Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-08-28
Correspondence of the Herald.
isles of shoals.
RYE RRAcH. AUG. Is. 1S1:

II 1E- bEACH, aug 10, 1919.
One of the shortest roads to literary
distinction, is to write a book in eulogy
of some watering place. Such books are
eagerly sought for by those who are in
quest of some place to spend their sum
mer and their money. Such books are
sure to sell, and sure to be read. The
author is sure to be lion at the water
ing place he has written up, and pr0ba-
bly, be dead-headed at it's hotels. Mrs.
Celia Thaxter has written up the Isles of
Shoals, in as glowing a manner as ever
Murry did the Adirondacks This book
first appeared in a series of articles in
the atlantic Monthly, during last year;
and this summer it appears in neat and
attractive little volume of nearly two
hundred pages. The glowing descrip-
ton of these islands by the gifted au-
thoress, might have been received with
some grains of allowance, had it been
known to her readers, that she is the
daughter of the late Thomas LaightOn,
the owner of AppledOre island, and sister
to the present PrOprietors of the Apple
dore House, and herself one of the heirs
of that valuable property, that is yield
ing a fortune annually. Mr.. Laighton,
ST., was lawyer of talent, and prom
inent politician, in times when the Demo
cratic party ruled New Hampshire. He
had been State senator, and had ample
encouragement, from the party leaders,
that he should be the next nominee for
governor of the State. A nomination at
that time by the Democratic party in
New Hampshire was what nomination
in Vermont is now by the Republican
party-eq equivalent to election But alas,
for human ambition 3! his political friends
betrayed him, and he failed to reach the
goal of his ambition. Disguised with
politics, and with the world, he retired
to these islands, and never again set foot
on the main land. He and his family
lived this secluded life for twenty years,
when he died, in 1868 He educated his
children himself, not allowing them to
leave the island in any case, till of full,
lawful age. ...-.-
Mrs. ThaXter came to the island when
child of six. Thus she grew up among
the scenes she so wildly describes. She
was a vigorous, healthy child, of poetic
temperament and fervid Imagination, and
she has painted the Isles of Shoals in
glowing colors, as no one else could have
dam at No ono. .o,y,,oo+ +c ,,;o,,, ~
Adirondacks with Murray's eyes, unless
he is true lover of nature, inits prim-
tive wildness, and fond of those sports
which require hardy and adventurous
spirit. Let nc, one expect to view these
desolate islands with Celia Thaxter's
eyes, unless he is an intense lover of the
sea, and whose heart is tuned to the
harmonies of nature, from the tiniest
tloweret that nestles among the rocky
crevices of Appledore, to the gigantic
wave that thunders against the frowning
battlements of her rock bound shores
The crowd of istless idlers and triflers
who depend on the ordinary round of
amusements for enjoyment, will find
other places more suited to their taste
Itssis fact swell established, by med
ical authorities, and by those who have
given the subject the most attention, that
to secure q beneficial change of air, those
who live back in the country sheuld
come TO the seaside, while, for those
who already live on the sea board, or its
Immediate vicinity, the most salutary
change is to 60 to the country, and es-
pecially to the mountains; and yet, as
you look over the hotels registers here,
you will find that perhaps nine-tenths of
the guests are from the cities and vii
lagos in the immediate vicinity of the
sea-those who already breathe its at
mosphere more or less diluted a great
part of the year. Such would undoubt- |
edly find much more benefit from so
journ among the Adirondacks, or the
mountains or Vermont and New Hamp- |
shire. On the other hand, we in Yer |
mont fail to appreciate the benefits of |
the sea, to our invahls, and those requir- I
ing period of rest. ss...
There are numerous large and costly |
hotels, sprlnging up all along the shore, |
where ample provision: is made for the |
wealthy who can pay three or
four dollars per day for board, and as |!
much more for extras. If such houses |
are literally patronized, they yield to
their proprietors from thirty to fifty |
thousand dollars per annum. But few |
of our Vermont people, who seek the
shore, would be contented in these huge |
caravansaries, accommodating four or
five hundred guests, to say nothing of |
the draft on the purse. You are crowd /
ed and jostled everywhere you wait
long at the table for the attentions of /
the waiter; when only one of hundreds /
you diminish to such an Insignificant |
fraction of humanity, that you often
have to hunt some time to find yourself I
Fashionable follies and vices flourish
with luxuriance; prohibitory laws of |
all kinds are little regarded in such
places. But there are private boarding
houses all along our New England coast,
where prices are moderate, fare excel
lent, and where an individual of quiet
habits may secure more benefit and en-
joy more for less money, than at these
pretentious hotels.