firiginat ennimintivatitts.
LETTERS FROM A. GARRET.-111.
BY Z. N. B.
MR. EDITOR :-My last letter was mainly de
voted to the first number of The Boston Recorder.
I cannot resist the temptation to linger a little
longer over the musty volume which contains it;
for the succeeding numbers afford many glimpses
of the " Then" out of which you and I were
born into the Now." It is pleasant to be car
ried back in fancy into those quiet days when
the stage-driver's horn was the prophecy of
the locomotive's whistle, and when the slow
steamers of the sound and the Hudson set peo
ple dreaming of a physical Millennium. One can
scarcely suppress a smile when reading a para
graph like this, extracted from The Boston
Gazette, (1816) printed with emphatic flourish
of italics:—
" it is with much pleasure we understand that
a turnpike (in continuation of the one from this
place to Providence, R I ) is contemplated from
Providence to Stonington- in Connecticut. It
will be almost a direct }mite to New York, and
by aid of the steamboats will facilitate the in
tercourse between Boston and New York in a
surprising manner, as a person leaking either
place one morning will arrive the next at Boston
or New York."
This, too, might perhaps be read with some
pleasant recollection of enterprise in by-gone
days, by our townsman in Walnut street,—a par
agraph extracted in the same year from a Phila
delphia paper:--
44 Extraordinary Summer Excursion. Mr. Brown left
Philadelphia for London on the 7th June and re
turned the 20th of Sept: an absence of 104 days,
forty of which were spent in England. Who knows
but a step over the Atlantic to look at the 'old world may
become an American fashion."
That was indeed a rapid journey in days when
" The Latest from England" was published Sept.
2, 1817, consisting of news "by the elegant and
fast-sailing ship Courier bringing London dates
to the 18th, and Liverpool to the 20th July."
Nearly all the early numbers of The Recorder
contain allusions to the wonderful facilities for
travel furnished by steamboats : and it is signifi
cant of the spirit of the age, that in one column
it is announced that " a Philadelphia paper states
that a small tin , box is nailed up in each of the
Delaware steamboats, the object of which is to
collect from all passengers who are favorable to
the spread of the Gospel, small donations, from
one cent or more, at option, to assist, the funds of
the Bible Society."
But if these extracts are interesting, what will
some of our zealous promoters of Sunday-schools,
our Pardees, and our Newtons say to this_ from
the issue of Sept. 4, 1816. It is an editorial par
graph.
"It has been suggested that the notices which
we have occasionally published of the establish
ment and success of Sunday -schools in the Southern
and Western States, mignt induce the idea that
similar institutions would be equally advantageous
in this part of the country. This was far from our,
intention. The design of Sunday-schools is, and
ought to be, the gratuitous instruction of poor chil
dren, whose parents are unable to spare them from
labor, or pray for their instruction during the week.
In the populous manufacturing districts of Great
Britain, where large numbers of poor children are
confined to manual labor for six days in the week,
such schools are an invaluable blessing. They are
the only method of preserving an immense popula
tion from heathenish ignorance. In other parts of
the country, and in those districts of our own where
no adequate provision , is made for general educa
tion, such establishments are praise -worthy. But
in New England, where schools
.are brought to
every man's door, and where the children of the
poor may be educated without expense during the
week, there are few cases where Sunday schools would be
attended with any solid advantage. They might even
prove injurious by inducing a neglect of common
schools."
The explanation of this paragraph may be
found in many other paragraphs scattered through
the columns of the paper, by which we learn
that the Sunday-school was then in its infancy
as an institution, and that it was intended as Ro
bert Raikes intended it, to be a means of in
structing the poor, who would receive the advan
tages of a religious education by no other , instru
mentality. It would appear that in Massachu
setts, special attention was devoted, at first, by
the advocates of Sunday-schools, to the rudi-
Monts of -knowledge, thus occasioning criticism
on the part of those who were jealous for the
common schools, and :Ado on the part of some
Who thought that to teach the : alphabet to the
poor on Sunday was a violation , of. that sacred
day: But as time passed on, the tone of The
Recorder in treating this subject Manifestly im
preyed. In the, issue of Oct. 14, 1817, about 'tt
year later than that containing the editorial'
above, we find an elaborate defence of the Sun
day school system. Probably, the system, as
practised in froston, had improved by this time.
