USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Suffield > Celebration of the bi-centennial anniversary of the town of Suffield, Conn. : Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1870 > Part 9
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dence on my way thither. My prayers found a place at the throne of grace. A work of God that very evening commenced, and extended over all that region. Here I was brought to a stand. I could not labor in Suffield and Pawtucket. I finally, with great reluctance, decided to go to Pawtucket. I never found a kinder people than the people of Suffield. I preached twice on the Sabbath, and then in the evening to Boston Neck, then to Christian street, (so-called.) at Simon Kendall's school house, Sikes' school house ; to complete the circle at the Sheldon school house, near Martin Sheldon, Esq. These meetings were always well attended.
Ihave written during my life a cart full of manuscript, but never read one in my whole ministerial life and called it preaching. A minister should feel a consciousness that he is called of God to his high and holy calling before he enters upon his work, and enter into it with all his heart and soul, looking up to Him for aid and success. A man not conscious of this inward call to the ministry must feel reproved every step he takes with these words sounding in his cars: " Who hath required this at your hands ? "
To return again to Suffield. The church believed in the practice of opening the doors after preaching, to give time and opportunity to any who might feel it their duty to drop a word of exhortation warm from the heart. (This practice was customary in the church in the State of New York, where I enjoyed my first membership.) Capt. Apollos Phelps sometimes would burst like a bombshell upon the congregation, which made that old meeting-house crack again, and the church felt warmed, awakened and comforted under such a powerful explosion, coming from a heart filled with the love of God. Sister Gunn, Deacon Gunn's wife, would rise to speak, stand erect in the door full six feet, would pour out a warm exhortation full of good sense and comfort. She was a strong woman physically and mentally. To carry out her views of the rights of women, she went into the mowing and harvest fields and performed the work of men and received men's wages, though she was independent in her cir- cumstances-her husband was a prosperous farmer. The evening meet- ings were conducted in the same manner as in the meeting-house. Where the gifts of the church are all locked up, the ministers preach all, pray all, say all, do all, control all, mould all, and he moimted on his ministerial saddle, whip and spur in hand-that church is " dead, twice dead." To come back again to Suffield. I never set a price on my preaching and pastoral labors. I think they raised on subscription, about $300 a year.
Suffield was a farming town. My real wants were supplied from their abondance above and beyond their subscription. If they had any good things I was sure to share a part with them. In West Suffield a Baptist church was organized at quite an early day. Old Elder Morse was their pastor. He had been down to Hartford in the course of the week to at- tend a religious meeting, and returning early Sunday morning to West Suffield to preach, as usual, passing through Windsor, he was accosted
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where he was traveling on the holy Sabbath ? He replied he was going to West Suffield. He was told to dismount from his horse and stay in their house till Monday morning, and then he might go on his way. He plead with them to let him pass on ; he would disturb no one. He bid them good morning, put whip to his horse, and was on his way to West Suf- field. The standing order mounted their horses and pursued, determined to bring him back to Windsor, to be tried for breaking the holy Sab- bath. The elder led them on, keeping a little ahead of them, till they all arrived in front of the meeting-house, on Zion's Hill, so called, where a vast multitude of people were gathered.
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The elder dismounted and turned and addressed his pursuers and per- secutors : " Gentlemen, here is where I preach, and if you will go into the meeting and hear me preach, you may then go home to Windsor; otherwise I will complain of you for breaking the holy Sabbath, as you call it." The men complied with the terms proposed, and went on their way back to Windsor ashamed and confounded.
Thus, I have written a few broken, disconnected thoughts. It is poorly written, but I cannot conveniently re-write it. My best love to you and your family, and all who remember and enquire after me. My spirit will be with the people of Suffield on the 12th of October. Looking at the present condition of our country, I rejoice with trembling. Who will celebrate this day one hundred years, hence ?
From your affectionate father and friend,
CALVIN PHILLEO.
MENDOTA, Oct. 3, 1870.
