The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1852-04-08
WASHINGTON, d. c.
For the National Era
DEATH BY The WAY nDK-A SKETCH.
by MARTHA RUSSELL


by MARTHA RUSSELL.
Never before had the forssss Of America wit
messed such sight! Never again there such
pilgrimage from the side 70 the delightful banks
Of the Connecticut - "-Boncreff.
Such is the language of tho eloquent histo-
rian, with reference to the journey Of that
band Of pilgrims who, in the pisaaantsprins'
aime Of 1886, turned their backs upon such
vestiges of comfort and civilization as the in
FAINT settlements of Massachusetts, Bay afford
ed. and headed by their beloved pastor, the
Rev. Thomas Hooker, made their way through
peris innumerable, across swamps and streams,
over rough and rocky highlands, and through
tangled woods and deep green valleys, with no
guide but compass and no shelter but the
heavens, until like the lsraelites of old, they
crossed the goodlie river" and upon its west
ern bank raised their affairs, and laid the found
alton of the pleasant city of Hartford
And he is right More than two hundred
years have elapsed, and >" companies 10y fifties
and by huudreds,n of New Englands sons,
with their wives and their little ones have gone
forth from her rugged hills and sheltered val
legs, to seek a richer reward for their labor
amid the fertile prairies of the West or by the
golden-bedde streams of California yet, in
which lifts the soul above fear-a courage,
thank God not dependent on thews and sinews,
but growing out of firm adherence to God
and the Right; and which inspires the heart Of
the feeblest woman, as well as the strongest
man--in all that goes to make up true moral
grandeur, none can compare with this.
1t is not without significance, that the old
writer's speak OF this company, as consisting of
about one hundred souls", They were not
mere bodies, seeking new field for the gratif-
cation of animal appetites and pleasures but
souls. with ends and aims that took hold on
eternity. and who faced famine and death, not
for worldly gain, but that they might obtain
liberty to give an external developmentsto
those truths which had already made them
free in spirit. In proof of this we need only
adduce the fact that in all succeeding emigra-
ton of their descendants the seeds of what
ever they have carried with them that is tru-
est best, most ennobling-that which gives
Uitalitp to their nsttutions-may be traced
back to our early fathers; and even now, they
move us with a sway mghtier than any living
influence.
No The world even counts few pilgrimages
like that That there will yet arise prophets
and disciples lowered with fuller and clearer
knowledge of the truth we earnestly trust and
believe; yet these men shall not die or, rather
like Abel, being dead, they shall yet speak, and
their voices vibrate along the chain of exist
ence until time is no more.
1t was toward the close of a rare day In June,
that the pilgrims from ridge Of wooded high
lands caught their first faint glimpse of the
beautiful river. Many hill and valley, swamp
and morass, lay between; but then it was like
narrow, silver thyead on ground OF green,
q aa4 e(fer momsle eImost breathless silence,
\. ~ N liible shout--a clear old
Foke the sleeping echoes
1hsSo ia III xUoly died away, when, in tones
deep and clear as bell, Mr. Hooker gave voice
to the sentiment of the whole company, in the
eloquent words of King David
"Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for he is
good for his mercy endureth forever"
g" Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom
he hath redeemed from the hand of the enc
my;
tary way they found no city to dwell in
Hungry and thirsty, their soul tainted in them"
Then they cried unto the Lord in their
trouble, and he delivered them out of their dis
tressesD
"And He led them forth by the right way,
that they might go to city of habitation."
"Oh that men would praise the Lord for his
goodness, and for his wonderful works to the
children of menD
AT the foot of that wooded range Of hills
lay a beautiful valley and there they halted
for the night. 1t was a striking scene, that
halt between the hills, and one well worthy of
the artists pencil.
The Wild Iuxuriant beauty of the landscape,
over which neither scythe nor sickle, plough
nor axe, had as yet passed the flush of life
that trembled along the hills, and throbbed
and thrilled in everything around them, the
hum Of the myriad insect tribe, the strange
birds sitting still on the boughs and pouring
out their evening songs of rare and wondrOus
melody the occasional cries of wild beasts
that their coming had aroused from their lairs,
mingled with the unwonted lowing of one hun.
dred and sixty head of cattle which the pill
grims had driven before them, and upon whose
milk they had chiefly subssted during the
journey, now greedily satisfying their hunger
upon the fresh green grass Of the valley, while
the mixers went among them, filling their
pals preparatory to the evening meal. Here,
party OF men, some of whom but a short
time before had been the pride of England
oldest university stood axe in hand cutting
down branches OF the fragrant birch or thick
ieaved maple, while another arranged them
ihIo nuts and touches for the shelter and COM
loI OIL the women and children There, a
group were busy unloading the few pack Thor
SEES that carried their extra stores, while, like
second Prometheus, the accomplished owner
OF Capord Hall and Ex-Governor of Massa-
GhusettS John Haynes, might be seen with tin
der-box, steel, and flint, in hand, kindlng the
,'re' 10 necessary to protect them from wild
beasts as well as cook their hasty pudding
ana parch their quota of Indian corn. Two
cro'ched sticks supporting good, stout pole,
rom which swung an iron pot answered all
the purposes of fireplace; and around these
clustered the busy-handed matrons, not a few
OF them the cherished daughters of wealth and
ease, watching the secthlng, bubbling contents
OF the vessels, or tended their infants in the
shade, while rosy-cheeked maidens brought
water in wooden dippers or gourd shells, from
crystal spring that dubbed up beneath the
roots Of wide-spreadng birch, near which
stood the reverend pastor himself that Eight
OIL the western churches whose eloauence
ha1 drawn people from all parts Of the county
VI Essex 10 hear him, ere he was silenced for
hon-conformity, folding the broad leaves of the
hickory into drnking-cups for the fair haired,
u'ue-eyed lambs of his flock that had gathered
,uund him to slake their thirst while in the
aSground rose the dark wooded hills and
Ju "Ooe them arched the deep, unclonded sky of
m n lar IRON the spring, under the shade of
h. ulhcent oak, were two huts built of
mo- 'es IKE the rest, but constructed with far
conD are Tor II seemed rs if every one Of the
wardfy mad been anxious TO do something TO-
oco,'ri psriec.lng their arrangement. One was
occupied 10y Madame Hooker and her family.
Sra,.n heT ,he opening Of the other reclined a
lnIaglle-iooking girl, with hair like a floating