indeed, in the issue of October 9, we have the
statement that the " societi for the moral and
religious instruction' of the poor" had opened in
Boston two Sunday-sehools in public school-houses,
the use or which had been granted for the
pur
pose by the "Sleet-men" of the city. In conee
thin with this . statement it is said:
"If any. still, doubt the propriety of schools on
flag day, and telievelt a profanation, we would,
betlides referring them to the good effects prOduced
on• the children'
. inform them that, a part of this;
is devoted to religions instruction, that the
ehildren are 'learnt` to repeat the Lord's Prayer,
hymns, and catechiem. , 4dapte& to lheir young
minds, and, we repeat it, that the Sunday-schools
are intended in a o'l'6 d'egitrrto supply the defi
ciency of parental,instrucpon,py,the telglima (who
render their servie4s gratis) to those 'children whose
parents either cannot or do not perform their duty,
THE AAIERICAN_PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1868.
practised by
co°llrsrtdrootiisglforreelflaj't)}iineersd:'and so
strictly
It is, hoWever, a curious circumstance that,
while in . Philadelphia almost every church o f
ever y eva ngelical de , u ) ;
every'
6,un color,
e in n inti a t i i i o k n e b t a o d,
c a h t i t ld h r is en tim o e f ,
it
i c t iw i l- 3 s 4 stated that in Boston " the
c , ; ( l3 r --4:.
schools are open to all white children ;" and also
that while at present Massachusetts considers the
Sunday-school as the nursery of the church, the
objections her ministers were in 1816
against the Sunday-school are now loudthe urum
on
lips of some clergymen in that part of the land
where the blacks do most abound.
From Sunday-schools to sea-serpents, the
transition may seem abrupt. The alliteration,
however, is in both cases the same : and I observe
in the column next to that from which my last
extract was taken, an announcement to the ef
fect that " The Panorama of the great Sea Ser
pent is now completed, and exhibited at Mer
chants' Hall. The delay of the painting has
been occasioned by the recent capture of a Spawn
of the Serpent which we learn has also been
painted and will be exhibited with the pano
rama." The Serpent itself is elaborately de
scribedin the issues of:Aug. 19 and 26 ; as seen
in the Cape Ann Harbor. It may be interesting
to naturalists of the present day to know that
"his head, as large as the head of a horse, and
shaped like that of a large dog, is raised about
eight feet out of water, and is partly white, the
other, part black."
Also, that "he appears to be full of joints,
and resembles a string of buoys on a net : rope."
And " he sometimes darts forward at the rate of
a mile in three minutes , leaving a wake behind
him of half a mile in ength." . Why has not
Agassiz yet caught him ?
Among the literary extracts of The Recorder,.
I find the poem now known under the title of
the " Star Spangled Banner," given with the
title, " Defence - of Fort McHenry" together with
this preface :
" The annexed song was composed under (sic!)
the following circumstances. A gentleman—Fran-
cis S. Key, Esq., of Georgetown—‘had left Balti
more in (sic! again) a flag of truce for the purpose
of getting released from the British fleet, a friend of
his who had been capttired at Marlborough. He
went as far as the mouth of the Patuxent, and was
not permitted to return, lest the intended attack on
Baltimore should be disclosed. He was, therefore,
brought up to the Bay, to the mouth of the Patap
sco, where the flag-vessel was kept under the guns
of the frigate, and was compelled to witness the
bombardment of Fort McHenry, which the adini
ral had boasted that he would carry in: a few hours,
and that the city must fall. He watched the flag
at the Fort through the whole day, with an anxiety
that can be better felt than described, until the
night preventedhim from seeing it. In the night
he watched the bomb-shells, and at .an early dawn
his eye was again greeted by the proudly waving
flag of his country.".
The bad writing of the preface will not Pre
vent some, to whom this account of the occasion
of the song may be new, from feeling a fresh in
terest in the poem itself.
