Smyrna times., 1872-02-21
,ron ssribn,r'. Monthly Ior Mareh,i
The Chesapeake Peninsula
nv GEORGE ALFRED TOWNSEND.

ono,I Lost and the vague, until Ihoreau.
y, u T%,,osevelt, SOW and the newspaper tourists shed
rOpt rnon the former two. A ike service Is
hE"s TX. % be rendered to the larger, more popu,,
}ens and in many respects more quaint ana
il.Uonerable strip of Maryland, whlch Is lnclosgu
between the Chesapeake ana the ocean; In
DEW of water-scenery, it is the Puget Sound
p,ntrv pU,"tt Of the Atlantic, pierced with broad,
cou;rnble arborescent bays and rivers, almost
nafe';tv in the salt delicacies OF shell fish and
" Gai L. fo,vl as their shores with orchards of
, WIN 'o and Crfyes of nuts and berries. The |
Peao"' ~ n,,,ot;mes sandy soil is varied by long
IoaIS' % nond and brackish sound or bayou,
nS:so s.S, humid vegetation is strong and stately
y, cvnress gum, or hemlock forests. The
aoven or twenty fishing or court house towns
W. larger and more characteristic than the
MsrvIand settlements on the Western Shore,
md several of them possess attractions Tor the
traveller in old church, manor mouse, ana mill
snah;tecture and in picturesque groupings of
sa.ns and angles not current 10 thoroughtare
r.S Io.n of America, bridges, broken roofs, and
pnoer peH riy.r-craft bendedin atmospheres which,
S~nsats and twilight, are of exquisite soft
aass and spl4ndor; while, locked away for two
hUndred wears in this forgotten nook, the peo-
,Ie GENERALLY retsn purity of English blood
ppn1 snirited natures entirely compatible with
nnrorincalisms of speech and manner, and
amusing instances of idiosyncracy. The whole
of one of the thirteen Colonies and parts of
two others, are comprehended between the
head and the Capes Of the Chesapeake.
The typical Deawarean is robust, easy
uoing oIling compound of Swedish, Finish,
shut out from the enterprising life of the sea
by want of harbors and commerce, inhabiting
a fat land of sluggish creeks, good farms, and
tracts of low forest, and. except in the north
ern county of New Castle, he seldom passes
the plane of village Epicureanism and inoffen-
siye :" cleverneSs. John NJ. Clayton, for a
time President Taylor Secretary of State, and
Lorenzo Thomas, for shorter time President
JObnsOns Secretary of War, were Delaware
The Eastern Marylander is the Virgnian
without his institutions and dogmatism. The
seed of Quakerism and Wesleyanism success
sively fell upon kindly soil in these old and
bospitable counties, softening society, intoning
j: to consonance with the surrounding gentle
scenery; the establishments of church and
estate magstracy abated their claims in the
presence of so cordial a democracy, and Meth
odsm kept aristocracy at bay, not less by the
energy of its circuit preachers than by the
steady worldly prosperity of its membership.
The landholders, whose roOmy residences, built
Of English brick-the ballast of their return
ing produce vessels-still beautify the banks of
the Wye and the Choptank, have lived to see
the dissenters' chapels flourish above their
own decayed parish churches and a-mora
grave stones, and in some cases the usurpel
has not only appropriated the tithes but also
the ritual. The Methodists OF Cambridge have
decorated thelr,pulpit with the cipher |. Ii. s.
and the Roman Cross, and introduced choris
ters and responses in the service.
To visit the Peninsula most expeditiously
before the reforming era has quite remodeleC
1t, one must leave the great southern railway
line at Wilmington, the metropolis of th'
PENINSULA rafting town of mills and ship
yards, now nearly of the population of Phila
delpha at the Revolution, and possessing tn
only daily newspapers of the whole region
Here in the cleft between two small rivers,-
one of 6ne water-pOwer and the other naviga
be,-was the capital of Swedish America
kept:n green remembrance to this day by on
picturesque church which obtained its pastor
from the Bishop OF Upsala, nearly to the dat
OF our Independence.
The towns of Delaware are sometimes QUAR-
but seldom busy, and are often inhabited by
social life superior to their apparent resources
Women OF spirit, and young men of gent
manner, with frequent instances OF persons
beauty 10 both sex, relieve the listless b.
streets, and fine old men and women, courteou
y lnqusltlve as to strangers, suggests author
ties for neighborhoOd traditions and humoro-
studies in human nature. The inns are almo
ivariably poor; for nobody goes to a tave
who can rely upon good introduction, acquaiu
ances, or even fair appearance. The railroi
runs through the State like seam, and h
created several new and sprghtly towns, CALI
generally after State folk or railway dignitarit
and the inns in these cases are often kept
PennSv Iva of Earpan daeoapt nc 2
porttOwns built upon the Delaware or some
the slow tidal creeks which empty into
New Castle shows the most decay,-once
great ferry slip between North and South, al
the hrst strong. hold on the Delaware for be
OWede and Dutchman, now merely jail and
pnlOry place for its county, and rusty and la
when the cOurtweek is done; Delaware C
was long the shipping port for Delawi
peaches. and it still derives some importar
from the Chesapeake Canal, Of which it is t
outlet; from Fort Delaware, which star
opposite upon a low island in the cham
and from a railway which will soon join it
Pennsylvania Deutchland; Smyrna and n
ford are hourishing grain markets, rum
packet and freight boats to Philadclph
lewes, called for the English shire town of
county Tor which its own is named is the
terminus of new railway, and it sustain
Steamship line to New York around Cape NJ
IT'S village upon sand heap made of cl
boarded houses, the homes of pilots
seatarng men, and with some pretences to
watering place. Que old Episcopal chnl
surrounded by many gravestones, some OF I
pie wrecked off the Clpes of the Delaware,
detaln the traveller for half an hour, VT
nearly mile across salty plain, the lamp
Cape Htnopen are seen to cap the summit
mighty hill of sand which has blown over
tallest boles Of former forest and buried Il
alive Here is the great breakwater of stt
stlll unfinished d,-although the work has
10 almest continuous progress under our
eminent for more than a third of a centur.
where seagOing vessels, and coasters
Syoiely run in from impending storms betv
Highland Light and Hampton Roads, a
three hundred miles.
Interior Delaware shows at Dover, the
capital, queer little brick State house "a
4 apublic green, with the whipping. post co
nent the Senate-chamber is not bigger