The Somerset reporter., 1898-06-09

populous city having outliYed their old
companions. find rather close quarters
as the swiftly advancing army of trade
and manufacture claim what WAS once
in the towns youth. the fashionable res
idence section. Always noticeable and
quite charming is the house that Is
shaded by old time trees. Only the old
people can remember when the apple
trees began their vigorous life which is
thrice that which they can reasonably
expect as to years. Likewise the lawn
and wide garden seem sadly shrunken
and narrow To those who remember the
wide spreading. pleasant clover field of
yore. Perchanee they do not think ut
all of the scores of delightful houses,
each framed in a few feet of emerald
turf, and only made possible by the old
| fields gifts. Later on these houses may
in turn relinquish their pleasant places
to various enterprises which give en-
ployment to multitudes, thus new
homes are created and sustained as the
years come and go. New building sites
are discovered aud the city expands,
diffusing its power and enterprise far
and wide.
Not magical like the Western city is
the slower development of our New
England city, which seems rather as
first the blade, then the ear and then
the full corn in the ear. 1t is not with
out Its own charm aud, as in the health
full. natural order of our world, may we
not claim ii is the best?
When we chance upon city house
without a garden, looking directly upon
the crowded pavement and wearing its
two centuries and more of years, nobly,
proudly, of truth we may conclude
that in its youth it must have been emf
nent Such a dwelling in the old Puri-
tan Boston began its long and useful life
soon after the town began its life. The
style of its three-storied front was SEEM
ingly as enduring as the material used,
which never yielded to decay. OF
truth the architect was rarely fortunate
in his conception of what a Puritan di-
vines house should be, and the air
which seemed to cling to it was digni-
fled, albeit somewhat inclined to prim-
ness-or was it altogether stately, one
wonders?
The style seemed to call for little of
mere adornment, but what appeared was
in true harmony with the whole. Oft
times the door swinging slowly admitted
visitors who gravely discoursed or
sought council on important matters
pertaining to the young colony of Massa-
chusetts. Not only because church and
state were SO closely connected was
this so, but the Puritan divine had in
fiuence in old England and was, so his
tory tells, "willing out of the goodness
al hic hnart 70 tbat INF in no.
half of the sore troubled and perplexed
people with whom he had cast his lot"
Two erect, soldierly, lombardy poplars
long stood guard, one at either side of
the old manse, but the stately pilasters
adorning the house front seemed not
more severe and unbending than they.
The trees that had survived the decline
in fashion in England had still another
chance of popularity in the new world,
and seem now well content to serve as
interesting relics of the venerable past.
But the ideal place for an ancient
dwelling is in the country, where
it seems perfectly well able TO control
its own environment. Nature seems
there altogether sympathetic, and even
in the winter time makes of far Oft,
solitary house a beautiful picture. The
low roofs are covered with soft, pure
snow which is gemmed with sparkling
diamonds glowing in the sunlight. The
moonlight softly filings lovely shadows,
clarifying all common things or, per
chance, revealing the faint line that
really divides them from the uncommon
and the remarkable. The wide view on
every hand of pure, clear snow is reliev-
ed by dark, rich evergreens, which now
and then seem vertable Christmas
trees with their glittering burdens on
sunlighted morning. When summer
touches the old house with her tender,
loving grace, ii is even more beautiful.
The tall trees that have again renewed
their youth, protectingly spread their
fresh, leafy branches as though to guard
from the curious, critical eye, the decay
which the true friends find. The lower
shrubs approach each year little near
er, and fling wide lovely blossoms to
cheer, and even the low growing flowers
creep nearer and nearer as the house
seems more drear. There are vines that
take sweet possession of otherwise
hidden corners and soon bring them
into pleasant notice by blossoms of
honey-suckle and rose. Then what a
view has the old house of earth and sky,
all seeming to belong to it alone. The
fields rich with promise and the fine
forest lands all are but as the appropri-
ate setting for this historic house.
The city for the man of middle age,
strong and full of activity, is well, but
the child in it's helpless infancy should
be rocked in the quiet nursery of the
country, and old age is happiest when
it seeks and finds the old resting places,
near beautiful gardens that speak of the
other home which is called Paradise.
EMMA NJ. SMITH.