Litchfield enquirer., 1842-02-17
From the New Bedford Reg isicr. WILLIAM CARLETON,
OR, THE REFORMED DRUNKARD
BYP. W. LELAND.

BYP. w. LELAND.
 Truth is stranger than fiction. In tho bosom of private life, in the lone retreats of the domestic world, far behind and be- you'd the conventional forms of society. there exists an empire of thuogh:, and of action, the history of which is, and forev. er will remain unwrittcn. In the palace. in the cottage; in town and country; every where, even in the forest and on the ocean, R"t a tihe of all that pertains to humanity ever falls under the eye of the great, liv- ing, knowing multitude. Devotion has ils secret altar, and villany its unknown re- treat. Every human habi,atisn, whethe, hall or hovel, is q world in miniature and every hear. .he depository of some secre1 ,l.at dies, or goes into eternity with its pos. sessors. For below the surface of public observation, down among the retreats of poverty and crime, how little of the con- comitant misery is ever known even to the most devoted philan,hropist! How few have any conceptions of the struggles of humanity in it's journsy from the cradle to she grave
 Were all this misery incident to our con di,ion; were it unavoidable from the con- siitution of our natures, then, indeed, might we bow in humble submission to destiny, fixed above and beyond our control. But SO it is not. Much the larger portion of all human suffering is the result either of folly, I, ignorance, or crime. Some law of our ,noral or physical being is violated, and sooner or later we reap the fruits thereof, not as punishment, but as consequence 0f such violation. ln proof of this, might enter the open field of humanity, and se- leet not a few striking illustrations iron. each of the sources indicated above. For the present. however, l shall cOn6ne my self to single relation :-
 7He History and COnfessiOn ofG
 RefOrmed l)rHRk0rd.
 lu tho spring of 1920, there came to the village of NJ. in the state of Massachusetts, man whom shall designate under the name of Wm. Carleton. He was jus. at his majority, and had fixed on M. as an el- igible place for prosecuting the business of his calling-that of a house-earpenter. He was a noble looking man, something above the medium height. stout built, aud possess sing countenance such as a sculptor would not disdain to look upon. His education was much above the common standard, and his manners those of q well bred man. Iu his intercourse with others there was an open, hearty frankness which made him no less accessible than acceptable to all with whom he came in contact. Carleton was. besides, an excellent mechanic; thOrongh- ly versed in all the mysteries of his calling, and endowed with . power of despatch never before witnessed among the people, of his adapted village. If he laid by less of his earnings than others in a similar walk of life if the fruit of his labor was not al- ways cared for, it was because he was more generous than others-it was because he sought money rather as means than as an end. Still, Carleton was a thriving man, and the resources of future usefulness and support gradually accumulated on his han!S.
 Three years later than the date herd given, 1 attended CaFlslOn's wedding. He ad engaged the affections 0f Caroline S.. hs daughter. and Only child of a respeeta- .ls widow lady Of N. A 6ner looking