of Milton and Temple,[1] {10} situated in this part of the country, are pleasant; and the scenery about them highly picturesque. Several branches of the Sowhegan in the former, and the streams which pass into this river from the westerly part of the latter, add much to the variety and beauty of the prospect.
The next evening I found myself in Marlborough. The weather had become severe, and my ability to travel without fatigue was increasing. The mountainous aspect of the country, the front of my cap, &c. whitened by frost, and the creaking of the snow beneath my step, reminded me of Wallace and Tell; those champions of freedom, whose physical nature was as rugged as the rocks which they inhabited, and whose hearts, at the same time, could glow with generosity, or soften with compassion. The Grand Monadnock here attracted particular attention. It is more than two thousand feet in height, and is remarkable for its cave and its fossils. Peterborough and Dublin, the towns between Temple and Marlborough, are interestingly situated. The former is very mountainous, and its numerous brooks render it a fine grazing township. A principal branch of the Contoocook passes near the centre of the town, and here unites with Goose river flowing from Dublin. The latter place is exceedingly well watered, and its two villages, together with some scattered houses, make a pleasant appearance.
The coldness of the weather continued to increase. I passed on through Keene[2] and Chesterfield. The ap-*
- ↑ Milton is a misprint for Wilton, a town on the Souhegan, nine miles west of Amherst. Temple is three miles west of Wilton.—Ed.
- ↑ Keene, fifty-five miles southwest of Concord, has become one of the most important manufacturing cities in New Hampshire. It was first settled in 1734; but Indian attacks becoming frequent, was abandoned from 1747 to 1753. Marlborough, five miles southeast of Keene, is part of a grant made by Massachusetts (1751), to Timothy Dwight and sixty-one associates.—Ed.
