The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1900-01-26

Letter from John B. Chase.
Cambridge, Mass, Jan. II.
Dear Reader:

'Wnere'Te l roam, Whatever realms 10 see,
My heart untramel1'd fondly turns TO thee"
Goldsmith said the above in "The
| Traveller, !" dedicated to his brother.
The author was a traveller, visiting
many places and really having no
spot he could call his own, only as,
when looking down from the summit
of some mountain upon hundred
realms, lakes, forests, cities, plains,
he could say:
"Ye g1ihering towns with wealth and sp1endor
We fields, where summer spreads profusion
round;
Ye bending SWANS that dress the howery vale;
For me your tributary stores combine;
! Creations heir, the world, the world is mine;"
The brother was a minister who,
in early life, despising fame and
riches, retired to happiness and OBJ
security, living on a modest income
and devoting his life to doing good.
! There was a strong attachment be-
! tween the two and the traveller,
when far away, would often think
of the minister in his quiet, happy
home and long to be with him or
wish he had some like spot in the
great world to call his own. "The
Traveller" beautifully expresses this
desire and also the happiness, con-
tentment of the brother, brought
about by a life spent in doing good
unto others.
Everybody has some place that,
when away from it, imagination
will often picture and the heart turn
fond1y to it. The husband, 1eav-
ing his wife and family when called
to some distant place on business,
travels one way while his heart
goes the other, constantly making
him long to go back and gather the
the above as a fact, with a great
degree of certainty, but general OBJ
servation leads me to believe l am
speaking the truth. OF course there
are exceptions. The heart of a hen
pecked husband probably keeps him
company when pressing business
takes him into a neighboring state
for few days or weeks. 1t is not
surprising if such a man welcomes
an opportunity to wander from his
own fireside when it gets too warm
there. But when one becomes at
tached to place and has to leave
it, it's happy day that brings him
back, if only for a short visit.
Did you ever, dear reader, mag
inc yourself back in some place
which, when you went away weeks,
months, years ago, you much dis
liked to leave? Did you ever, at the
close of a days work and after a
good dinner, light your cigar or
pipe, comfortably locate yourself in
an easy chair, shut your eyes, smoke
and dream yourself back among
familiar scenes and people? If not, !
you who are smokers, try the expert
ment 1t takes the fragrant odor
of a good Havana or good tobacco
to do it satisfactorily. l have tried .
it both ways, but it's too lonesome .
if you cannot occasionally open your
eyes, blow a few rings of smoke into
the air and then go off into dream
land again under the pleasant influ
ence of the odor. Try it and see
how plainly familiar scenes and peo
pie will appear before you, like a
modern moving picture. l have en-
joyed such a dream this evening and
here is part of it:
1 am back in the Opinion office
looking out the front window. There
comes Barron Hay across the street
| know it's him. l could tell that
walk if I should see it in the sub
way. John Stearns has just gone
up the stairs, three steps at time,
to his office, and Charles Jones is
shouting through the window to
to come up and pay that
water, electric light, saw
mill or any other bill in his hands
and on which a payment from Mr..
Somebody is due. A girl goes past
Doty's store and Fife1d will not fin !
sh winding that watch until he's
through smiling. It's 20 degrees
below zero, but there goes Henry
Kemp over to the post office bare /
headed and in his shirt sleeves. He
sn't hurrying, either. Henry looks
wiser than he did last summer and {
hat is due, no doubt, to an intimate
association with the Vermont Sta t
utes. The mail is in and Cunning I
lam sprints across the street after J
lis paper. Hi, there! 1 told you to {
ook out for that ice. He make sew Z
raj figures with his arms and legs, |
,ut his head where his feet usually q
re and finally landed with a loud q
hump. Going back he did not v
print. There was something about c
lin that felt sore and caused him C
o move with a little deliberation. J