The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-09
SUMMER IN THE COUNTRY.

Of "A sOiourn in the COuntry-The Wealth,
Resources, nnd Beauty of PennsylVRnin-An
Abundant Harvest Safely Gnrnered-The
WorLin0s of the "CrawfOrd County System''
I'M Old Mother Cunberlnnd-DisnDpOint
Of Politicians and People mt the tsesun-Ihe
Union of Good Men the Hope of the Nation,
Rte. Etc.
FTop. an Occasional Correspondent.
NEAR CARLISLE Cumberland county, Pa,
Aug. 6.-This Valley of the Cumberland may
well be named ''The Beautiful Nature seems
to have been more than profuse in the bestowal
Of her richest and choicest gifts Reposing be-
tween the South Mountain and the Blue Ridge
on the north, it stretchesits green glories west
ward from the bright waters of the SusQuehanna,
ever memorable in song and legend Through
out its length and breadth it is dotted over with
towns villages and farm-houses. As you look
over the valley you behold luXuriant fields and
waving woods, meadows decked with summer
flowers, and ripping waters bright the skies
above them; and in ALL such n picture is pre-
scented as the eye of the lover of nature never
Weares of beholding. Standing upon the Blue
Ridge, looking down upon the green beauties
below-with the great Sabbath-like stiffness that
rests upon all-one feels in his heart
that 'it is a good thing to be here" holding sweet
communion with nature. As one looks out
rom the mountain-from its deep foliage and
solemn stlness-and gathers into his soul the
inimitable beauties of this divine landscape
picture, painted in richest and rarest col0rs by
an unerring hand, he loses from out his soul,
or the time being at least, the metallic ring of
Worldliness. He forgets the glare, the glitter
and tinsel, the strife, the struggle and the tur-
mol, that enter so largely into our lives in the
unrest of a great city. A baptism of refresh
ment cool as the dews of evening, falls upon
cur weary spirits, renewing tagging energies
bo, md tp
ND again with chccrfulness the burden of life
We gather inspiration from this quiet and
close communion with nature in her sublime and
beautifulforms, and that soul must indeed be dead
that would not be softened elevated and ennobled
by the surroundings one meets here. Nature is
always simple, honest and pure; and the more
we can take in and appropriate to ourselves in
our summer journeyings, the better for our
winters dOings in the busy life we lead in cities.
We ostensbly leave the city in the hot
months of the year 20 re-credte ourselves but,
alas how often we mistake the means for the
accomplishment of the desired end Brain and
heart wearied, how many go to the crowded sea-
side, to fashionable watering-places and ''gay
summer resorts" where, amidst the whirl and
excitement of the giddy multitude, they
seek in vain for that balm of rest so
much needed and so much longed for
What is required is not the thoughtless
multitude, the crowded ballroom, or the gay
promenade, but on the contrary, quiet repose,
change from the life we have been living, SO
that overtasked energies may be renewed and
our weary lives refreshed and invigorated
And surely no place can be so favorable
for this desired recreation as in the country
in quiet seclusion and close communion
with nature. Here to wander through meadows,
hricr with wit
to sit on shaded, messy banks, and listlessly to
watch the laughing waters and hear them sing
their unceasing song. And as the bright stream
rolls onward, our thoughts go back and memory
picks up the lost threads and Weayes anew the
gossamer web of our early lives; dearly priced,
almost forgotten incidents spring up to
our glad remembrance; the present, with
all its anXieties and perpleXities fades
away. We live in the ever-cherished
past and revel in the sweet joys of earlier and
better days. With book in hand we stroll into
the deep wood; the forest trees, with giant arms
and luxuriant foliage, encircle us. We are
pleased to fancy ourselves lost in the impene-
trable shades. Our voice comes back to us in
deep-sounding echoes, and the air is full of the
harmonies of humming bees and song of birds.
Into the very profoundest depths of our being
these voices of animate and inanimate nature
sink, leaving their refreshing and ennobling i'm
preston From these green meadows, these
bright meandering streams and deep-sounding
woods, no one can depart without bearing with
him the richest and most profitable fruits of his
summers pilgrimage.
No State in the Union, perhaps, presents such
variety of inducements to invite travel and
sOioum as Pennsylvania. With n prodigal
hand nature has crowned her with peculiar
advantages and richest blessings. Broad and
beautiful rivers break through her mountain
gOrges and fertilize her luXuriant valleys The
purest fountains of crystal waters burst from
her hill-sides, her mountains and hlll-tOps are
covered with pine and hemock, and in her
valleys the hickory and oak stand side by side,
lifting their mighty trunks heavenward. In its
primeval condition, before the hand of man was
laid upon its native beauties, before the sound
of axe was heard in its forests, the low of the
cattle along its streams, or the voice of ciyiliza-
tiOn and progress had awOke and directed its
native powers to new and better purposes the
''Woods of Penn" were beautiful and grand
beyond description. And yet, clothed as she
was with a native beauty unsurpassed, Pennsyl-
Vania as she was is not to be compared
with what she is, or what she is to
be in the future. Before the hand
of the pioneer forests have disappeared
and rich and fertile harvest fields have taken
their place; the happy homes of refined and
Christian people have sprung up everywhere
within our borders. Towns and cities, that are
but the barometers Indicating the wealth and
refinement of a people, have arisen as by magic.
From our mountains and hill-sides we reap the
rich harvest that the centuries labored to pre-
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