DEAR ELIZABETH : Although I was never a resident of Suffield, any- thing done in the State of Connecticut, where I so long resided, becomes to me very interesting. It is, in my estimation, a noble act to celebrate in after time great and noble deeds. I presume on this occasion you will have a grand mental exhibition of the vast improvements that have been made in the administration of the government of the American people since the days of British rule. I should indeed be glad to be with you, and listen to the glowing eloquence that will doubtless be displayed on the occasion.
I hope the ladies will be remembered during this bi-centennial and some suitable credit given to them for the many heroic and philanthropie deeds they have performed during the growth of our national republic.
Affectionately yours,
PRUDENCE CRANDALL PHILLEO.
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WILMINGTON, ILL., Oct. 6, 1870.
. WILLIAM L. LOOMIS, Esq .; and others of the Committee of Invitation :
DEAR SIRS : Through the kindness of friends, I have had the pleasure of receiving, by your printed circular, an invitation to attend the second bi centennial anniversary, to be held in Suffield, Oct. 12th, instant.
I much regret that my engagements will not admit of my participation in your interesting celebration. Although a thousand miles away from you, out upon the broad prairies of Illinois, whose population now ex- ceeds two and a half millions of people, in the midst of the movements incident to the development of the almost immeasurable wealth which mature, with a lavish hand, has stored away within its boundaries, as one of the descendants referred to in your circular, and as an Illinoian, I send you a hearty friendly greeting.
Although not a native of Suffield, yet the name is like that of a house- hold word. Neither am I altogether a stranger; for of Connecticut, my na- tive State, I am justly prou l. New England and Illinois have many in- terests in common-pecuniary, commercial, friendly, fraternal. The ties binding them together fast and strong are innumerable. New England enterprise and wealth have materially aided in the development of the great interests of the West, and no State has profited more largely in these benefits than Illinois. You require the products of our mines and our soil. We of your looms and mannfactories.
Here the genius and enterprise of your surplus population can find ample room for rich expansion. Wherever they go, or wherever they are, the sons of New England will not be unmindful of their origin, and never will they forget the land of steady habits. The history and reminiscences of your locality for the last two centuries the sons of Suffield and their descendants will delight to contemplate. And the reunion of those that have wandered far and wide I trust will be under the most favorable auspices.
Again I shall express my deep regret at not being able to join you on so memorable an occasion. Thanking you for your zeal and enterprise in arranging the celebration of so important an event in the history of Suf- field, for the interest you have manifested in its sons and daughters and their descendants, and for the invitation to me, one of the descendants of Ebenezer Hathaway, I will express the hope that your most favorable an- ticipations may be realized, and the day you celebrate be remembered for another hundred years.
With much interest in your welfare,
I am your most obedient servant,
DAVID U. COBB.
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ZANESVILLE, OHIO, Oct. 10, 18:0.
Messrs. Wy. L. LooMis, and others of the Committee on Invitation, &c. :
GENTLEMEN : On my return home from my fall circuit I found your note awaiting me, extending a cordial invitation to meet with the people of Suffield on the 12th day of October, and join in their bi-centennial anniversary celebration.
Although born in Ohio, Suffield was the home of my ancestry, and in- deed, if family tradition be true, Lancelot Granger. my great-great-great- grandfather, who married Joanna, daughter of " Robert Adams of New- bury," on the 4th day of January, 1654, was one of the original settlers of your town. Having made several pilgrimages to the old homestead on Taintor Hill since I came to manhood, I am not altogether a stranger to the town, and was pleased to note, when last there, (in 1866), that while so much of what was oll remained to remind of people and years that are past, there was also so much of improvement in buildings and grounds as proved that age had not taken away the vigor of the town ; that while the stern virtues that belonged to the founders may have gone into the past along with the times and circumstances that moulded or were moulded by them, their successors, now resident in quiet safety and comfort where their ancestors maintained themselves by cour- age and endurance, amid privation and danger, exhibit their full share of the virtues of a generation, whose duty it is to improve, adorn, and beau- tify ; whose energies must be applied in the direction of education, pro- duction, culture, and comfort. But if I do not cry halt, my pen will, I fear, successfully accomplish what more properly pertains to an anger.
