reproduced the carly home Of iny boy
hood 70 get ort Of the wagon, and over
the fence and roll III these luxuriant beds Of
fragrant grass was az irresistible temptation.
Bred rcn." said e plantation preacher.
'.you viii find my tcxt in lie cpistlc Of
'clu,cr' NO, hFuddcr," said Pomp,
..yuu means &c epislle o: Paul to 'Iimotv.'"
~ az. well. bred 'ron. most any kind Oh
grss- viii DO lor dls sarmon 80 For one |
found rich pasturase for eye and sonl on
that ride 10 Stowe, IN the "olistle Oh clio
yer
w reached ibe village at four o'clock.
The large, cool, airy Mount 'Mansicl1
House Of Mr. Bingham, Is the model OF
summer hotel The only fault found si;h
the house was that they gave US turtle soup
and bccf-a-la-nod: for dinner: surely,
their golden butter, ..siuccre milk, and
icc-crcam were enough to provoke the raven
Gus appetite oi toyio0d again. We were
told t.st there are sundry colonies Of
specklgI trout waiting il the mountain
brooks near Stowe for al good offer on the
angler hooks this summer.
After our delightful dinner, Mr. Bingham
brought to tie door a light wagon, with
four Spirited horses, AMI We started Tor the
HALFWAY House, on tue mountain-side.
As We approached the forest that lies at the
basc, We could distinctly de;cct the resem-
blanoe to a sleeping giant face in the contour
of the mountains summit. Toward the
north lies the Chm" which is tie Hottest
elevation. The mouth Is marked by two
defies in the rocks The Nose Is stub
bed mound of rock, 200 feet high, rising
close above the Summit House" Ii his
face Is in proportion to his form, the giants
toes must lie somewhere near Montreal.
There Is an ancient controversy between
Mount Mansfield and 'Camel's Hump, as To
which Is the loftier. Ii seems TO be settled
now that the Chin OF the former is 200
feet higher than the Hump" OF the latter
the one measures I, $50 feet, and the other
4,lSS.
On reaching the halfway house,
lonely barn in the forest. we left our iaunty
wagon, and mounted ponies for the remain
ing mile and a half. Like true-born Yer
moniers, these animals are sure-footod. \
lady Of generous dimensions in our party
found that, in descending the steep smooth
rocks in the bridle-path, pony never made
solitary slip or stumble. The ascent from
Stowe requires three hours and a half. by
hard driving the descent can be made in two.
By half past seven o'clock We were wind
lng along the dizzy verge, and gazing down
into tie stupendous gorge Of the Notch
The night Lad already begun at the foot Of
the pines in that abyss. Just as the sun
had set, We reached the Summit House. Ii
is not log cabin OF primitive days, but
red clap-boarded house, with thirty bed
rooms, costly furnished. \ COW and flock
OF chickens spend their summer in those
AERIAL regions but the other proyender is
brought up by the commissary-general Of
the establishment, solemn faced mule, who
will carry a barrel Of -four up the steep
bridle-path. He has even made the ascent
of the - Nose, a PERCEPTIONS cliff that over
hangs the hotel at the hight of 200 feet.
After tea, We went out to see the moon
rise. She hung her silver mantle on the |
black brow of the cliff, and made Lake |
ChamTlain one long, FURNISHED mirror. One |
star after another came forth, and kindled |
his watch fire over the Green Mountain |
peaks and far away Mount Washington.-l
The silence was as deep as - before the |
winds were made"
Away to the north, more than a mile.
rises the obstinate Chin of old Mansfield |
turned up to the sky with defiant air
What centuries Of storm have beat down
into the giants granite face. What wintry
hurricanes have rioted and reveled about
that brow OF flint Mightier, older than
the Egyptian Sphynx, this hoary monster
viii live to see the golden age which the
prophets sang Of, and his granite front will
yet CLEAN in the nillennial glory
hali-h0ur's scramble over the rocks.
next daY,-now looking down over the
right shoulder into the mighty gorge, and
now over the left into the placid bosom Of
Champlain-broughi us to the tip-top Of the
This Is the point, with its vast bowl Of
evergreen forests beneath, that Clifford has
50 grandly painted. Less lofty than Mount
Washington and less sublime, Mansfel4
sents an outlook more pictureso"~ p'e
tiful - ana beau
We could see every
II the cast tho W. W county in Vermont
.;nc,lv v;s;lia 4Ite Mountains were dis
, i ' !. To the west lay the mag
n 80 -4irondacks, with Marcy in the
-enual chair Old John Brown lies
an his rocky sepulcher over yonder beyond
the blue Champlain. On a clear morning
Montreal can be seen in the far north the
dome of Burlington University shines like a
silver star on the margin OF the lake while
beneath Us on the western base was spread
out bewitchIng panorama of villages,
and waving grainfelds The
dark shadows of occasional troops Of clouds
marched like army-eorps across the superla-
tive landscape.
We were as lOath to descend the noun
tam as the disciples were TO come down from
the summit of the Mount of TRANSPORTATION.
| should have spent a week there for
sermons were floating in every cloud, and
written on every rock. Tins hurried letter
IS but paltry return for what that night on
Mansfield gave me.
But perhaps some native of the Green
Mountain State. now dwelling in The Far
West, as he reads these lines, may smell
lgain tue sweet breath that blows down
cliffs and he may well thank
iod that he was born IN that purest frcest
most vIrtuous Of all commonwealth
launch old Republican Vermont.