The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1883-05-26
FELIClANA. / Z

i FELIClANA.
Baton Rouge Capitolian-Advocate.J
The original nomsnclature 81 coun.
try Is always deserving attention, for
In 1t are embedded the impressions Of
| the first discoveries, who havo often
communicated whole geographical
description In the name given to q To-
cality. When the first European set
tiers came into Louisiana they found
beautifui highland country, juttln0
into the broad alluvial plain. When
they penetrated into the lnteslors they
found q glorious savanna, where the
magnolia spread Its blossoms oe wax.
whore the mocking bird re-cchoed
every note OF forest melody. aud . vhere
nature, liko a tidy housekeenef, c6ver-
ed over every deformlty with 4 arepery
of grape aud muscatliue yiuea. Tho
enthusiastic explorer gave to this love.
ly domain a name fully Significant az
all these sylvan beauties, for to all the
country north of Baton Rouge he gave
the designation, "Feiicfana," or tho
happy land,
And Il is, or ought to be, a happy
ianu. Never did nature spread more
generous bounty than In this garden
OF the God. The sun never smites its
truittul fields, but communicates a
Sentai warmth. Tho winds never
come in wrathfal cyclones, hut breathe
IN soft zephyrs through tho majestic
forests Of pyramidal beech, or else they
make an eolian harp among the piues.
The caprictous Father OF waters has ca.
tablished exemption for this favored
land, and has surrendered his sccptre Of
imperial power to the purllng brooks
gurgiing over silver sands.
This reminds us. 10 show how f.r
advanced the original pioneers Of this
land were above their degenerate sons
IN tho 'ethetics Of nomenclature, they
found ono beautiful stream crawling
through tho Paradise, and they called
It the "Feiiciana River" Afterwards
q man named Thompson happened to
get drowned in Its raging waters,s aud
some eXecrable creature, whose imnRin-
alton had been fed on cabbage aud
picked pork, called 1t Thompson's
Creek, and Thompson's Creek 1t re.
mains TO this day.
But the dear old stream has almost a
personality to us, and we are almost
pagan enough to believe in the old
Greecian myth, that there isl a deity
that presides over such beautiful
waters. For there is some kind of
personal of deus e.r n,0chisa0 that now
takes tho imagination captive, and
carries us back to the happy days of
chiidhood, when we sporte,l In It's
silver waters, and thought that the
blue Of the sky and the green OF tho
woods, and the perfume or tho flowers,
were created to make q holiday for
young exuberant spirits that called
Feitciann mother.
Some more heathens came along and
called the town that looks down on it's
crystal flow "Jackson," when it ought
to have been named out OF some Of tho
idyllic dreams of Tennyson, It's hills
swell in rhythm, as II they had been
set to music. Tho yellow jasmine, and
the honeysuckie, and tho dogwood,
set up a carnival every spring tide.
The "cold spring" Is namo that
responds to the prosaic conceptions Of
the first barbaric name makers, but q
bolder imagination would have given
1t some Arcadian designation that
would have conveyed sense OF its
sylvan lovelinesss
Now, this rustic damsel Is about to
be introduced to the world by tho bold
genius OF modern commerce, and We
want to stand as Its sponsor. Tho
stars never CLEANED over fairer land,
the moon never kissed more beautiful
prospect. Let all who are dreaming of
soft skies, and Of fields carpeted with
natures loveliest hues, where tho sem
suous fancy may find tho express image
of it's lotus dreams not forget 1roiiriuuo
the happy land. 1t Is country that
nature has provided for those she loves
best. 1t is land for rest, where the
ovcrburdencd brain may find its
repose. 1t Is the home OF moonshinc,
music, love and flowers.