Duties in Ohio forbid my bodily presence in Connecticut on the 12th inst. I will on that day try to be with you in mind. Rest assured that many sons and grandsons of Suffield who must remain away from your celebration will on that day be thinking of what you are doing and re- gretting their inability to be in old Suffield on her two hundredth birth- day. Very respectfully yours,
MOSES M. GRANGER.
ST. Louis, Oct. 4, 1870.
TO DANIEL W. NORTON, SIMON B. KENDALL, WM. L. LOOMIS, GAD SHELDON, HEZEKIAH S. SHELDON, T. HEZEKIAH SPENCER, and HENRY M. Sykes, greeting :
Your note to S. A. Lane, Esq., of Akron, Ohio, inviting himself and family, which I suppose includes myself, to the bi-centennial anniversary at Suffield, Oct. 11th and 12th, was read by me, and being unable to at- tend personally, I thought perhaps a few lines from me would be accept- able.
Born January 9th, 1810, I am of course 60 years old, and can call to mind events of the past for more than a quarter of that 200 years, enough to fill a volume; but I am aware such letters must be short. I am some-
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what in the condition of my fellow-bookseller, Oliver Ditson, of Boston, who being asked to say grace at a large clam-bake near the seashore, and not being used to it, got along very well till near the elose, and not know- ing how to end, says: "Oh, Lord ! Very respectfully yours, Oliver Ditson."
Among the many friends born in Suffield, you will have my "big brother," of the Summit Beacon, and also the Hon. Wyllys King, of this city. You must call out these gentlemen for five or ten minutes' speeches. I think they will have something to say. Oh, how I would like to be with you.
I met my old friend and faithful teacher, Mr. Reuben Granger, in Chicago last week, and arm in arm we walked about the city nearly one day. He had received your printed document, with invitation to be with you and take part in the exercises, but will not be able to attend. Now 63 years old, and smart and active in business, the same good man, and has the habit of saying "I will do thns and so, Providence permitting ; " and his father, Capt. Rufus Granger, used a similar expression-" the door of Providence opening." Gideon Granger, the former Postmaster General under Jefferson, and also Madison, once said to him : " Cousin Rufus, you must be an important personage-deity for a doorkeeper." Dr. Ira Hatch, of Chicago, formerly from Springfield, Mass., says to me : "Comfort, have you brought me that book, the title of which I suggested, viz. : 'The Quips and Quirks of a Bachelor ; or, the Reminiscenees of Comfort V. Lane, of Crooked Lane, near Springfield, Mass.'" Dr. Hatch, and brother, too, think it would be a literary curiosity to take a look into that big trunk of mine, which is a third full of letters, some of them received 40 and even 50 years ago, carefully filed away, having passed over the road from and to St. Louis some dozen times ..
Speaking of " Crooked Lane," I do not suppose it was so named be- cause we, as a family, were particularly crooked or dishonest. According to Henry M. Sykes' record, we seem to come " straight " down from the first settlement of Suffield in 1635-Samuel Lane, 1st, do. 2d, do. 3d, Gad Lane, Comfort Lane, Comfort V. Lane ; and onee speaking to a friend of being of English descent, and not myself large of statue, he observed : " Rather rapid descent."
I think you will bear me witness, nor think mue egotistical, if I speak of my good father, Comfort Lane, as an honest, upright man, and much be- loved in your good old town; and I was much gratified, some twenty years ago, in coming over the Berkshire hills, in the ohl-fashioned stage coach, to learn from the driver, Mr. Chaffee, who owned the coach, that I was riding over the gear-work built by my own father, nearly twenty years before. He built of strong and solid material, and his work lasted almost equal to "The one-horse shay, which ran a hundred years to a day ; " and he remarked, " Your father was too honest to get rich."
