Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-02-07
GOV. VANcE's LECTURE.
n Large Turnout Ono of Zeb'>
Hest EffOrts-VVIlat hc Said and
How Ii was Received. e.,

The announcement that Ex-Governor
Vance would lecture at the Opera
House, last evening, drew together
very fine audience at the appointed
time. The Lecture was delivered un-
der the joint auspices of the Young
Mems Christian Association and the
Wilmington Library Association, two
gentlemen from each of these societies
accompanying the Governor on the
stage.
The distinguished lecturer was in
PRODUCED by Major Graham Dawes, in
a few well chosen remarks, after which
he came forward and entertained his
audience with an address which has
been pronounced by those capable of
Judging one of the finest efforts of his
ife.
The lecture opened with an allusion
to the exclamation of the army OF
.Xenophon which, upon beholding the
waters of the Euxine, after their long
and perilous march, exclaimed in
their gladness, ''The Sea. the Seal"
50, Il mOuntainecr, upon returning to
his home from the plains, is fain to
cry out ''The Mountains" ''The Noun
tains!" The love of home and country
is cherished by mountaineers to an ex-
tent unknown by jewellers on the
plains. The many and salient points
of beauty constantly before them con-
tribute to this. Patriotism, for in
stance, has been engendered among
them to an unusual degree.
A sketch was then given of the
Appalachian system of mountains, the
word itself being of Indian origin.
These find their Hottest submits i'll
North Carolina, principallyin the Black
Mountains, there being in this State
a dozen or more peaks higher than
Mount Washington, in New Hampshire.
4 scientific account of the mountains
followed, with a notice of the minerals
found among them. The great advan-
tages of the climate of Western North
Carolina were spoken of and cOmpari-
sons made with prominent points, both
i'll this country and Europe. The
great fertility Of the soil was most
remarkable upon the mountain-tops
and slopes, which supported dense
forests of heavy growth. The beauty
of the fora defied description, the
purple rhododendron being the love
Hest of all.
Varied pictures of the scenery were
painted. The grandeur Of the Hickory
Nut Gap and the loneliness of the
upper French Broad and the Swan
nannoa were eIoqnently pictured.
Beauty is their chief characteristic,
owing to the softness and regularity of
the general outline of mountain and
salley,
A Winter view of II mountain cased
in ice, rejecting and multiplying the
rays of the rising sun, was beautifully
drawn, it's gorgeous Autumn coloring
admirably and most pathetically de-
scribed, and a scene of cotters life
upon the slope of the Grandfather
Mountain was drawn to the life. The
mate of this mountain, the Grand
mother, was yoked to him, in name at
least, rather late in life, she being,
according to the biologists, only some
millions of years old at the time of the
nuptials.
The lecture concluded with an ac-
count of an ascent of Mount Mitchell,
lthe Black Dpmel, from the top of
WHICH, the highest point GIL feet}
east of the Rocky Mountains, the lee
tnrer saw both sunrise and sunset, the
description of WHICH, for beauty and
for vividness, col1ld not be surpassed
and which we will not attempt to fol
l0@.