Dane County WI Archives History - Books .....Chapter XII Visitors And Their Pleasures 1877
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Book Title: Madison, Dane County And Surrounding Towns...

CHAPTER XII.
VISITORS AND THEIR PLEASURES.

  PURSUIT of health has brought thousands to this city, who have found hygienic
conditions not often combined. Beauty is a large element in relieving the
pressure of nervous complaints by calling attention from real and assumed
disorders. That charm is here in the superlative degree, and, in addition, a
mild and salubrious atmosphere. There are exquisite nooks for bathing, and
enclosures in which art has assisted nature in making the pellucid waters
attractive, so that swimmer and nonswimmer can enjoy the health giving plunge.
The amateur fisherman could hardly find better sport than here, and while
patiently waiting for a bite, his eyes can feast on beautiful impressions, which
can never be effaced. The lakes invite rowing and sailing; the shores unfold new
attractions with every change, and steamboats make excursions with modest speed,
lest visitors should not enjoy the landscape inclosing the crystal gem. Citizens
propose to improve the drives which girdle the city and lakes. One suggests a
road round Fourth Lake, following the shore, which would give "a drive of
twenty-five miles, absolutely unrivaled, for beauty." A second proposition
contemplates a new lake shore drive of five miles, to the charming site of the
State Hospital for the Insane, and there is good hope that the idea will be
realized. The beautiful university drive is likely to be extended to Picnic
Point. There are rural retreats, easy of access from this capital, which shut
out the city, yet within an hour's transit, all the advantages of social science
and material advancement can be reached. Visitors are attracted by our
university and pleased with our graded schools. The church spires pointing to
the stars challenge admiring notice. The railroads and postoffice, with always
increasing facilities, and the telegraph wires by which the world is girdled,
bespeak the obedient spirit of science, more apt than the fabled Ariel. The
Capitol, whose form of beauty compels admiration as soon as the eye lights on
Madison, offers substantial evidences of civilization connecting us with the
great world which we daily miniature. Here, in the several libraries, are choice
books, newspapers and periodicals; the best works of jurisconsults; the
treasures of common and civil law, expressed essences of knowledge from the days
of Justinian to our own; and by their side the liveliest essays of magazine
contributors, separating them from works of profound historians and scientists.
On the desks are our best newspapers, in many respects the foremost in the
world, filled with vigorous assaults of partisan editors, who anticipate the
final cataclysm* unless their measures and their men are sustained; yet
reassuring us by the news flashed along the wires, through mid air and under the
sea, which, in revealing the condition of every country on the earth, from New
York and London to Japan and "Far Cathay," unfold the fact that a thousand such
jeremiads daily reach the limbo of nonfulfillment.

  It has been objected that our population of ten thousand has not originated a
line of steamboats that will compare, for beauty, power and convenience, with
the Atlantic glories of Cunard or White Star; but the Scutanawbequon and the new
screw steamer Mendota, possess names that rival the finest on the sea, and our
boats, if not numerous and large as the Spanish armada, are equal to the occasion.

  The names of celebrities who have visited us, as revealed by the books of the
Park, the Vilas House, and the Capitol, would fill a volume, but few would
peruse the record. Prince Napoleon, who passed through our city to Saint Paul,
accompanied by his beautiful wife, the daughter of Victor Emanuel, Il Re
Galantuomo, as Garibaldi named him, could hardly be considered our visitor, for
he and his suite were closely cooped within locked doors, during the stay, but
that could not prevent a cheer of welcome before the distinguished Prince
parvenu moved on. It is more to our purpose that such men as Secretary Seward
and Charles Francis Adams have been our guests, and raised their eloquent voices
to infuse their spirit into the people. The balcony of the Vilas House, and the
eastern steps of the capitol had on that day immense assemblies. Frederika
Bremer was for months a delighted visitor to our city and lakes. Louis J. D.
Agassiz, the eminent Swiss naturalist, of whom Whipple says: "He is not merely a
scientific thinker, he is a scientific force. .... The immense influence he
exerts is due to the energy and geniality which distinguished the nature of the
man. He inspires as well as performs; communicates not only knowledge, but the
love of knowledge." He was an appreciated and appreciative visitor, and many in
this city can testify to those truths from personal experience, who grieved as
for a dear friend when Agassiz died. The magician Ole Bull, whose wand is the
wonder working bow, has on the shores of those lakes a home, to which the
demands of a music loving world make him a rare visitor; but when leisure on
this side of the Atlantic permits, he can forget Oleana in the witcheries of
this region. The praise bestowed upon Ole Bull by Longfellow in his "Tales of a
Wayside Inn," beggar any tribute that we could render. We content ourselves with
claiming the distinction that belongs to Madison. Horace Greeley and Bayard
Taylor visited us as lecturers; during the same season Jas. Russel Lowell, Parke
Godwin, John G. Saxe, and other national celebrities were with us, and their
appreciative words are treasured. Sumner lectured here on the question, "Are We
a Nation?" Gen. Sherman was with us as the guest of Col. Reynolds, when the
famous "March to the Sea" was the topic of all talkers; and Philip Sheridan, not
less famous for his dashing exploits with cavalry.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

History of Madison Section

MADISON, DANE COUNTY AND SURROUNDING TOWNS;
BEING A HISTORY AND GUIDE
TO PLACES OF SCENIC BEAUTY AND HISTORICAL NOTE FOUND IN THE TOWNS OF DANE COUNTY
AND SURROUNDINGS, INCLUDING THE ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNS, AND EARLY INTERCOURSE
OF THE SETTLERS WITH THE INDIANS, THEIR CAMPS, TRAILS, MOUNDS, ETC.

WITH A COMPLETE LIST OF
COUNTY SUPERVISORS AND OFFICERS,
AND
LEGISLATIVE MEMBEES, MADISON VILLAGE AND CITY COUNCIL.

ILLUSTRATED,
MADISON, WIS.:
PUBLISHED BY WM. J. PARK & CO.,

BOOKSELLERS, STATIONERS AND BINDERS, 11 KING STREET.
1877.

COPYRIGHT.
WM. J. PARK & CO. 1877.

DAVID ATWOOD, STEREOTYPER AND PRINTER, MADISON, WIS.

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