I am conscious in the extracts I have made
above, I have done.but feeble justice to the re
ligious department of this journal. In this,
which is by far the largest department of the
papers, great , attention is paid to.all the important
religious movements of the day. Most interests
ing accounts are given of the organization of
benevolent associations, like the American Bible
Society. Large space is given to Missionary Id
telligence from all parts of the world. As the
paper improves by age, editorial paragraphs,
which as 1 wrote in a previous letter, were at
first merely nominal, increase in frequency and
length ; until in the second volume they become
quite respectable in their amount, their value
and their spirit. All moral subjects are judi
ciously treated, and one is impressed with the
conviction that The Recorder was really a most
beneficent power in, the land. These old folios
shall be taken from the garret and preserved as
no mean mementos of the put in the library of
your correspondent. • Z. M. 11.
Pittsfield, Mass., Sept. 1, 1868.
THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI.
Letter from G. W. W.
Falls of St. Anthony, Minnesota,l
August 29, 1868, J
DEAR EDITOR :—When ' I
was a boy I saw a
painting of the Falls, of st. Anthony,lmt itneirer
occurred to me that in after years.l should visit
them, and, send you one of my hurried sketches
from this vicinity. ' '
In those days we supposed the Falls, were
somewhere aboutthe head watersoftheMississippi .
among the Indians, and very far away from the
home of white men: ,It was so then no doubt;
but now, the people about here think them Selves
not at all far distant from the centre of our good
land—and they talk of the far West of the coun-,
try beyond, quite freely. The improvements in
this vicinity, the cities, the manufacturing and
commercial, centres we find here, so, thriving and
vigorous, remind us at once that we are not on
the frontiers by any means.
ST. PAUL'
We find to be a city of over 20,000 inhabitants;•
beautifully situated on a high bluff on the east
side of the Mississippi river, and at the head of
navigation. Large steamers froin St. Louis ar
rive and depart, two every day; besides • smaller
boats at irregular intervals. The water is gene
rally high enough to keep the communication
constant through the summer. Besides this,
there is a railroad, 400 miles Ring„ to Milwaukee,
by which two trains arrive daily. We-were not
a little surprised to find four other railroads ra
pidly being built: one north to Lake Superior,
another north west to join ,the ,future Northern,
Pacific near the British .A.mericA line, another
west, and still another south-west, along the val.
leY'of the Minnesota river towards , Sidur city on
the Mississippi, and finally to join • the. Pacific'
railroad. The North-western ~road is 'already
running to St. Clo i nd, „eighty„ miles distant, and
the South-western "
is also completed eighty-five
•
LAND-GRANTS TO RAILROADS
4 : II ;
rods aft 'hive a letna-gixtnts fiom the
government of alternate sections of land, and as
rapidly as they open the country, settlers buy
the land, and in one year are raising crops on it,
which find a market by the road, giving employ
ment to its cars. It is the land-grants to the
railroad which enable them to be built and cause
the rapid development of these far off regions.
Then the landitself, as I told you in my last, is rich
beyond belief, and so easily tilled, that settlers are
encouraged to buy it. This week, a large far
mer, twenty miles from here, down the river,
sold his crop, 40,000 bushels of wheat at $1.50
per bushel, on the farm. He had nine reaping
machines going at once, and now has three
threshing machines constantly at work. Our
Pennsylvania farmers will call this wholesale
farming. Yet only two or three years since, this
man bought his land, all wild prairie, and there
are millions of acres just like it lying here wait
ing fbr purchasers.
We find many fine buildings in this young
city—large stores, in fine blocks built of lime
stone, in beautiful architectural style. We saw
several banks and a number of wholesale drug,
grocery, bardware and dry-goods establishments;
—beautiful retail stores too with fine displays of
good.s.
CHURCHES OF ST. PAUL
The churches are not as handsome as the
the stores, having been built earlier and probably
before it was thought worth while to employ an
architect to design the plan. An exception,
however, we noticed in a beautiful, new, Episco
palian church, with two towers, built of the fine
limestone of the neighborhood. We counted no
less than twenty churches in this city. On the
highest ground, in the centre of the place, the
Roman Catholics have built a grand cathedral
in which• they are now placing a'fine new organ;
they have beside, an Irish and a German church.
