Spirit Of The Age

Mr. Editor:

Leaving the Pilot on the 13th inst., I traversed a very picturesque section along the banks of the Yadkin. Our Hack (which was very pleasant) was drawn by Brooks and Sumner. Each of these may be said to resemble his namesake in some particulars. Brooks is singularly quick tempered and impetuous—Sumner is quite 'longwinded' and subject to occasional 'foggings.' It was my fortune to pass through the village of Rockford. That is one place that must necessarily be seen in order to be appreciated. It is dilapidated and uncomely almost beyond description. Few places in the wide world are so well calculated to make an unfavorable impression upon the mind of a stranger. Somebody informed me that it was very dissipated; if so, then is the mystery of its uncouth and declining appearance explained. I saw a large man with a huge jug plodding down one of its hills. Jonesville, though very small, is on the contrary quite energetic and progressive. It is a remarkably quiet and moral village. It contains a Male and Female Academy, under the supervision of Rev. Mr. Van Eaton. The Male Academy is quite spacious and judiciously planned. Besides instruction rooms, it has a very commodious chapel. It is furnished also with some useful diagrams and other valuable philosophical apparatus. In the Female Department is a fine Library, which seems to have been tastefully and carefully selected.

On the 15th I reached Wilkesboro. This is also far below our Eastern villages in taste and ornament. Among its inhabitants however are some truly noble hearts, who appreciate the wants and claims of the stranger. One thing, I beg to suggest to your readers: Either never go to Wilkesboro at all; or if you go, be sure to carry a conveyance with you. Fail to follow this advice, and you may be caught afoot amid these western hills without the dream of a shadow of a hope of an opportunity to pursue your journey. I speak from very sad and well-remembered experience. After long and fatiguing effort, by combining the vehicle accommodations of three different individuals, I succeeded in making out a horse and buggy—and started for Lenoir. My road led up the Yadkin still. Some prospects in Caldwell county were exceedingly lovely and varied. The visitor meets here with almost every different phase of Scenery. About 12 miles from Lenoir, an extended range of very high hills rises proudly from the valley on both sides of the Yadkin and bends along its banks in beautiful and magnificent undulations. Here and there the eye is attracted and the heart gladdened by the Laurel blooms as they press out from the shady banks or look down from the rugged rocks.
It will no doubt be cheering to all to learn that the prospects of the farmers in this part of the State are very flattering. Not only is there an unusual wheat crop—but for 75 miles up the valley of the Yadkin the corn is very promising. There is not enough of the inveterate 'bug up here to create any serious apprehensions. In Lenoir the S.C. Conference are building a Female College. It is to be called 'Davenport Female College'—in honor of Col. Davenport, the most liberal contributor. The situation is a very charming one. It is on an elevated spot in the S. E. part of the village overlooking the plain in which the village lies. From its top the view is excellent. There are mountains in sight all around. In the N. W. the Grandfather Mtn. rears its venerable head aloft and looks down upon the towering masses that environ its huge base—like the Lord of the Fief on his haughty vassals. To the S. W. are the Table Rock and the Hawk's Bill, and east the High Brighton Peak.

The friends of D. F. College are fortunate in its location. Success to them and all other honorable Educational enterprises! In the mean time I may be allowed to confess that I am one of those who desire the State lines to be the Conference lines. Throughout this section I find profound regret and sorrow at the sad fate of Prof. Mitchell. And well may we grieve; for his place cannot easily be supplied by one combining so many noble qualities of the scholar and the gentleman. He fell with the laurel in his hand—an emblem of a nobler Laurel that entwines his fame. The former was mortal—like the hand that grasped it,—the latter was imperishable, like the mind that won it.

A. W. M.