National Republican., 1880-08-21
MISCELLANEOUS.
A ConnnrtIcnt Ylllnrn.

Wo copy tho following from number six Of
the exquisite descriptive letters now being pub.
lished in the Baltimore SIN, entitled New
England by the Back Door:
~ am dumb. Here have been in yankee.
land for fortnight, not looking for but fully
expecting to see something or hear somebody
to get mad at," but have neither scon nor
heard anything Of the kind. Nobody has in
suited me, made mouths at me or so much as
pried into my business. Truth to tell, there
is less curiosity in these villagers than among
our own; the bump Of inquisitivene5s on the
yankee head seems to have caved in. They
are accustomed to strangers, ! suspect. Any
how, they are natural and human .beingy (if
you will allow the term) TO the point almost
Of fmonotonou5ncss. But l am dumb on an.
other account, as you will presently learn.
AS you approach Litchfeld the rough hills
subside, the landscape expands, larger ana
better.tilcd fields show their smiling faces,
tho line of tho horizon rccodcs and you think
of fllarford county, Md. Lake Bantam glistens
on your left, tho village churches lift their
keen spires into the golden air in front. On
your right, as you ascend Litchheld hill, is the
new Lake View hotel, an ambitions structure
Of wood, the crack house, as am told, of the
place. Next three little parks appear, two Of
them oval, the middle one circle, In the ecu.
tire Of which rises tall flagstaff, for the ma.
tional ensign on gala occasions. You have
time only to note that tho street is
broad enough TO contain these parks, that
they are not cut up by curly @
walks, as parks too often are, one Of them
having no walk at all, only the green sod,
which these boauty.loving people appreciate so
highly, and that the space in front of the court
house and tho two older hotels Is wido enough
almost for parade eground-quite wide enough
were 1t not for the circular park in the centre.
1t reminds you somewhat Of tho better-class
| town in middle Tennessee. You have time
only to note this the immediate problem being
a lodging place, for there are 800 strangers
hore-the driver says 1000 but he is mis-.
taken. After vain efforts to obtain board at
| private house (my constant aim being to get
| into the very midst of tho people) i find
quarters in the third story of the United States
hotel. II is a tavern of the olden timo
| remark on the way to my room, with wide
hall, in which hangs a well.executed portrait
in oil of President Lincoln, with the motto
Post NuJild Phebm in raised letters on tho
| frame. The lower rooms are wainscOttcd
the staircase has short flights of steps and fre.
quent landings-it is easy work getting to
the third story; you do not mind it bit. The
landlord is the image of a German, not al
English Boniface short, rotund, broad fea-
| tured good natured. What? Is that the tea
bell2 Yes, it is 6 o'clock.
After tea / walked the length of North
| street, and that IL is that made mo dumb
| Saturated with the romantic scenery of the
| Aleghanios, and prepared as / was TO find
| beauty here, this street nevertheless moved
me more than can tell. Perhaps 1 am easily
moved, but picture il for YOURSELF 250 feet
| wde grassy as q carefu!ly.tended lawn,
shaded by century-old oms, with houses both
new and old, beftting these stately trees.
Why, IL surpasses the finest streets in Au'
gusta, Ga. To my delighted eye all the houses
at first seemed new, SO fresh and pure they
| were but this is not SO. The greater number
are old, one bearing in its front tho date "a
d. 1I6O," and some would be thought hum.
bic did not the doors impart to even
the most unpretentious Of them some.
| what of the antique and tho pala-
tial. But among the oldest you See
that wealth and taste had lodgment here in
days colonial or nearly so. The last possible
refinement of simple lines and curves was
found by the Greeks, as you discover at the first
| glance in passing one or two of these older
residences which show to great advantage by
the side of the fussy architecture now in
vogue Here, however, is three.story house
in the modern style, with wing in which the
first floor entirely missing, becomes porch,
| surmountcd by two stories. Through and
through the house CLEANS tho sky, rosy with
the setting sunlight. The effect is that of "A
full breath after an attack Of asthma, or a sun
burst ona Close, cloudy day." Further on is
n Queen Anne house, rich, dark maroon or Bur-
gundy wine colored. And there are Others OF
many patterns. You would not miss any OF
them old or new; each sets off the other to ad.
| vantage; but If you were compelled TO choose
you would 60 back to the broad square house
with the COrinthian facade. For romance.
loving childhood, however, the high.roofed
houses with bay windows and rooms arc pref.
| Grablo.
| ttVn,,1-arg gpl,p bn, Ia, 4 1t,
| as | looked at this magnificent street. yam
| KEGS so mean and close that they plant beans
up to the parlor windows! 1t is most
inf; it is a mistako-a wide, the widest kind
of mistake" A mental tumult begins, and,
rs l continue my walk through the village,
increases. Village is the right name, the new
census showing less than 1000 Inhabitants
Some of the grounds have a fxed.up, full
dress, 'just-look.at.mo' look, products clearly
of the architect and the landscape gardener
not the Outgrowth of the owners mind
| Nevertheless, / know of no village or small
| town in the south which compares with what
now SEQ. Cambridge, ON the eastern shore
of Maryland, comes nearer it than any place
can recall, but oven Cambridge is a long
way behind. "Wby is it," | ask myself
not without jealousy and consciousness
of rising anger, why is it that these people
| from the very beginning, as these old houses
and these broad streets show, cared moro for
| the beautiful than we of the soulh2" A ques.
ton, this, for much discussion. have thought
| it over and have reached n solution, which, if
time permitted, l could enlarge upon, not to
your satisfaction nor wholly to my own, south.
ern reader, but which believe to be true not.
withstaDdng. Pestlcnt to tho conservative,
well-bred mind in all ages are the reformors,
but it must bo admitted that they are thinkers,
and to be brief, the aesthetic taste is cultured
| taste.
Presently came suddenly upon n splendid
turnout, II drag, black glossy and light As
papier.mache, drawn by superb pair of bays
| Now n fine horse in fine suit Of harness is
just the purse'proudeIt creature on earth aud
makes a man on foot feel poorer than any
other living thing. Soon l came plump upon
a sad unpantcd, big old house, square as a
| dry-goods box and very droppy and dilapidated
as to the porch, especially the ceiling thereof
My soul what a relief. 1t was so like home.
Thank heaven!" cried, 81 have struck one
of the first families of Connecticut at last
This man is gentleman. He invested in
United States cotton bonds, if thoy had any
and is ruined and refined like the rest of u.s."
Alas! tho house was uninhabted. Sadly |
wended my way back to tho hotel, passing
croquet lawn tennis and archery parties en-.
iOying themselves in yards as green aud slick