The Presbyterians have three churches : two of
our branch and one of the other. Rev. John
Mattocks is pastor of the First church, Wilted
in the centre of the city. In a new district; the.
House of Hope," under the charge of Rev. F.
W. Flint, formerly of Cohoes, N. Y., is the other
church of our branch. We visited their Sabbath
school and found well filled and with a strong
corps of tWenty-five active working teachers.
Having such a school, we can readily predict the
future of this young, growing church. Dr. Her
rick Johnson's former charge in Pittsburg, called
Rev. F. A. Noble from this very " House of
Hope." He came to St. Paul fbr his health ;
some years ago, and was so improved as to be
able to accept the call of the large and important
Third church of Pittsburg.
SCANDINAVIANS
There are many Scandinavians, Sivedes and
Norwegians in this north-western country. They
are all of the ,Protestant faith—Lutheran gene
rally—some Methodists. They have a Lutheran
and a Methodist church here rto which these
people go, beside another Lutheran and two
other Methodist ;:hurehes. We noticed in a
store window, a eard—" Ici on park Francaise,"
and below it, "Norsk, tales her," showing that
French or Norwegian, speaking customers would
find salesmen inside who could talk to them in
their own language: , "Seandinivian saloon"' is
not an uncommon isign on the restaurants in
these , north-westera m eities. We saw a, ear load
of these hardy Nortfraaen on, their vray up the
Minnesota valley. They appeared to be well
able to subdue the soil and make . thrifty citizens
in this rich region.
There are many invalids living here who have
come from all parts of the land. The hotels
accommodate quite a number and are always full
in the travelling season. Not le,ss than two hun
dred were at the International where we stopped
—a number or them wit - of health. Many re
cover so completely here, that all traces of their
infirmities are gone. We are informed that fully
one, fourth of those who, !reside .and do business
here are men who Came out'of health. Back of
the town, on the second bluff, are many'fine re
sidences ; as fine as some of our seven-gable and
tower _villas in. West Philadelphia. A number
of these are owned by persons who cannot live
out of this climate, though from their ruddy com
plexion and healthy appearance you would not
suspect them of any, disease.
The town sits bit high'bluff and is approached
by a bridge, spanning "the river; 1700 feet long
and 90 feet high at the bluff, though it slants
down ,to the level of the
,river on the opposite
side. On Sunday, .afternoon there was street
preaching on' the lbvee, by the agent of the Wes
tern Seaman's Friend Society. A good company
of men from the steamers and others from the
town attended. In the evening after church,
the company, in the parlor of the hotel got to
singing familiar Sunday-school and prayer-meet
ing - hymns. A good quartette of gentleman, one
of whom played an aticampanitnent en the piano,' led
off and we had a 'Very pleasant time. A drive
of seven miles up . the river brings ,us to
POET SNELLING,
perched on a bluff about 200 feet above the river
and at the junction of the Minnesota, which
comes in from the south-west, with the Missis
sippi. This fort , was built about 1811, and was
long the farthest off point among the wel-tern
wilds where Uncle Sam's stars and stripes floated.
It; is now a gupplyitig, centre for other forts 500
to 1000 miles further north and west.. Many an
Indian negotiation has been held, here; many a
treaty formed, and many of Uncle Sam's blankets,
beads, hatchets, and rifles been distributed to the
red men, but they are all gone now. A strag
gling squaw now and then comes in to sell trin
kets, or a few of them jabber and grimace toge
ther as they visit the cities near by. The mas
sacre that occurred some thirty or forty miles
back, a few years age, is still 'fresh in the mem
ory of the'community. Governor Stephen Mil
ler promptly .hung thirty-eight of the savages,
which was a lesson , their friends have not for
gotten and they keep their . distance. We were
told that an Indian man wearing a, blanket would
be shot immediately. If they want to come
about at all, they mint wear white men's clothes
and conduct themselvea very circumspectly. We
had expected to meet a good many Indians in
this frontier country, either about the towns, or
encamped in the fields; but we'were quite dis-
appointed. Not one have we met, either - in St.
