Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1881-07-15

progress ever invade these mountain regions,
or the ingenuity of man ever discover uses
for these rocks and boulders, or coin wealth
from this wildernessg Hitherto country
like this has been regarded of no value save
for the timber which 1t grows, and when
that is exhausted Is abandoned because Of
sterlity and desolation. Who can tell wheth-
er there may not be in these boulders, these
rocks, unknown wealth in reserve to reward
the researches of science in its utilitarian
explorations. We are not speaking OF gold
or silver or any other dross which men have
hitherto wasted their toll To accumulate, but
of new discoveries and new purposes to
which these now useless things may be APP
plied-dlscoyerles which may stop the tide
of immigration now surging to the Far
West. May II not be that science, while
delving among the wrecks OF vanished ages,
may stumble upon some new principle or
combination Of the elements of which these
rocks are composed that shall give them a
value beyond that Of the richest lowlands
and make them the centre of a dense and
cultivated populations Is II improbable?
See what gigantic strides the world has made
in the memory of those now living Look
back but fifty years and see what strides 1t
has taken The curtain of the nineteenth
century will soon have fallen, and as we
look out upon the growing brilliancy Of the
closing scene we can but exclaim that the
principle Of human liberty belongs TO ages
of liberal enlightenment and that progress
is the law of its being. Indeed, from the
hour that first the May Fower stood SILVER
ing in the gale, the spirit of progress seems
10 have been the watchword. The tide Of
immigration is rolling upon US until its
waves are dashing over the sunsetside Of the
Alleghanies. Science and art are developing
their treasures and have invited the rich and
poor TO partake; skill has bridged our rivers
and filed our marts with the messengers of
commerce; rails have been laid across the
continent, thus binding US not only by bands
of iron but by the bands OF mutual inter
course. by the application of steam, time
and distance have been swept away. Light
ed palaces, freighted with passengers, leave
the metropolis of the nation at the mid-hour
of night, the morning sun greets them climb
ing and curling over the Alleghanles; on
ward and onward through the vast and fertile
plains Of the valleys OF the West; onward
still until lost in the gorgessof the Sierra
Nevadas Of America, where the wild screams
Of triumph are caught up by some bold and
enterprlsing pioneer who, In the pride and
gladness of his heart, exclaims westward
the course Of empire makes It's way;" on
ward STILL until il halts upon the gilded
shores of the Eldorados of the Pacific, and
there, like n gay and thoughtless beauty, her
ear catching the music of the continuous
roar of the mighty waters, her hair dripping
with the silyered foam which comes riding
ON the tidal.crested waves, she too exclams,
"behold my conquestW Hardly have her
words been uttered ere our own Morse had
caught and sent them on his educated wires
into every editorial closet the press unlim-
bers lis artillery, and In an hour they are
falling on the civilized world like snow
flakes from winters storm, and man stands
back amazed at the engines Of power that
his mighty mind has conjured. Nature has
been compelled, and is still being compelled
| To yield up secrets which have been for cen
turtles regarded as beyond the power Of
human capacity 10 penetrate. Is this rush
of progress 10 remain uncheckedY If 50,
what mystery, even Of omnipotent wisdom,
will remain unsolved ut last; what results
will not human energy be able To accom-
plish
! We know not how far into what fields OF
doubt and uncertainty these enquiries would
have led us, but CHANGING over the extended
view our eyes fell upon the residence of our
old friend, the late Gov. Francis Thomas, OF
Maryland, how different at once grew the
channel ofthough memories II awak
ened Strange, mysterious and gifted old
man! We saw him for the second time in
our lie under the trembling shadow OF
time worn and dilapidated cabin on that
very spot, an exile from society, but calm,
dignifed and composed ~ the very hills
midst which he had taken shelter. We saw
him years after, and nearly the last time,
when he had served three successive terms
in Congress and four years as minister TO a
foreign court, seated on the porch Of his
handsome new residence. The wants OF
cruel adversely had given way 10 ease and
plenty popular indignation had turned 10
popular applause, but neither the scenes and
labors incident TO legislative halls nor the
splendors Of diplomatic court could afford
him that relief which he found in the seclu-
sion and stiffness Of his mountain home
Here he lived, moving midst the rocks and
glens and over the precipices, hunting for
the music Of the wild woods and the storm,
while the burden Of his own sad and Affect.
ing song could be found in the following
words;
II the love Of the heart is blighted, II bud
deth not again,
II that pleasant song il forgotten il is 10 be
learned no more;
Yet often will thought look back, and weep
over early affection,
And the dim notes Of that pleasant song will
be heard as reproachful spirit
Moaning in Aeolian strains DER the desert
Of the heart
When the hot siroccos Of the world have
wthered It's one oasis"
Altamont stands at the upper terminous
of this grade, the dividing ridge between
the waters of the Potomac and Ohio IL is
situated at a height 1926 feet above tide
water at Baltimore.
Here we must again Disk the indulgence
of our readers until the next issue, when We
will bring our correspondence 10 II close
A Philadelphia negro refused 10 get out