The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-08-15

culiar to herself; ,but is 1t not one of the
chief glories of the Almighty that his eX-
preston of beauty is as infinite as himseltY
If in the human face (Which only measures
about eight by twelve inches) he can put
such endless variety of appearance, so that
of the millions on this earth no two faces
are Just alike, what may he not do with all
nature to work uponl
"There is the mournful beauty OF the
plains so monotonous and vast. Where
else does the sun reveal himself in such
prohigate splendor? | have seen him go
down in a perfect explosion of color-the
clouds fairly dripping their crimson light,
the very air incarnadined. There is the
stupendous beauty of the Rocky Mountains.
Biologists trace the life of animal and
plant in the fossils of the rocks; but the
Rocky Mountains!-those domes and PIN
nacles and bastions of masonry-what are
they but fossilized Power, the witness to
old Chaos, the footprints of God himselfl
In the presence of such awful beauty the
soul of man had not even struggled to utter
itself until Colerdge, in behalf of humanity,
breathed his hymn to Mont Blanc:
9 dread and silent Mount g a9Ee,d upon thee
Didst vanish from my thought. Entranced in
worshiped the Invisible alone.
There is the fifteen hundred miles of
Alaskan beauty from Victoria to Chilcat
Those wonderful islands-strung on a sill
yer thread of water, like Natures rosary
have continuous, incessant, persistent
beauty whichis almost cloying-like linked
sweetness long drawn out
"Then there is-but | was about to speak
of Vermont. Vermont is the perfection of
landscape gardening. 1t does not awaken
ecstasy, but it promises content. II well
comes you. Its valleys, like loving arms,
open and invite you to nestle in them And
then, was there ever anything so green as
its mountains? AS flew past them on the
cars they seemed Keeling, staggering drunk
with green. have picked out 4 900, 600 spots
where / should like to build a home. Homel
that word expresses it to a T.. just as there
is no place like home, so there is no place
like Vermont. There are considera-
tions, however, which will doubtless pre-
vent my permanent residence here. For
one thing, fear | am too lazy to make my
living in Vermont. l thought the life of a
Nebraska farmer was hard enough but,
bless me, compared with his Vermont
brother, he has only to touch the button
and Nature does the rest! Your native,
spontaneous crop seems to be stones. Every
where you look the back of a boulder
surges up through sea of grass like some
old whale who has come up to spout. A
barbed-wire fence is not so picturesque, but
neither is it so discouraging as handmade
stone hedge, or that cheUdl de triSe, otherwise
locally known as a stump fence
Then, too, your farms, stretched along
the valleys and on the hillsides, marked off
like lozenges or city lots seem so very small
compared with the western cornfields. 1t
all means, however, that if life is not so
broad not to say reckless, as in the West,
it has its compensations in an enforced Gull
tivation of such virtues as frugality, pa
tience, industry, and the like. Certainly l
have failed to observe the inequalities
of condition which characterize the West.
Poor people in the West are so very, very
poor On the other hand, have seen no
evidences OF that parSimony and penurious-
ness which [ was half prepared to expect.
had read awful stories about the closeness
of the Yankee. One told about a Vermont
farmer who swallowed a tive-dollar gold
piece, and all they could get out of him with
stomach pump was four dollars and half.
Another was to the effect that Deacon
Sklnfilnt sat in the extreme rear of his
church in order to save the interest on his
nickel while the contribution box was COM
ing down the aisle. l wish to give the lie
to any story which reflects upon the gener-
GUS hospitality of the Vermonter. have
experienced only the most wholesouled and
thoughtful kindness in every farmhouse
have visited, whether l came a stranger
on my own recommendation or as quasi
acquaintance on the introduction Of some
mutual friend
And yet l fancy there is degree of
exclusiveness in the Vermont character
quite unknown to the West, and having its
origin in English ancestry. 1 make this
inference, not from any treatment / have
-
have observed of the dead, viz, graveyards.
l never saw so many graveyards per capita
Each little village has its half-dozen or SO
one for the Catholics, one for the Methodists,
one for the Congregationalists-
zone for the master, and one for the dame
And one for the little boy that lives in the lane.
This thing of sorting denominations into
parcels for the ultimate convenience of Ga
briel is-f you will pardon me utter non.
sense. ] am glad it does not obtain in
Montpelier.
81 have had no thrilling adventure Oh
hair-breadth escape during this vacation
unless my experience with a feather-bed
might come within that category. I tackled
one of these things for the first time the
other night in Waitsield. The hotel where
they kept it was scrupulously clean an(
well conducted, and my room was marve
of spick-spanness. No such country hote
in Nebraska, tell you! The landlord doubt
less thought he was doing me special favo
by giving me feather-bed. When 1 ga
down on the side of it to take off my shoes
got up suddenly, thinking had sat dow
in something's feather poultice, for in
stance. When finally lay me down in
for the night, all the feathers retreated il
huge pillows to the opposite side-I wa
about to say shore. 1 mounted the crest G
this wave only to find that it had ebbe
away, leaving me stranded on the edge of
board. never saw anything act 80 Xix
quicksilver. l dreamed that night that
was jetsam and f1otsam on sea Of feather
with men in life-boats throwing me ROPE
suppose there is a knack about sleeping i
afeather-bed which have not yet acquired
know that broncho is a very mild sort
horse when he is finally conquered to sac
die, and l have no doubt that fiery III
tanned feather-bed is a real nice sort
bed when it is once domesticated.
Culture and refinement are more ger
eral in Vermont than in Nebraska and thi,
of course, is to be expected, considering GU
youth and remoteness from the Hub. Las
Sunday l heard a minister who, were h
once known to Chicago, would fill IL
largest auditorium to OVERLOOKING In maj
er and form and impressiveness of d.
ASery, his sermon was masterpiece. TIL
cnes too, was exceedingly well-behave
anu ns.ng with taste and finish But mt
sical,y '0.eking, Montpeliers brass band
an oyoeop nhcy Do you suppose you ca
imagine wha'S brass band Is in a wester
villager EMO, ~ cannot. 1t is somethin
about in your sleep. y ia the ANARCHY I
noise. 1t drives you % drink t. raco,
Giles you with death. Wiz 7 ,ras . asi, =
one evening to attend /. banc. oopnart %
the plaza, or square, or vhatey.r vou 90
it, promptly declined; hat later. s;ytinn =" q
the front steps of the Fullerton tbas y