Paul or - Minneapolis, and none 'about the falls• of
Minne,ha-ha, Se4ling:thoir,.kink.ets to travellera,
as they do, at s Nimara. , i Three siumws ; we met i n
a iittle town; offerrmg two of their Indian tanneti.,
Veer-skins for sale, and as we whirled' 'hy on"the
train, a few miles below Fort Snelling, we passed
three wigwams made of poles converging towards
the top, and covered with some old soiled canvas.
Two Indian children stood on the bank, watch
ing the train go by. They were ragged and
dirty, wearing tattered civilized garments
The view from the lookout of the fort is one
of the finest in the country, taking in the wind
ing valleys of the two rivers as they join and
flow on together toward the far off sea. The
high bluffs, the wooded knolls, the prairies
waving and flowery, the broad river and its ferry
boat with the long-curving tressel-work of the
railroads at our feet, combine to make a view of
surpassing loveliness and variety. A few miles
farther up we enter the enclosure above the
FALLS OF MINNE-HA-lIA,
and we tread lightly, for we are on enchanted
ground. We are all prepared for a disappoint
ment, for never, did poet sing of waterfall or
haunted spring but he over-painted his picture
and compelled a disappointment in less imagina
tive minds. But here 'is an exception. The
loveliest, wildest ravine that laughing brook ever
wound through is here : its side. all covered with
tangle and underbrush, its bottom washed with
a rippling, glancing, babbling stream tumbling
over a rocky bed. One side of the dell is
a semi-circular wall, not perpendicular, but
shelving out at the top, and over its sharp
edge tumbles this prettiest of all waterfalls,
forty or fifty feet broad, with a fall of sixty or
seventy feet. A thin, broad sheet of,water comes
tumbling beautifully, gracefully, merrily doVirn
into the little lake below. The sheet is kept quite
even, not breaking into spray, and not disturbed
in its downward course by any projecting rock.
The roar at the bottom, where 41 is transformed
into foam, is not deafening, but somewhat gentle.
Altogether, the fall is unlike any thatl have ever
seen. Those among the Alps are gently broken
into a thousand cascades by projecting rocks, or
divided into fine spray in their immense fall, but
this keeps a pretty, uniform picture before• the
eye. The rock shelves out so tar that we walked
clear under the fall from one side to the - other,
without being wet at all, the water being two or
three yards in front of us. Belo- the fall .t-
~ree yar •s in rol of us. Below _oe tall a pret
little bridge'crosses the stream, and - we are told
that parties have often gone there in the moon-
light to be m&rried. A more romantic place
could no where be found on earth. A few miles
further up the river we come to the young city of
AIINNEAPOI;I9,
with 10,000 inhabitants,—a,busy, riving, thri
ving place, upon the Fallsof St. Anthony. Some
of the largest saw-mills, in the country are here,
built right over the falls, and having their ma
chinery turned by the water. The logs are
brought from the upper river, and here sawed
into boards, and floated down the Mississippi on
rafts, or distributed through the country by rail
There are also extensive flouring Mills here all
driven by the 'Falls. They have a capacity' of
making three thousand barrels per day, enough
to supply the whole city of Philadelphia with
bread. There are also large woolen mills here,
four and five story stone buildings, complete and
thorough as any in the country ; also machine
shOps, and a large car-building establishment.
This little•infant city sends abroad yearly'not less
than seven millions of dollam worth
,of manufac
tures, all the product of: this region. The coun
ty -raises three million bushels of wheat, the
river brings down more log's than they can saw,
and the farmers produce'naore wool than they can
manufacture. Surely the elements of wealth,
long-continued, lasting wealth, are here in flow
ing abundance.