Well, friends, I would rather have that inheritance than riches. A plain marble slab marks the spot, with this simple inscription : " Mr.
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Comfort Lane ; died Sept. 21, 1828 ; aged 45." And as I stood there last June, alone, I said within myself, " the friends of my youth, where are they ?" and a "still small voice " seemed to say, "where ?"
Some of you still remain; others are scattered in the great North and Southwest, some South, and a few in foreign lands. But the great multitude are in the silent grave. "Low their heads lie beneath the clods of the valley. Silent are their slumbers in the grave, and they un- conscious of all that is passing beneath the sun.
We do well to cherish their memories and their virtues, and when we visit the place where the precious dust rests, not to look down into the cold, dark grave-for there is no comfort there-but to look up, and walk cheerfully on to the end, and in looking up,
" Heaven's own light dispels the gloom, Shines downward from eternal day, And casts a glory round the tomb."
But perhaps I am getting too serious. In leaving the grave of my father I went to Zion's Hill. I have seen much of American scenery, but never realized before that I was born in such a beautiful town. As you stand on Zion's Hill, say some pleasant, clear day in June, and look around you, there is not a single spot but that the eye rests with complacency, pleasure, and delight.
Mt. Tom and Holyoke north, the Russell, Blanford, and Berkshire hills west, the Tolland mountains east, and the hills and valleys off toward Hartford and New Haven. The beautiful allusion, familiar to you all, may come in place here, where a distinguished lecturer speaks of the sainted Peter, borne on angel wings to heaven's gates. St. Peter meets him there and asks who comes ? Peter, from Suffield, is the meek reply. " Well, Peter, we welcome you here, but rather advise you to return to that country. It is a pleasanter country than this."
Well, friends, when I relate that story here they smile and say, that will do for Suffield people to tell. How it would be with St. Louis I cannot say ; but of Chicago there is a story often told, the first man who went up to the golden gates to ask admittance, St. Peter could find no such place on the map, and no person from there had ever entered. Per- haps because no mountain, hill, or valley, or river of pure water is there, the " streams whereof make glad."
Well, back to "Crooked Lane." I shall confine myself to the district where I first saw the light, and my space will not allow me even to write the names of those who have passed away in my memory there.
Fresh in my memory to-day are the heads of families who have de- parted; commencing in rotation and going north, John Bouker King, and his brother Epaphras King, Chauncy Stiles, David Curtiss, John Fitch Par- sons, Jonah King, Amos Sikes, 1st and 2d Henry Wright, Comfort Lane, Jonathan Remington, Apollos Fuller, Gamaliel Fuller, Julius King, Calvin Adams, Thaddeus Sikes, Horace Gideon Sikes, Daniel Sikes, Julius Fow-
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ler, the Adamses, and many others, have served their time and generation, and have passed away. -
To the Honorable Committee of the Bi-Centennial Celebration : Greeting : Some of you the companions of my youth, and all my friends in riper years. Sixty years of age ! It does not seem possible. I feel to-day the sprightliness and activity of youth, and am thankful to Almighty God for his preserving care. About thirty years of active business life, and hav- ing divided that time between the four great cities, Boston, New York, Chicago, and St. Louis, I have come in contact with the wide, wide world more than you who have remained at home. The flight of time-oh, how rapid !- whirled and pushed on in life's busy scenes, the end will come. We have much to do with earth and earthly things, and will have to ren- der a strict account of our stewardship here.
Our great moral Leader once said : " My Father hitherto worked, and I work," showing that He was not above physical labor or his anty here.
Let us so fulfil our mission here that when the summons shall come we may hear the welcome plaudit, "servant of God, well done ; thou hast been faithful to thy trust on earth ; come up higher to the employment and the glories of the upper world."
Our path in this life is often circuitous, and we feel at every move the thorns of the wilderness ; yet He who guides will lead us by a " right way," even unto a " city of habitation." Wherefore let us comfort each other with these words. COMFORT V. LANE.
BOSTON, October 10, 1870.
