The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1878-08-23

(which way, Amanda, shall we bend our course?
The choice perplexes. Say, shall we wind
Along the streams. or walk the smiling mead,
Or court the forest glades, or wander wild
Among the waving harveSts, or ascend,
While radiant Summer opens all its pride,
Thy Hill, delightful Sheen?''
Could the @gentle bard" who set the
changing Seasons tosuch tuneful notes
look forth from his peaceful corner of
the ancient Church of st Mary Magda
lene, Richmond, would his kindly heart
regret or rejoice 10 see so fair and large
4 town creeping up the heights that over
hung his well-beloved "vale of bliss?'
His own modest dwelling, after under
going many shifting fortunes, has now
become refuge for the ailing poor; the
"Star and Carriers" blooming terrace
steps out into the forest of waving Gins
that whisper down the sloping hillside;
while of the ancient LASS of Richmond
Hill' naught now remains but cellar
and name.
The low and rambling roofs that once
but sparsely showed themselves among
the tree tops have expanded into hun
dreds of solid modern mansions, and
instead of postboy's winding horn, the
short wild cry of sudden-loosened steam
startles the fragrant air.
But in the new days, as in the old, the
claim of Richmond TO her ancient title
of Shine or Sheen, the Shining or the
Reantifnl. remains uncnnieotcd, and Il
bidding to her pleasant shades isa sweet
alluring call which it rarely enters into
the heart of man to resist.
Time only mellows the green luxuri-
ance of those eternal hills whose feet
rest in the winding Thames, and 4 sail
up that cool blue tide while the dew
upon its banks is yet sparkling with the
sun-glints upon the water, drifting back
as shadows deepen, and the nlghtingales
note of "lingering sweetness long drawn
OUT sings in the tender twilight, is q
calm and restful summer idyl whose
charm seems ever fresh and new.
And even when the warm blue skies
have lost themselves in chilly gray, and
the restless waves toss poor dead leaves
instead of sunbeams to and fro, when
instead of lark and nightingale, the sigh
ing wind alone beats a rhythm to the
unquict waters rush, the vale of Sheen
her soft green mantle changed TO one Of
white, has still 4 strange pathetic beauty
all her own. In June she is enchanting
and in January-enchanting still Ma
ture in Il moment of joyous abandon
seems to have woven with fond and
cunning hand perfect harmony ol
woodland and water, ofhill and dale, that
should defy both time and change
Other towns may rise into repute TO be
admired, then neglected, and then often
finally left to slumber anew in theil
pristine dullness; but to Sheen, the
Beautiful, inconstant man is constant
still.
| And no long tables, whose conviye'
breakfast upon hope, and dine-alas
how often.-upon despair, entice hin
hither with their shining heaps of gold
no wondrous healing springs, that cause
| the blind, the halt, and the lame to shou
for joy, disport their waters in the sun
shine. The Parade" too, and The
ubiquitous aBand,7 are alike "conspi-
cuous by their absence and even thu
one poor theatre, built beneath th'
watchful eye of Garrick himself, anC
echoing almost the last words of th'
immortal Kean, mourns in silence tn
glory of departed days. The idler II
Thomson's enchanting vale coyets no
the shifting pools of gold that fleck tn
hill side; he is glad to drink in th'
healthful breeze in lieu of nauseou
waters; and Nature, with her rustlinl
forests and choirs of sweet voiced birds
lhas set the radiant summer to melo-
dies that even Strauss seducting strain
can never hope TO rival.-CLAEA +
MORSE, in Harper,s Magazine f1r SepteR'