The beauty of the falls is much marred by the
mills, but they are still a glorious' Sight. The
water' falls some 18 feet Over a sharp edge of
rock, broken in a zig-zag path-way, and -forming
a fine contrast with the other part, which falls
over a long straight edge. About two hundred,
yards of the fall can be seen in one view, between
an island in the middle and the edge of the riv
er. The mills hide most of the remainder. Above
and below the falls, a rapid' boiling current adds
gradeur to to the view. The whole descent, in
cluding ;the rapids, is some 750 feet, all of
which will some day be turned into use, to drive
machinery, which will all be wanted when the
State fills up. Ex-Governor Stephen Miller, a
Christian gentlemen, who bravely led a <regiment
of the sturdy pioneers of Minnesota through the
war, and who sacrificed his son on the nation's
grand altar, at Gettysburg, expects to see the day,
When; this infant State of Minnesota will', yield
one hundred Millions of bushels of 'wheat in a
year. It now yields from fifteen to twenty mil
lions, and it is only the Eastern edge of the State
that is improved. The Ex-Governor took us to
the State Capitol while
.in St. Paul, and intro
duced us to the present ''GoVernor, Marshall, a
quiet gentleman of high intelligence, . who was,
one of the officers of Gov. ,Miller's regiment du•
ring the war. He also showed us how this infant
State preserves the memory of the brave deeds
of her sons who fell for the nation, by keeping
their tattered battle•llags under'which they fought;
in a' large glass case in the main hall of the Cap
itol. They, are ,silent reminders of the brave men.
who, fell upholding thete,,while the rebel rags
amongst them tell of the victories they won. We
also visited the State library, under' the care of an
accomplished lady, whose' husband fell while fight,-
ing for his country. ,
This young, vigorous city of, Minneapolis, is a
beautiful place,, with fine blocks of stores, good,
substantial banks, beautiful residenCes and fine
churches. The principal hotel; the Wicollet, is
one of the very best in the Ndrth-west. Aroitrid
the city are beautiful drives, and not far off, are,
delightful lakes, abounding in fish. If I, had the
time, I conld spend a Month' here, , enjoy m'y
self highly every day. Professor Agassiz, with-
Hon. Roscoe Conkling, of New York. are here'
with a ,large Tarty. Last week; J.,Edr,a,r Th,onap r ,.
son,.S.,M. Fulton,, and a large party of Philadel
.
phians were having a fine time here.
But I must close this king 'lett& or you will
'begin to believe that - 1.• am an 'dye with this' de=
lightful countky. I am seeing it in its short sum
mer when, its breezes fan me with softest ,balm
iest
air that mortal ever breathed, When its pray
ries' are "a" vast flower-bed,' and itS 'Wheat and corn'
fields are vast Tolling billoWs Of verdure or of gob,
den -glow.• There is along, hard winter to follow ,
all this beautiful: picture, when,,lthe pretty dell
ec*.innehahnis the home of the frost-king, and
When' St."!gmthoni's, roirigqitifie'd udder itripetie‘-'
tra,ble`bedi - Of kilt' and frclien`fo'airw''' Thtii
want to be here, to watch the thermometer sink
down to —43°, though old Philadelphians tell me
that they feel the dry, clear, cold air far less than
we do the cloudy chill of our winters at home.
I am content, however, that they should make the
observations, without my assistance.
I shall be off in a day or two for warmer climes.
Yours, G. W. M.
REV.- A. M. STEWART'S LETTERS—XIV,
Nevada, Aug. 1868.
Mr RECREATIONS
Never before the present season has aught like
a summer vacation been enjoyed by your corres
pondent, nor even now is there any relaxation
from preaching twice or thrice each Sabbath, and
more or less every day of the week, in conveying
the gospel from house to house,—or in the lan
guage of the country; from ranch to ranch and
cabin to cabin. Yet do the conditions of this ac
tive July and August pastoral labor render it
more interesting and inspiring than ordinary va
cation from ministerial toil.
Hear, ye furloughed, sore-throated dyspeptic,
pleasure and health-seekingpastor, merchant or
manufacturer, my opportunities and facilities for
profitable and pleasurable summer recreation in
this far interior of far-off Nevada.
The lowest, place on which foot can plant it
self in all this vast region is six thousand feet
above the level of the sea--atmosphere disen
chantingly clear--'rays-of the sun unobstructed—
nights.more brilliant than those of Italy or Syria
—air so, light that the arms need sometimes to be
thrown back, chest extended and a long inspira
tion taken to fill the lungs with oxygen—feelings
in consequence so buoyant that at the rising of
day it see us as if one might really take the wings
of the morning and fly from mountain-top, to
mountain-top.
