The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1852-03-13
STEPHEN BURROUGHS,

Mr. EpiTOR i noticed in the last number
OF yonr paper an extract from the .Neu York
C"mmerr"H fdreHiS,r in relation to odd texts
III which 1t Is mentioned that the statement
made by Boston paper of a sermon having
been preached from the text "Od shoes and
clouted on their feet, is probably but rcvi-
val of an incident i'll the life of Stephen Bur-
roughs. The supposition of the .Nem IoI,
C"nnn"rrml Is incorrect, a sermon bayino
been preached in this city withina few months
hv a we'll known divine, for which he selected
as text the quoted clause, but, if INV memo
~ serves NE right, it was AS have it above.
Odd shoes and cloutcd." The words NAV be
found in the 9TH verse of the 9th chapter of
Joshua. The subject Of the sermon which |
hal the pleasure OF hearing WIS Hypocri<y.-
The subject OF Burroughs sermon was Jeal
r'rg.
Ntcpfcn Burroughs was a famous person
aec in this part OF the country about seventy
YEARS since lie was not exactly one thing
non a"other-eAcrpt that he was a qr,nt rts-
'Hl II" was the son OF Il clergyman who re-
sided III Hanover \. II. Stephen was lbcr-
ally educated. In l1g4 he wrote an account
OF his life which was published at the time.
From that work | Will clean a few facts which
may not prove uuintcrc>ting TO such of vo1r
readers as NAV not have read the work which
Is now quite scarce.
Stephen when quite Young was noted for
his mlschlevous tricks played upon cvcrvbo-
dy with whom he came in contact. sothat "alI
were unanimous in declaring that Stcphen
burroughs was the worst boy in town and
those who conld get him whipped were most
deserving OF esteem" Burroughs has record
ed several of these tricks. IL nciuhbor of
my father, he writes, ian old man had a nice
yard OF water melons. which had been pur-
! lolned by somebody for three or tour succeed
! ing nights; the old man. being of a hasty.
+ prtulant disposition. determined he woul,l
watch hlS water melons. with club. and Sc
vcrclv beat the thief One nrht he took his
stand IN convenient place for watching. un-
known To any one. Accident made me az
quaintcd with the old mans situation. and
>u>pccting his intention. went to a son of his
yOung man of about twenty. and told him
saw man in the water melon ward. whom
suspected to be the thief and advised him tc
90 cautiously. TO the var,l and pcralvcnturc
nc might catch him; accordingly the youua
man went, but no sooner had he cot into tn,
ward than the old man surprising him to b,
th" thief rushed from his hiding place. an,
attacked his son with the club and severed,
handled the poor fellow before he found on
HI; mistake. The son suppo>inr the thief
was heating him haw!cd out to his father who
ne expected was at the house. Murder, Fa
ther' Father Murder, Murder" Thi
scene of mcrrmcnt | cnovcd to the full, bu
soon pald for IT. The plot being discovered
complaint was made and | tasted of the sam,
food had so ingcniouslv cooked for the oil,
mans son.
lie thus relates another of his boyish tricks
about this time the Indians had made in
roads upon some of the frontier settlement,
and DESTROYED them. 1t was feared that the
would makca descent upon Hanover and bur-
Dartmouth College with the buildings in it
vicinity, and consequently the minds of tn
people were full Of ftear, and easily aroused b
: an alarm of any kind One evening. bcin
: in company with number of others, We pre
; posed and agreed to make visit to ward O
e water melons belonging to a man in the y
: clntv. who kept them for sale. and help oul
selves to some of them We accordingly ~,
It our plan in execution; and went as far as tn
= river. half a mile out of town, in order to ef
G them more securely. After we had fnshe
c our repast every one took his own way in OF
e der to get to his room unpcrccived. | cam
o directly into town by the most obvious rout
c in company with one Paine; when we ha
e got to the green. around which the building
II stand. we discovered some person walkin
d before my door, srspeeting. as supposedm
v absence from my room, which being again
2. the laws of the College. at that time of NIGH
g would give him an opportunity. if he mac
the desired discovery. to involve me in diff
K Guilty. All these circumstances were We,
ut apparent to me. and therefore wished 20
W void being known by him, as well as to avo
e. the discovery of the water melons. We ther
l. fore turned off another course, than direct
- to the college. and rolled our gowns close t
lg gcther, and tucked them on our backs, so
o, to make the appearance of men with pac
on their backs. This man, Higgins by nam
cs seeing us, by this time, came on towards u
If we quickened our pace-he pursued US wi
in equal spced-we ran-he ran after us, al
d, hallooed with all his r,ight, was now Sc
m siblc that an alarm would be made among t
a inha btants. and of course, some immeda
ls and decisive measures must he taken, to pr
&c vent discovery, or suspicion of the wat
I'd melon business falling on me. thereto
/ turned short corner, where my pursuer l.
>i.hr Of NC. AMI ran directly back to the @