MY DEAR MR. NORTON : I returned home yesterday from a visit to Duxbury, and found the invitation to be present in Suffield on the 12th inst., at the bi-centennial celebration of the settlement of your beautiful town. I was born in the town of Amenia, New York, but was born into New England life at the age of thirteen, when I removed with my father to Suffield. I was old enough to appreciate in some degree the exceeding beauty of Suffield, and to notice the contrast between the newer civiliza- tion in which I had lived, and the comparatively old and cultivated scenery which distinguishes Suffield. I remember the old church, from the steeple of which we were told Gen. Washington himself had looked and praised the beauty of the scene which was spread out before his eyes. I can recall the picture at the distance of nearly 45 years. I attended Reuben Granger's school, and was for a few months a pupil of Parson Gay-indeed, I received all the education I ever received at school in Sutlield. It was somewhat singular that years after my only brother should settle in this same old town ; and first by his marriage with your daughter, and finally by laying all that was mortal in the burial ground, his pen has described in such glowing words, he has invested Suffield with a tender claim on my remembrance, making all that concerns its affairs and welfare interesting to me.
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I am greatly obliged to you for counting mie as one of the large family of Suffield's children, and should be proud to be present as the represen- tative of my father and brother; but circumstances forbid, and I must relinquish my chance of celebrating a bi-centennial, for I am almost 60, and, with a large number of those who will join in this shall have been gathered to the generations gone before long ere another occasion like this returns.
Accept my best wishes for the pleasant celebration of the day, and be- lieve me yours with respect, E. C. WHIPPLE.
TROY, MIAMI CO., OHIO, Oct. 6, 1870.
Committee of the Bi-Centennial Anniversary, Suffield, Conn. :
GENTLEMEN: Your note inviting me to be with you Oct. 12th was re- ceived last evening, forwarded by my brother. I regret exceedingly that it will not be convenient for me to comply with your request. I look back with pleasure to my native town. Always feel interested in its prosperity.
Hoping you may have a pleasant and profitable reunion, I remain yours respectfully, FANNY PARSONS.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 1870.
Dear MRs. PHILLEO :
I received your letter this morning, enclosing an invitation to me to be present at the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of my native town, Suffield, Conn. The infirmities of age will prevent my participating in person in this interesting event. It must now be re- membered I am one of her oldest daughters. My father removed me to Washington City the fall of 1810. Sixty years have passed, and my pil- grimage numbers almost eighty-five years. The scenes and events of early days are now vividly before my mind, and memory recalls some of the fathers of the names of those who constitute the committee of invi- tation, to whom I return my respects.
MRS. B. P. FLETCHER.
Henry K Sykes. Al.
DEACON HENRY A. SYKES,
Was born in Suffield, September 22, 1810. At the early age of five years he was left an orphan, and lived with his grandfather, Victory Sykes, until of suitable age he was put to learning the art of architect and builder, with Mr. Chauncey Shepherd, of Springfield, Mass. Subsequently he pursued the study of architecture, under the tuition of Ithiel Towne, Esq.
His skill and taste as an architect were of a superior order, of which there are many proofs in the surrounding towns; part of the buildings connected with Amherst College, residences and churches in Greenfield, Mass., many stores and private residences in Springfield, were built under his superintendence, and according to plans of his design. And not to mention more, the Second Baptist Church, and the building now used by the Hartford and New Haven Railroad Company for. their freight depot, in this place, but formerly the house of worship of the First Congregational Church and Society, bear upon them the marks of his taste, and are monuments to his memory.
Though never enjoying advantages for more than a common education, he, through self-discipline and a diligent improvement of his time, ac- quired an extensive knowledge on many subjects beyond the range of his trade, and evinced a mental culture of no ordinary degree.
