, 1873-03-30
arbitrarily torn from her, in 1920, then shall ue
behold the same God-farorod isle and sky aud
NOTES BY THE WAYSiDE.
Old Newport.

I
its rolling SURF and its pleasant drives. Its very
name has fresh ocean favor that somehow
| te1npers tho hot breath Of Ju1y, and calls to-
| gether tho gay crowds that fit for little hour
| through the villn-lined streets, and disappear
( leaves and flowers.
affair. The birds Of gay p1umage have taken
their flight. The vivid tropical coloring is gone,
and only the quaint, old, sombro reality is left,
with it's curious freight Of relics and 1eminiH~
cences. The broad streets are lonely and de-
serted, You drive PAST long lines OF
vil1as will, shutters closed and gates
barred. It might be city Of tho
dead for all the 1ifo yon SEQ among tho stately
mansions, and ghosts might hold high carnival
there, nndiAturbed by intrusive mortals. The.
cool breezes are q triilo foo cool, and you long.
for breath from the tropics, as you look, past
tho dark rocks that frown solen1,ly upon you
out Of their gray OF white settings, into tho wide
ocean that lif4s its pale crests angrlv and min-.
giles its voice, in no gentle tone, with the rush
Of the March wind. Modern Newport is not at
tractive in its winter undress, and you glad
to come back to Old Newport, with its wealth Of
story and tradition, that the wiat1y winds cannot
put to flight.
Old Newport sits quietly By its fresides,
among the footprints of pa1t generations
Each old family mansion hss a story OF its own;
and the low ceilings, wain5coted wills, md
small square panes, 6eem to talk to you ont Of
the last century. The people, too, have such
clear backward view that there is no especial
necessity for looking forward ut all. Every
body knows au about his ncighhor, and his
fart aud f1{i nrffE
grandfather, and SO on, to the fortunate ancestor
who came over in that capacious ship, the A1ay-
flower. Strange family histories are woven and
interwoven with dark threads ct tragedy,
doesn't es 1 turn ''l novelist. '' It T would rot
require great fund Of either imagination or
invention to draw from life, with ono's neiGhbor
for central figure; and. verify, fact is stranger
why good novelists are necessarily the product
OF an old soil Ono must have lived among
histories in order to construct them well, aud put.
Life into them. A new soil has no histo1ios,-
only possibilities; aud one cannot build without.
a foundation. Here one stu1nbles upon q rem
iniscenco at overy step; and yet the place is not
SO very old, as tie world counts .aGe,-only old
relatively to pIncos that have not outliyed sin
gle generation.
You take up copy Of the =" Oldest Newspaper
by Franklin in 175s."' You naturally suppose it.
WAS the Franklin, and wonder why you never
heard that Ben amin Franklin started that ven
erable sheet. But your faith in newspapers gem
orally suffers slight shock-pe1h1ps not the first
one-upon being told that it WAS not the Frank
lin, but his nephew. There ia sly little ortho-
dox deception lurking in that perfectly truthful
line but, Of course, one IL not responsible for
unwarranted conclusions. Nobody said it waa
Dr. Franklin.
One of the first objects that strike you, in
your morning walk, is q moss-grown pile
which they cali the Old Stone Mill. It stands in
d conspicuous spot, and looks ancient; but you
cannot see any possible reason for calling it q
or substantial sunmer-house, such as tho
Titans might have built for their children to
play in. But tradition says it Was mill SO you
rcst content that tradition knows moro about it
than sou do, and tina: people used to have Pc
culiar sort OF mills. But, when tradition tells
you tEat it was built by the Norsemen, IN the
tenth century, or thcrcabouts, the spirit
OF skepticism quietly demurs, and aska
for proofs. The honor OF Columbus is invaded,
AZ well as that Of the other man with lorg
name, rs Who lett US the haritage Of part OF il.
Various hierogIyphics and Architectural points
are brought to bear upon the question; aud, as
you cannot prove to tho contrary, you conclude
that it uas built by the Norsemen. and that this
mental reservation, you also speculate as to tho
extent to which faith ight be cultivated by e1-
srcise, and remember the story Of the Greek
Ith1ete who acquired the power to carry an on
y commencing III Ills llllauCy
Just as you have settled this point satisfactory
:, some one OF smaller antiquarian proclivities
ellis you that it was probably built By Gov. Beno-
ct Arnold, the first Charter Governor of the
1olony. You Immediately recall the famous
raitor, and wonder at what period Of his life he
lelu that position, when your curiosity is satis-
led by the Intelligence that there we're t,co Deno.
Let +Inolds, With a monentary fcollng OF
ympathy for the one who was mol the traitor, you
ASS by tie Norsomeus foot-printa, WHICH, on the
-Eofo +t1orx frf III 1,, ukat5,
hey are genuine or not, because they suggest
uch pleasant little fctlon,-and wander into
he old Redwood Library There is aoIid 1ook
bou: tile low building, with it's four Doric col~
cry substantial within. The courteous LibEariaa
its meditatively among the worn and venerable
olunes,-n and then exchanging word With
solitary visitor who drops in, fingers for a lit@
[e while, hnd silently steals away" There is
net doesn't favor 1raLting in and outt
eople seem to glide through in d
ushed sort OF way, as they do at funerals. In
eed, there is something rather funereal in tho
ing rows Of solemn faces looking down from
1oughts. You wonder how many Of them haTo
ung there to be gazed at, all OF the 125 yeara
nee tho Library was built, aud If they are ala
eys going to hang there. You linger before some
aelves of buried wisdom that nobody can ever
hearth, and "steal away silently, - like all thu
.st.
II you happen there on Sunday, you wander
ito Trinity Church, in the shadow Of which
end men Lave slept more than $50 years. You
op among the decaying tombstones, perhaps,
read q few Of the quaint inscriptions then
tier and take your scat in one Of the -old-fash-
ned pews, which arc as high and square 80 tbs
ceds which hemmed in mems souls. Before
N. and little back Of the centre OF tho church,
tho high pulpit; while over it hangs tha
aounaing-board, looking like stern
to that stands ready to crush the un1ucky viz.
n who utters thought of heresy-
ere md there, n marble tablet in tie,
al tells you of some one who lived
ed, and is sleeping re,-perhaps is listening
'w to short-sighted mortal words. Who
1ows2
Behind you is the organ presented By Bishop,
erkeley, in 1888. History has it that it was
at sant to q church in Berkeley, Mass, where
was voted 81 IN instrument Of the devil for tho
trapping Of mems souls." Tho davout people
that primitive town refusing to have anything
do With such wicked thing, it was aubse-
1ently giyan to Trinity Church, where, it is to
) hoped it has changed masters, and ''heapsd
'sls Of fire" upon its oyer-zealous slenderera-
Ike the tall spire it il still surmou1,tod u; tha