Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-09-03
alike earth's gigantic sentinels,

"LlAE 5aLbAG kAEklAlt EEAAeAANA1f
D~sscourEing In fheEkiss."
The desire to ascend these great watch
towers of earth is recognized by al men:
and as shown by losses Of life, constantly
recurring In the Alps, there are no dan
gers so great thai they viii not Do en-
countered 70 crafty an Unborn desire 70
triumph over physical as over moral OBJ
stacles and look down from empyrean
nights upon those content to dweu In
smiling valleys. Standing on the brow OF
the lofty precipice that Lifts It's rugged
front far above MOntvale, q scene of won
derful beauty is bsheld on every hand.
Sixty miles way, toward the set
ting sun, the horizon Is hedged In
0y the Cumberland range, that rises up
like 8 mighty and endless Chinese wall.
Streams nat glitter like threads OF silver
sparkle In b sunlt valley " thousand
feeS below, and there rises mp through the
clear atmosphere 8 melody in the very
winds, signing among the trees hat bend
before breezes as pure as an Anglers
breath.s Down 10 the deep valley, west OF
the height on which I stood, rests Mont
vale. Turretted white cottages and the
great hotel, with its sharp gables and nd
less galleries, remind US of Swiss villages
SO often described by tourists who are
accustomed, unwisely, to cross he ocean
to find themes in nature for descriptive
eloquenee. The hight we visited termi-
mates il a lofty heap of massive stones.
We assembled to the base Of these Of horse
back within an hour after leaving the
valley. From this point the ascent is
made, even on foot, with great dimcuity.
stones, mightier than those that attest the
tolls of ancient Egypt, or Of primeval
Stonebenge, are here, heaped one upon
another. and rent and broken in massive
fragments. The level space upon the
summit does not exceea fifty feet in width
and on either hand the line of direct de-
scent for FIVE hundred feet Is almost per-
pendicular. Beyond this, the slope TO the
valley is more gradual. On the eastern
side Of the stone-capped hight the beauti-
full, narrow valley is hedged in on ah sides
by lefty peaks, and in its midst are the
rude sbodes Of mountainous. Their iso-
lated dwelling place is known as the
Happy Valley. Even while the sun was
far shove the distant western range OF
mountains, deep shadows rested upon the
little meadows far below in Happy Val
ley. We started a great stone from the
highest point of the crag. 1t made n
wonderful leap, and then, rolling down
the steep decliVity, it threw down trees
and started other stones that became
countless as the mass rushed on. There
came back ecboing sounds, as II g tornado
swept away 8 forest or q city. Then there
was perfect stiffness, and We heard the
voice of the master of Happy Valley. BE
is not q saint. He swore vehementlyi a
evidently deemed us worse than ssysges,
who endangered, that we might Dc
amazed, the security Of his modest little
home.
There is no point in any range of noun
tains in Tennessee which / have visited
in this or former years, combining views
more sublime and beautiful than this
from the height notwithstanding Montvele
In most instances the view is confined to
= narrow district of country; but here the
landscape is magnificent, as the range of
vision is almost limitless. The dome Of
the University building, st Knoxville,
nearly thirty miles distant; the Smoky
Mountain. Waldon's ridge toward the
Northwest, the Alleghsnies in North
Carolina toward the East and Southeast,
and villages snd farms and cottages, a
magnificent panorama, are all seen at q
glance from the point on which we stood.
The sun was going down, and the valleys
here and there were slowly overcast by
the shadows of lofty mountain peaks.
When the sunbeams kissed a stream it
shone resplendently, and when brilliant
| rays Of light no longer illuminated the
surface of the water It became q white
marble pavement in the midst of valleys
robed in the deepest verdure. A lower
range of mountains was blackened by
deep shadows from a higher, n beyond
the first a lof5ier height would still be
bathsd in sunshine and glittering gold.
Steadily, as the sun went down,
the loftiest unshs6owed cliff that
seemed to kiss the clouds,
would grow brighter and brighter
and at last the farthest sky
piercing peak would catch the glow n
shoot up in flame over the black valleys
below. The base of the mountain was
baptized in darkness. and it's proud summit
in 9 sea of glory. For hundreds of miles
around, there was one mighty smphi
theater of mountain ranges filled with
chsngeful lights and shadows that melted
and flowed into one another till my sense
were beWildered. Was It a crime that I
dreamed that God was throwing over
them His own robs of t-rsnscendant glO-
ryi I never beheld a scene so crowded in
every direction with beauty and sublim-
ity.
MoNTvALE.
intended all this outburst for the con-
| clusion of this letter, but It came nstu-
rslly first. The scenery about Montvale
is, perhaps, the chiefest attraction of the
delightful watering place. But aside
from this, there is everything to allure
the toil-Worn and diseased. Health and
| strength are restored, not only by the
springs, medicated by the hand Of the
Creator, and by winds as pure as the
| breathings Of seraphs, but art and
wealth have done everything posi-
bic to render Montvsle attract
i've. One hundred and twenty
THOUSAND dollars have been expended in
buildings. There are graveled walks and
pretty drives and rose-olsd bowers and
evergreens, and in their midst many a
story of love has been whispered by
trembling lips during the past summer.
/ A band of music lends melody to charms
with which the spot is invested by nature
and taste and the lavish expenditure of
money, and 1 can only regret that my So
journ In this paradise was limited by
your DEGREES to q single day. Iwslked
along the open galleries of the hotel one
hundred and eighty feet in length, listened
to music within the great ballroom occu-
pied by fifty couples on the floor, ssw the
moon st day-dawn sink behind the Cum
berlsnd mountains, and must tell the rest
In Memphis. L. ]. D.