He was fond of antiquarian researches, was a zealous student of his- tory, and the results of his research into the early history of his native town are referred to with pride by his townsinen. Probably there was no one who could speak more definitely, or so definitely, as he. On the 16th of September, 1858, he delivered an interesting historical address at Suffield, on occasion of the 150th anniversary of the deccase of the Rev. Benjamin Ruggles, first pastor of the First Congregational Church here. This address, with the proceedings of the'day, has been published. At the time of his decease he had collected, and was collecting, materials, which he intended to put in permanent form, to be given to the public.
HIe was an honorary member of several historical and antiquarian so- cieties. In 1854 the degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by Amherst College.
But he was not known alone by his historical researches, or as a builder, but by his Christian virtues. He here made Christ his trust ; he here labored as Christ's servant.
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In May, 1857, he was chosen deacon of the First Congregational Church, which office he held till his death, which occurred December 15th, 1860, aged 50 years-leaving to his family the rich legacy of a Christian husband and father, and to his townsmen and friends, who loved and respected him, the example of a Christian man.
H. M. SYKES.
CONCLUSION.
BY HENRY M. SYKES.
Suffield ! there is magic in the word to me. Suffield ! the home of my fathers, the place where they died and now rest. Suffield ! often have I enjoyed scenes with friends under thy peaceful bowers.
Doubtless these were the thoughts of many an absent son and daughter of Suffield during the summer of 1870. Equally as true, also, it may be said of those who still remained at the "old homestead." We were all led, in view of the then coming celebration, to think of ten, twenty, fifty years now past, and on that day we sought to bring before us noble men who, in the fear of God, and in the hope of the future, laid the foundation of our institutions.
They have passed away. Their sons, who sat at their feet and grew up under their influence, have also passed away. There are venerable and beloved men, faithful and true-men ripe in wisdom as well as years- still with us; but soon they will have passed away. Time flies with the wings of a meteor, and we shall soon be called to bid farewell to these pleasing scenes, to these mountains, meadows, these groves and circling rills, and shall sleep with our fathers.
Two hundred years ago! We feel their influence. The hand of the past is shaping our thoughts and characters. But who shall say what changes are to be wrought in the hundred years to come. We shall not be here. We shall be sleeping with the congregation of the dead, but the silvery waters of the Connecticut, upon whose banks our beautiful town so prettily lies, will still roll on in its quiet way, and the same blue heavens shall look down on these fair and luxuriant fields as to-day.
We shall not be here. God grant that through His grace we may be found in the greater assembly, which shall know no change than that from glory to glory, joy to joy, forever.
And now, fellow-citizens, the day that we for so long a time looked for- ward to with such pleasant anticipations, has passed. It is the first Suffield ever witnessed. It is the last which most, if not all of us, will be permitted to enjoy. The importance of it, and similar celebrations, can hardly be overrated. They tend to supply materials for the general history of our country-for is not the history of a nation the collected re- sult of the account of its several component parts ? The more minute
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and graphic the story of the incidents which compose them, the more freshness, more fidelity and spirit do they breathe into its pages. What is it that gives our most celebrated historians so much of fascination and value? It is not so much the brilliant and glowing style with which they may clothe their labors, but it is their diligent research into ancient and local records, and then transferred to their own narrative.
Historians are always greatly indebted to such records as your executive committee now present to you and the world. The history of New England has been greatly enriched by just such commemorations as these. Towns, counties and families, as well as individuals, are employed in making and collecting materials. History, it has been said, is philosophy teaching by example. Our history is more-it is Christianity teaching by example-it is high-souled patriotism-it is liberty teaching by example.
The history of Suffield has its importance and its interest as a portion of New England. It is connected with that of the carly history of Mas- sachusetts, as well as of a little later period that of the colony of Connecti- cut, and also with the history of the war of the Revolution, by which great and grand struggle our independence was achieved. We believe that the inhabitants have not lost those patriotic traits of character which distin- guished their forefathers. Some of the old Puritanic love of religion, and of religious liberty, still lingers here. That same love of country still flows through the veius of the sons, as in the fathers, and if ever they should be called again to vindicate the liberties left as a sacred legacy to us, the same courage and alacrity would stimulate our hearts.
