Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1870-01-26
SEA COAST or MAINE.

JoEd tc1bI OT MAJ
In the palmy days of the Roman Empire
her statesmen, warriors, poets and men of
wealth and leisure were accustomed to
leave the hot aud dusty city in the summer
months, and repair to the seaside for rest
and the enjoyment of its cool and salubri-
Gus breezes Thus all around the Siciian
Sea sprang up beautiful cities which be
came the resorts of learning, luxury and
political and social influence. Cicero had
his villa at Tusculum, and commentaries
the villas of Balbus, Julius Caesar, CatuluS,
Metullus, Crassus, Pompcius and others.
and it was to this retreat he fled to escape
the doom which overlook him. There
were the cities of Neapolis, lIercuaneum,
BaiH, Stabi,e, Surrentum, Pompeii, and
many others, all built up by the opulence
of the great city of Rome to make life
more pleasant. The seaside had its
season. There the Roman patrician threw
off the toga, the sandal and the cap, as
well As the duties and cares of Office and
business, and loungcd at his ease in Il
trailing robe, barefooted, with the Orien-
tai tillet upon his head What was done
at Baie, one of the most noted resorts, we
learn from Merivale. LAS soon Us the re-
viving heats of April gave token of ad-
vancing summer, the noble and the rich
hurried from Rome TO this choice retreat :;
and here, till the raging dog-star forbade
the tolls even of amusement, they disport-
ed themselves on shore or on sea, in the
thick groves or on the placid lakes, in
litters and chariots, in gilded boats with
painted sails, lulled by day and night with
the sweetest symphonies of song and
music, or gazing indolently on the wanton
measures of male and female dancers"
We have been led thus to refer to the
practice of the ancient Romans to visit the
sea coast, and to mention the cities which
sprang up as the result, by noticing the
preparations which are being made for
summer resorts along our coast by the
denizens of the large and wealthy cities
in other States There are villages and
cities growing upon our shores from this
cause alone. Whether they will reach
the wealth and splendor of those of the
Sicilian Sea is not for us to say, but who
knows that Mount Desert may not yet be
as famous as Baie, and Boothbay as Pom
peii? A few years ago we visited Mount
Desert, before its advantages as a water
ing place had become generally known.
1t was little fishing village, poor in
wealth and expectations, with one hotel
that answered the wants of a few who
came to try its air during the summer
months. Its rugged, rocky, blackcned
mountains gave little promise that it
would be select resort Of the wealthy
and cultivated Now it has half a score
of hotels and more buildings, and elegant
cottages are being erected for the leaders
of literature, wealth and fashion in New
York, Boston and other large cities. So
there are hundreds of points upon the
coast of Maine which are being occupied
in the warm months, not TO such an extent
rs Mount Desert, but so much as to render
the occupation worthy of notice as one of
important interest in our State. Indeed
private hospitality has been stretched to
its utmost for several years to accommo-
date the boarders and visitors that flock
to our coast in the summer seeking rest,
endowment and health where they find a
sea as beautiful as Cicero enjoyed at Tus-
culum, and breezes more invigorating
There has been marked increase of this
sort of population within the past three or
four years ALSO an improvement in the quail
ity, so that Maine bids fair to be the summer
residence of the most distinguished men
in the country. Those who come once
come again and bring many more with
them, the increase going on as rapidly as
by geometrical progression. Besides the
pecuniary advantages to us Of this yearly
immigration, there is the benefit of bring
ing our own citizens in contact with the
cultivated intelligence of other States, and
creating acquaintance and forming ties
that may be of great and permanent value
to the State We rejoice to see the
growth of this condition of things, and
trust that no selfish, mercenary, or repul-
sive course upon the part of our people
will be exerted to check it, but that all
will be done that may be to make the
larry of strangers in our borders pleasant
and profitable. - sr