The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1886-12-09
THE GRASSY ROAD.
A Plea for Country Beauties which Mod
ern Fashions Tend to OblIterate.

l would say few earnest words in
intercession for patient, venerable
neighbor of ours and yours, who has
few champions, who suffers in silence,
who is fast becoming discouraged at the
treatment of his thankless posterity,
and who thus, year by year. is yielding
up his hold among us. Country people
everywhere among the hills. let me in-
troduce to you the 'old grassy road"
the mountain turnpike" the old
wood road" the ''lane' thus to be-
speak the aid of the local vocabulary in
fixing the identity would bring to Your
mind-for there is an ..old Marlborough
road" in every town; if not, then more's
the pity.
These ancient highways spread like
net over our New England hills, a net
whose meshes are fast being lost among
the growth which has sprung up around
them. These old roads are all akin
essentially the same everywhere. Pos
sesslng in spirit common origin, the
history of one is repeated in all. 1t is
the track of the pioneer who opened up
the privileges we now enjoy; it is the
scar of hard-fought battle; the mark
of courage, fortitude. and heroic self
sacrifice, the road our forefathers trod,
and now i'll many instances the last elo-
quent visible link between the un-
worthy present and noble ancestral
memories which should be kept green.
would turn the eyes of the errant into
this forgotten path, and if possible keep
1t worn by reverent footsteps, and
guarded against the impending inva-
sion-that 'improving' hand of pro
gress."
For it is manifest on every hand that
the acquisition of prosperity among
our country towns is fast crowdng
out our rural lanes and ancient roads,
tearing up their venerable landmarks,
obliterating their footprints, smoothing
away their mounds, and ploughing up
their ashes. This seems little less than
sacrilege-the deplorable fruit of that
rage for rural Improvement which is
now terror in the air, following in the
train of wealth and prosperity and a
certain era in the history of every grow
ing town. Not but that in its proper
place, where it pertains and ministers
TO individual home comforts, it NAV De
highly proper and desirable; but when
it sweeps the country not unlike Il
scourge of locusts, and at length drives
the wouid-be country" pilgrim or
native inhabitant to the limits of the
township to find a bit of nature sun
adorned" is it not time to cry halt?
Even the great metropolis hath
suburbs-a verdant rim which may be
reached by horse-cars.
In truth wonder at the apathy with
which these ancient weed-grown foot
prints are viewed by the average village
mind. Even though blind to natural
beauty, is there no other awakening |
touch to which such might respond
amid surroundings where every visible |
feature is eloquent with that spirit which |
makes the whole world kin?
1t has been my fortune recently to |
have become possessed of an ideal gras-
sy road, or rather, l should say, more |
of companionable charge |
which it carries tenderly and INSOFAR |
ably in its bosom This is my
farm. 1t is way up there, the old road
along its edge and winding
away somewhere into the clouds. / |
have never vet found its end. and never |
shall. Ere this have known certain |
but now | am content ITO |
breathe my native air in my own
ground" L shall live out my appoint
ed days ere | exhaust this single path:
what need then of guide=books to Eu-
see the world, the Continent,
the Orient? | could sit within this
realm and ill my portfolio with them
all. Here is my cross and crescent |
What is the roar of Niagara compared |
to this still small voice-the Alpen |
peaks, the Matrerhorn? Indeed, nv |
grassy road has carried me much high |
er than these.
The features of these old roads, as [ |
have said, are alike in all. How natur- |
ally are the feet of the saunterer drawn |
thither! and even when he would take |
his leave to seek some distant hunting /
ground, or familiar wood or brook, how |
irresistibly is he induced to procrasti-
mattel
This free. unrestrained meandering |
course of the grassy road possesses a
irresistible charm--the ever |
recurring vista with the invariable tan
taliZing curve beyond. How does that |
elusive beckoning curve coquette with |
your fancy! What will be the prospect? |
hill or valley, shimmering pond, rip |
pling river, or billowing field. dusty |
wood, or haZy tremulous distance of |
blue hills? There is all the mystery of |
Il tomorrow haunting that elusive |
curve. Yes. witching presence |
hovers there; il is the spirit of the path. |
Turing you on and on with eyer-enticing |
promises, never disappointing you.
never satisfying you. Now we shall |
catch her in yOnder closed covert |
among the jumpers; there is no escape;
but 10! she has sped hundred feet be- |
UnnH NVh in hn nf int
fence beam beneath the beckoning as |
pens she points you still onward; and |
what is that! well-known voice, now |
strangely modulated to my fancy, cries
plainly now. if never before, Come, |
more yet" Yes. ''more yet" this is the
very watchword of the grassy road. |
There is segment of eternity in that |
beautiful curve beyond.
There are all sorts of lessons as we |
turn the leaves, lettering by the way. |
Sitting here under my favorite tree, as
is my wont, like Hamlet at the feet of |
his mistress, eager and expectant, |
though be it admitted with spirit not |
precisely akin to his. | await my enter i
tainment. The play begins Immediate
ly. A bell note from the country rings |
the curtain up; 4 tanager fits by rs |
though to fire the foot-lights; and ere
we are fairly seated mysterious pres
ence steals upon the stage and rivets our
more ominous prologue
than l could wish. Note the sombre
garb, the stealthy approach. 1 recog-
nize him. and his Is an unwelcome
shadow among these bushes. But the
has observed us, and is of
gain as fast as his black wings can
take him. This is the bird whose tiocks
we observed scampering around the
nose of the COW pasluring in the field
near by. 1t is said that they seek the
insects aroused into activity by her crop
ping, but l half suspect it is as much the
sweetness of that scented breath that