We hope that as the citizens of the town turn their eyes more intently upon history-that as they commune more closely with the spirit of their religious and heroic fathers-that they will catch a new and fresh in- spiration, and that they will attach themselves more firmly than ever to those institutions and elements of strength which have given them their New England character and prosperity.
Although Suffield has not grown as rapidly as some other towns in our State, it has improved with a steady, quiet, and vigorous growth, and is counted as one of the considerable towns of the State. With "Onward" as our motto, we shall grow to a " larger estate," and exert a greater in- fluence. Let us then, fellow-citizens, lift high our motto-" Onward."
To the stranger who may read this book, let me say a word.
The comparative merit of every place, as one which should be sought or abandoned, depends on the views and tastes of him who makes the inquiry. On this point it is not worth while for an inhabitant to say any- thing, lest his advertisement be imputed to be vanity ; but may he not suggest, after the history and description of the town, that if any man be influenced by the suggestion of religion, the love of philosophy, the love of leisure, or the love of agricultural pursuits, to retire to a healthy resi- dence near and convenient to two cities, where he may be a calm specta- tor of the strifes, follies, revolutions, both civil and religions, in the world, he may possibly find that SUFFIELD has some recommendations to him.
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The employment of husbandmen, the cultivator of his own land, has been represented by the poets and philosophers of all ages as the most agreea- ble to the nature of man. This sentiment seemed to be the motive of the first settlers of the town, and every successive generation must have had increasing proof that the way and the taste of their fathers was good; and we, too, after having reviewed their doings and their character in a period of two hundred years, give our entire consent to the same opinion.
" Like the first race of mortals, blest is he From debts, and usury, and business free ; With his own team, who ploughs the soil, Which grateful once conferred his father's toil."
As we take leave of the day whose scenes and doings we now present to you, we look forward with hope, not unmingled with solicitude, to the future. We bequeath to the generations of the following century a precious inheritance-we bequeath to them a soil devoted to God by prayer and baptized into the name of Liberty by Revolutionary blood, and charge them never to alienate from its high and noble consecration. We bequeath to their care the graves of most worthy men. Cherish the memory of their character, which we hope you will ever respect and copy. We bequeath to them a religion, whose spirit we pray that they ever may foster; principles of liberty, which we hope will ever fire an unquenchable ardor in their breasts. We bequeath homes, which we desire may con- tinue to be adorned with domestic virtue and the richest sources of peace. We bequeath to them habits of industry, love of order, attachment to temperance, privileges, institutions, which we implore that they may pre_ serve and perfect with the greatest care. We hope that when the dawn of the morning of October 12, 1970, shall break upon this town, it shall illuminate a religious, free, intelligent, improved, prosperous, happy people.
" In pleasant lands have fallen the lines . That bound our goodly heritage, And safe beneath our sheltering vines Our youth is blest, and soothed our age. 4
" What thanks, O God, to Thee are due, That Thou did'st plant our fathers here ; And watch and guard them as they grew, A vineyard to the Planter dear.
" The toils they bore, our ease have wrought ; They sowed in tears-in joy we reap ;
The birth-right they so dearly bought We'll guard till we with them shall sleep."
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CONNECTICUT LITERARY INSTITUTION.
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CONNECTICUT LITERARY INSTITUTION.
This institution is located in Suffield, one of the most beautiful and healthy towns in the Connecticut Valley, and is accessible by railroad communication from every part of the country. It possesses all the facilities of a first class New England Academy, with both a male and a female department. It employs six permanent teachers. It has three large and commodious public buildings, designed to accommodate one hundred and fifty students, with rooms and board. It is under the direc- tion of a board of trustees, chosen from every part of the State. An effort is now being made to raise one hundred thousand dollars, partly for present use and partly as a permanent fund, twenty-seven thousand of which has already been subscribed. It is the design of its trustees and patrons to have it, and to keep it, in the first class of institutions, for fitting young men for college, or for business, and affording young ladies all the facilities for a thorough education, classical, scientific, and lit- erary.
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