The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1873-08-07
yrusosr rursrt-,l,n ,sa,,. .co.

Nw 8a the Wees Is I8a6 Richardson ahc
founder sud editor 0f tie DaYeHpor, Ia5
Daa8 Dem9erat Dadug ihe summer
be has been essIlag ls oll home ia
Orange, ID Jhis State, anl writes aus
happily concerning & 20 tao Democrat, q
pgusalof Which proves blm 80 be
tug YgmoH.er rs well as interesting
writers
Tbeol3 place Is a dozen miles fgom
6wtoU, my samnler headquarters, aud
% lake s. good lock al il auee more, one
day last week bltchcd up aud drove ov-
or lhe biHs for that purpose. The road is
au Ola, narrow and solid one, following
along by the rushing brooks, winding in
aud out among tAe hills and valleys, AZ
ioriiug mountain and valley glimpsos Of
marvellous beauty Views more rich and
more yagied, more delightful than have
ever known on thought before, even
though lad driven tbe same way a hnu.
drod times. The lofty wooded hills, the
wide pasture ranges with their thickly
scattered rocks, bouldcr, lodges, and
lovely Glumps Of maple, ash aud elm
trees; the nimble little brooks, hurryiug
down the bin sides, over the stones and
under thc shadows Of The darls-leayed
alders; lho messy old stone walls, and
mossy.rooicd houses houses with low
posts and queer liltIe wiudow-panes--
dwellings oGtho forela Tiers, innocent Of
paint, with suuken root, trees, dllapldat-
ed yards--all looking old, tired, wanting
to sink to rest yet queer and interesting
pictures after all,
There were villages on the way, the
same houses Of years ago-uo more, per-
haps less; the same old stores where, in
youth, many time we used 10 regale
boyish eyes upon bright colors we might
not wear-upon eandied sweets we might
not taste Now and then an old mill,
here aud moderate improvement; all
lbc way a thousand scenes, more well
come than ever before.
Tae road lays by Gordon Ilights a
thousand feet and more above the sea,
where oyey-arching forests of hard wood
shade the way, then down through long
stretch of rocky, unproliic farm lands to
the old village, Topsham, where one or
two hundred men have lived longer than
| eau remember. a saw.mil, grist-mill
and tanncry are about the sum Of manu-
featuring enterprise; the latter business
having been conducted for the past 10
years by Oramel II. Watson, whose
namesake was a member of the well
known firm Of Griggs, Watson & Day, Of
/ Davenport. Topsham streets were asleep
and almost audibly snoring the bright
afternoon we passed through--the neat
white houses standing guard, the bright,
4 timed roof Of the old church shimmering
in the suu-all around about, on either
side, quiet, languid, and excessively COM
Portable in unbrokon repose. Happy,
dreamy Topsham! No steam-charged
whistle TO startle It's ears-no smoke of
coal settles upon its neat cottage roofs,
no rumbling Of wheels, rushing ofsaws,
changing Of steel or crunching Of iron,
disturbs its every day delicious somnolen-
ey! Years ago it was a principal point
on the old stage route from Boston to
Burlington; but the sharp crack of the
drivers whip rings out over the ears of
the siX-in-hand no more; the portly form
Of old Jack jenness is not now seen upon
his hotel steps; those who have acquired
wealth try to enjoy it; those who have
not, and those who have, quietly plod on
happy peaceful oontented people,
They enjoy themselves, no doubt, so, in
poetic language: What's the odds, so
you're happy?
Let the horse walk on not a step fast
er. There is the old black cherry tree
the old sprug,the birch and maple elump
on the hiil, aud the red cherry and tue
willow trees; the same old stone wall,
aud Squire PerIeys orchard and elms,
and the old bridge, the old church and
the little red schoohouse. Well, well
crowds Of recoilecti0us dow iu, over
wbelm. confuse me; 90 on, Bonner Boy.
A halt is soon made; not at a hotel
nothing Of the sort at East Orange-but
at the long granite doorstep Of friend,
who was once a neigAbor,
II was my native villagc-yet not rel
aliyc there. A mile away was the old
home-home no more; parents, brothers,
sisters, relatives, there no more.
Ia the morning, with old friends,
started on pilgrimage to the old home
FIRST alluded 10 in this letter. Up the old
road so often trod uuwiIHugly 10 school,
/ up through the old woods again, cross
lol. over the hills and lodges, across the
the brooks aud stone walls, through the
gates aud bars to the old Sanborn farm,
where | spent my lstler days Of boyhood,
into the old orchard, the old barn; down
to the maple-shaded spring, aul then up
on tie maple-gf0yed ledge; into the Old
house, q look about, q welcome, glass
ofrider from the cid orchard fruit, and
ol1 again up through lhe Old sugar woods
to tie ola house beyond How familiar
tie oid woods I bod tapped every tree
around the, and drank heir sweets; for
days and days, sap paiis iu hands, had
wanowed through tbc deep suow,or Eith
lighter step tired thc deep snow crust
gathering the acoi water from the han.
lircds Of hBekcts-my brothers aud I, =
long tWe ago Hos tbe dhdueiucss
wjta which tae natural pec1lauities Of
t8t,s t4,peff5ftr afH suu.r tft.a. r4fra trto