454 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



LETTEE FROM MR. BROWN. 



Under the Gkanb Monabnock, ( 

 Jaffeey, Aug, 20, 1857. ! 



My Dear Sir : — Being reminded of the old saw 

 about Jack and "all work, and no play," I conclud 

 ed to leave the grass in the meadows to stand up 

 or lie down, for the sun to shine upon or the rain 

 to beat, just as they pleased, especially, as I could 

 not well prevent one or the other. But in justice 

 to myself, I must say that I had been diligent in 

 season and out of season to secure the crop, but in 

 vain. There a goodly portion of it still stands, in 

 wafer lots as comely as any that anxious speculator 

 ever boasted of in Elysian fields of the West. So 

 Dobbin was hitched to the light wagon, an umbrel- 

 la and India-rubber boots thrown in, and with my 

 observing friend of last year, Jacob B. Farmer, 

 Esq., of Concord, I started off, on a stroll for rest 

 and observation. 



After leaving the State line at Pepperell, the 

 route was through Brookline, N. H., Milford, 

 Lyndeborough, Greenfield, Hancock, Dublin, Jaf- 

 frey, R'ndge, Ashby and Townsend, to the point 

 in Pepperell which we left in going out. 



To those who love rural life, who find pleasure 

 in looking upon, and living with, those who cultt 

 vate the earth, who are hardy, intelligent, simple 

 in their habits, and generally upright in character, 

 and where the traveller can, at the same time, wit 

 ness some of the grandest scenery which our coun- 

 try affords — a jaunt like this would prove more in- 

 structive and satisfactory, than any visit to crowded 

 watering-places, where fashion is a more inexorable 

 tyrant than the terrible cold of the frozen North. 



He who is unaccustomed to these regions, actu 

 ally grows better here ; his heart is lifted up near 

 er to God, as the hills are lifted up, when he stands 

 on one of these mountain-peaks and views the vast 

 amphitheatre below him, studded with the various 

 works of Deity and man. All things afford their 

 lessons — the rocks, the trees, the hills, the moun- 

 tains, and the crystal streams that quietly trickle or 

 dash down their rocky sides. When he beholds 

 the ponds, up, as it were, in the clouds, he feels the 

 force of that Scripture language which tells us that 

 God "setteth the springs among the hills." These 

 vast reservoirs, daily supplied by the condensing 

 mountains, give assurance that the springs will not 

 cease to flow, and that man and beast will continue 

 to be supplied. The rocks, constantly abraded, or 

 washed by torrents or descending rains, send fer- 

 tilizing substances to the valleys below, and thus 

 enrich them for the use of man. Nature is here on 

 a grand and impressive scale ; mountains peer be- 

 yond the clouds, and valleys sink proportionably 

 low ; dark woods overhang the traveller's path, 

 and pines and hemlocks seek the skies, out-topping 

 all other growth, as noble sentinels of the forest, 



and fit 



— ' 'to be the mast of some great AdmiraL''* ' 



Perched on the apex of one of the lesser hills, 

 quietly sits the village of Jaffrey, with her church 

 or two, her centre school-house, store and black- 

 smith's shop ! The Grand Monadnock looks lov- 

 ingly down upon her, with austere dignity and 

 pride, though without molestation or hurt, with the 

 occasional exception of tapping an overcharged 

 cloud and letting down a deluge of tears on her un- 

 offending head. Quietly we ambled on half a day 

 by the side of and over a portion of the mountain. 

 The atmosphere was clear, and the outlines of the 

 Old Monarch distinct. Visiters were on the rag- 

 ged peaks, while others were descending the val- 

 leys, and still others were at the village hostelries, 

 waiting for another day to make the ascent. 



The Grand Monadnock is situated in the towns 

 of Jaffrey and Dublin, in Cheshire county, N. H., 

 and twenty-two miles from the Connecticut river ; 

 it is five miles long from North to South, and three 

 miles from East to West, and is 3,450 feet above the 

 level of the sea, according to the measurement of 

 the late Professor Dana, of Dartmouth College. It 

 is composed of talc, mica, slate, distinctly stratified. 

 Garnet, schorl, feldspar and quartz occur in various 

 parts. On the east side, plumbago, or black lead, 

 is found in large quantities. The prospect from 

 the pinnacle is very extensive ; thirty ponds of 

 fresh water, some of which are so large as to con- 

 tain islands of eight or ten acres, may be seen from 

 it, in the immediate vicinity. The mountain is an- 

 nually visited by large numbers of people, both 

 from city and country, who not only see the most 

 romantic scenery in passing each way, but from its 

 summit enjoy one of the grandest and most inter- 

 esting prospects to be found in the New England 

 States. When such objects are afforded, objects 

 which at once interest and instruct, and which give 

 health to the body and tone to the spirits, is it not 

 strange that so many seek fashionable resorts, 

 where hollow professions, and gold and tinsel, are 

 of more consequence than those useful acquire- 

 ments which really tend to give dignity and noble- 

 ness to existence ? But so it is. "God made the 

 country, and man made the town," — so he leaves 

 the temple of Nature for one erected by his own 

 hands, where he can worship at his own shrine, and 

 flitter away the emotions which might become ho- 

 ly if his meditations were among more inspiring 

 scenes. 



The country has probably never presented a 

 more beautiful aspect than during this month of 

 August, — the frequent rains having brought the 

 whole vegetable kingdom into an unusual activity 

 and growth. The foliage of the trees is exceeding- 

 ly heavy, while pastures and plains, easily affected 

 by drought, are clothed with the verdancy of June. 

 The grass crop, consequently, is abundant. Haying 

 is not finished — everywhere, on the route, I saw 

 large quantities of bay in swath, in winrow, and in 



