Litchfield enquirer., 1857-10-08
Litchfeld Revisited.
REV. HENRY WARD BEECHER.

nen only krow, at length, that they are chau- ged but seldom perceive the process of chan. ging. We know that we are no longer boys, but cannot tell when we cross the line. We are conscious that we have reached manhood, and that youth has departed. Bnt so gently did it go, that we are as those whe listen to a bird singing ill tree After it has flown, they listen still, and ouly know Its flight because It no longer sings
 But now and then we are turned back, and brought face to face with the past, in such a way that two lives gaze at each other a.d We walk as if one denty had two expressions.
 Tine recolcctions of the past beat upon tn. heart, and We stood in it's door, as parent to whom comes back the child not seen for score S of yearS uncertain whether to doubt or to ac- cept the familiar strangeness. After long ab- sence let any one revisit the scenes of his childhood home, and see whether these things be not so. There will be soft bewilderment sad joy of excitement, which, perhaps, one may not be able to analyse, but which is, in fact, the flowing together of the two great streams of lie, the past and the present.
 Surely, O,d Litchtield was blessed place for ones birth and chdhood Although there are no mountains, there were hills-tte oldest born of mountains high, round, and lnnume- rable. Great trees there were full of con- | fdences with the wind that clastsea them in winter, and kissed and c"ressed them all the summer The roar of winter winds to our 1 young ears was terrible as the thunder of waves Or the noise of battle. All night long l the cold shelteress trees moaned. Their strong crying penetrated our sleep, and shaped our dreams. At every waking, tine air was full of l yuir Inc hoi k,1 St raj ed, and at some more furious gust, shuddcrcd and trcmblc( all over Then the windows rat tied, tine cracks and crcviccs whlstl. q each ts own distinctive note, and the c!innys, like diapasons in an organ, had their deep and hol- low rumble Each room had it's own note, and, if carried bndfold we could have told the roonls over all the house by the peculiar wiud sound which each had.
 1 Next to the winds, our night experiences in early boyhood were much affected by rats. | Tine old house seems to have been q tavorIte Of l this curious verml There is something m the short, hot glitter of rats eye that has never ceased to affect Us unpleasanty We could not help imagining them to be the m re re- ceptaclcs of miSci;evouS spirits, aud theIr keen eyes had always d ka d of mockIng expression as if they said, "You think we are rats, but if we get hold of you, you will know that we are a gooG deal more tIan that" We never could estimate llow many populated our old house. Tine walls seemed hkc city thorough fares, and the ceiling Ike Forum or d Ro- man thcatr.. We used to lie in bed aud mar vel at what WIS going on. Sometimes there would hr great stiffness, as if they had all gone to me, tng. Then again they wouli troop about with such d swell of liberty and g|adnr>S, that it was quite plain that the m eting was out But nothing ever scar,d and amused us so much as th>lr way of gong up and down the partitions. At first, up would come one, then another, aud finally quite a bcvy, squrak!ng aud trol ckng, aS ii they were schoo'boys going up stairs, nipping each ether and cutting up all manner of praiikS. Then eame a stiffness. Next, prc,nontory rat wou.d rush down. evidently full or news, Ind immediately down would pour aite! him streat, O. r.tS, rushing Ike mad, aud uipa- rentl, ,dmbling heels over head. Byand by,
 om" nd sawyer would commence where he lift off the nght before, cutting the same par titon. To this must be added nibbIin"s rat nestled paper, all occasional race of rats across the bed, the manipulation of corn in the gar Tt, the forays with cats and kittens, the rat rngiln,--" stecl-traps," " hox-trap>," figure tours," aud all manner of devices---ln site of which the rats held their own, and if allowed suffrage would have outvoted the whole fami- iy dogs and cats to boot, four to o.,r
 The morning after our arrival in L tchfeld, We Sal,i, q fo1h aone. The day Was high auL wide, full of stiffness, and sereneIy radiant As we carried our present life up the North street, we met at every step our boyhood life coming down. There were the old trees, but looking not so large as to our young eyes. The stately road had, however, been bereavc1 of the Button-ba trees, which had been crippled by disease But the old E|ms retained a hab- it peculiar to Litch6eld There seems to bea current of wind which, at times. passes high up In the air over the town, and which moves the tops of the trees, while on the ground tfere is no movement of wind. How vivdy did that sound from above bring back early days when for hours We lay upon the windleSs grass, and watched the top leaves flutter, and marked how still We're the under leaves of the same trees
 One by ore came the old houses On the corner stood and stands the jail-awfn buld-
 ing to young sinners We never passed it's grated windows without sautary chill. The old store, and the same old name, Buell., oh It !; the Bank, and its long, lean leg: sphdlng UP to hold the shelf up under the roof ! fine , Col. Iallnadge House, that used to seem so grand that it was cold, but whose cherry trees s in the front-yard seemed warm enough and at tractive to our longing lips and watcry mourI
 How we'll do We remember the stately gait Of
 the venerable colonel of revolutionary memo " :! We do not recolect that he ever spok, to us or grecttd us. Not because he was , austere or unkind, but from kind of military , reserve. We thought him good and polite, but should ss soon have thought of climbing