At one time, in full miner's dress, I descended
with careful guidance, to the bottom of a deep
mine, and was shown all the underground wonders
of silver-hunting.
Again, I was soown through a mining company's
works and had explained the long, laborious and
delicate processes employed in extracting the
precious metals from the crude ore. On another
day, I started on a strong, sound-winded horse,
under guidance of Capt. Robinson of Ophir, NeV.,
for the highest mountain peak in the region. Our
place of starting was seven thousand feet above
the" sea—our destination eleven thousand.
*Sum
mer' flowers were in our pathway at starting, soon
early spring flowers; after these snow —great
banks of snow twenty feet deep; yet so compact
that by dismounting and leading our horses we
were able to scrambte over them,—on and up
until the summit 'was finally reached. If all'the
kingdoms of the world were not visible from our
exaltation, at least all the interior of the United
States seemed spread out in panorama. As we
slowly' clambered up the mountain, my escort
prophesied a thunder-storm. And sure enough,
as we:lingered upon the summit, a thick cloud
suddenly enveloped us. It thundered and light
ened
,thiti rained above us—around us, beneath
use--ascent awfully, sublimely' grand: • '
On another occasion, I rode on horseback a
score of miles, to visit the hot springs of Great
Smoky Valley. Five miles before reaching these
wonders of nature, the steam from the springs
was visible.
There are about two acres ofground a little mound
shaped, in the great valley, from which bit.veen
twenty and thirty large springs bubble, hissing
and steaming, hotter if possible than scalding
water, The central spring is a great caldron, a
rod in diameter, boiling so furiously as to throw
the water up as high as a man's head; and where
half a dozen slaughtered oxen• might be cooked
at once and at the shortest notice. I followed
the scalding stream of water, as it flowed away
across the valley, 'until it became sufficiently cool
for me to venture, in, and took a grand, splashing,
hot bath, with seeming efficacy to steam•out all
unhealthy juices and vapors of the body. A fig
henceforth for all 'cramped up, artificial steam and
hot baths. .
Riding at another time with a quaint, taciturn
frontier character we skirted along the foot hills
of a high mountain range, down whose sides from
the.meltina snows above, there flowed into the
dry valley c 'bene..th- occasional streams of clear,
cold.sparklii3g water. Dismounting and standing
beside one of these streams, and casting my eye
away up as it, dashed down from the_ snow and
rocks, I read without introduction or comment
from my pocket• Bible: " Will a man leave the
snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rook of
the field ? or shalLthe cold floWinc , waters, that
come from another place be forsaken?" "As
streams from Lebanon." "A pure river of water
of life clear as crystal."
"What book 'is that?" half muttered my es
cort. •
"The;Bible"
"Curious old book, ain'b it?" was his only re
joinder.
I was riding again with the same escort in an
open buggy, across a valley twenty miles wide
without house, or tree, or shade. The sun had
become oppressiyely. hot as we neared the foot
hills of the opposite mountains . Here, by some
volcanic - eruption' long ago, had been thrown up
a great at of rock a hundred feet high; which
as we _neared Und•were about to pass through a
most inviting shade opposite the sun. "Stop, "
said I. •
,
"Whit no*?" lie slowly murmured. I bad
bothered hini by stopping half a dozen times
'while crossing the valley, to examine a Hazard,
horned toad, curious insect or desert flower.
Jmnpimclit and running beneath the grateful
shade of the immense boulder ? the little Bible was
again opened arid read as before without com
ment :
"As:th'e ehadoir- of a great -reek in a weary
"And what book's that?"
"The Bible."
"Why," ejaculate he' with groat energy, "W"
that Old' Book written here 7" ;
But enoughralthouglymyastimmer recreations
are not .half told. , Let .no friend or brother min
ister become envious; bnt,g,spared until another
hot se c ason like the 'Pacifid Railroad—then to be
tour amid
rraturi's . ..Wrd 'freaks tlihd(dirthfge 48nders in far
off Nevada. A. M. STEWART.