Butte record., 1856-12-27
DIR. DOT-IT-DOWN'S NOTES.
GRAVE sUBJECTs-GAY GROUPINGS
FAT OR LEAN-TAKE HIM.

I
There is nothing more agreeable to
Inc than venerable village churchyard.
know | am not singular in this par
tiality; thousands have said and sung
of their FEELING, whilst Wis ting these
hallowed spots but they must be Of
the right character to please me, no
squirearchy about them, no modern in
novations, no sectarian prescription.
In no country are these seen to so
much advantage, to the moralizer, as
in England, the "old country" as we
Yankees love to characterize her. In
Holland, in France. in Germany. as in
other parts OF the continent, they are
too much cared for, the elements make
no way against the paint pot and white
washing, and those at home are all too
new to call up "reminiscences of more
than couple of centuries. No! it is
under the timeworn patch work roof,
held together by that raro old plant,
the icy green casting on one side its deep
broed shadows, and on the other inter
posing between the staring daylight and
the gloom around the mouldering tomb
within, and only admitting few slant
ing beams, at intervals, upon its pros
trate warriors reclining effigy, that We
Gun purue our musings with anything
like depth of feeling. The g ,thic and
lance pointed windows, the solid abut-
ments, the square old steeple, it is easy
to perceive, are all built to last to the
end OF time. No addition, no enlarge
ment, no undermining, were contem-
plated to desecrate the work which the
foreign guild of masons were called up
on to establish throughout the United
Kingdom When the fathers made
up their funds, these eminent foreign
ers came over, and took up their resi-
dence until the hallowed structure rear>
ed its head, employing native artists
only to do the inferior work.
Many day have 1 spent in these
sequestered hooks, my skelch book is
filed with drawings OF their quaint old
forms, and their monumental rustic ma
sonry. Amongst their attractions not
The least [ found to be the rustic lays
of the village poets, some, SO droll,
some, so touching; some, SO outrage
Gus, some, so extraordinary, that, in
my travels, | resolved no object what
ever should withdraw my attention
from recording them. I will give you
a few, without burdening your atten-
ton with place or note of circum>
stance.
One, on a little Emma, aged four
years:
"Adieu! sweet shade, whose gentle vir-
tues wove
Around the parents hearts net of
love:
How, like lily, thou didst charm the
eye,
And lure the love of every passer by.
Heaven saw the worth, though unna-
tured by years,
Aud snatched its favorite from this vale
of tears"
Upon a wife of only two years ex-
perience, by the fond husband:
ssAh! where's the charm that bound
me TO this earth
The daily Joy to which my Anne gave
birth?
| lacked no other life than that was
given,
But she was snatched to show this is
not heaven.o
Upon a sorrowing father, who lost
three of his sons on a boating excur-
sion:
sMystereus hand why hadst thou
blessed
Me with three boys, the sweetest and
the best :
Their love for me was mixed without
apang, s7.
And all the village with their virtues
rang:
In one fell hour they left life's busy
shore,
The wave closed e'er them, and they
were no MORE"
Upon a singer who, although only
sixteen years of age, had been leader of
the village choir for several years:
clark I hear an angels voice,
Sister come, thou art our choice
Leave this earth, with all its grief,
Of our glad choir to be the chief!
We need voice to harmonize1
Like thine, our soraphs in the skies,
Come sister. come, with ready wing
We wait Hosannas you to sing!'
Upon father, by his sons:
"May thy blessed spirit, father dear,
In all temptation hover near,
As when in life, to teach our youth,
Through virtues paths the God of
TRUTH
Upon sister, by brother, the last
but one of his race:
"Sister, the last of all my race,
And shall see no more thy lace,
Smiling sweet content on me
Soured with the worlds cold chari-
ty;
'Tis thus she speaks, it is Gods
grace
To seek for you happier place"
These, it is impossible to deny. make
such an impression upon the heart as
to render it more susceptible of its du-
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