Litchfield enquirer., 1869-02-04

| nat neafC-DufnlngSl JACK experience
 he buried in his black bosom. and carrie with him to that world where, as it is con
 fidently affirmed. there are no distinction
 on account of color. In the household o Governor Smith there was "a distinction
 They who called upon the accomplishet master, did not meet Jack fixed upon term of equality, in the drawing room. H Ipresided in the kitchen, and had dominion horse wagon, of an antiqnated type, drawl by an animal, which, judging from it's ap pearance, might have been transported from the old world to the new in the barg, of that primitive ferrymaB, Noah. supplied to him the means of locomotion. Witt these, in his latter years, he went to thu mill daily, whether there was grist or not until, on one of his trips, his sight failed him entirely, and kind hand took him 1T charge and delivered him safely to tht door of that-to the children of the vicin ty-architectural wonder, the Smith man sion, from which he never ventured after ward.
 Jack had been younger. He had ridden behind his master, and on the occasion o his solemn entry into Hartford and New Haven-for then Connecticut had two cap itals-to take possession of the chief ex ecntive office of the State, after each one of his elections-an event of no little dig nifty and ceremony, fifty years ago. He had assisted in those grand Ethiopian per formances, when the negroes of Connecti cut once in two or three years, ''asserted their native rights" held sort of satur nalia at Hartford, and, in imitation of theil masters, chose one out of their number to be Governor of the colored population and inducted him with grand display ol all the spavined horses, s,superannuatedc char iots, cast-off inery and antiquated military trappings that could be collected. To be able to go to Hartford to election" was q thing to which the negroes of Connecticut looked forward with more anticipation ot pleasure by considerable, than any of the Hebrew race to my knowledge have regard ed prospective return to the land which was promised to their fathers, and as we are informed, has since been promised tc themselves. l Another of the great men of my native town was Noah Webster, Photographer He was not born in the place, neither was he long resident; but it was there, and 1t IS said, in an attic of the Smith man. sion, that he wrote his first spelling book, and alone and unappreciated, pursued those pathological studies which finally led him to eminence. It was there, probably, that he prepared his first diesiopary-a work published about the year 1910, and now altogether forgotten--in which he at. tempted many innovations in the line oi phonetic spelling, which, partly, perhaps, | through their non acceptance, and partly through more extensive knowledge of the original elements of language, he was led to abandon. He was remembered bv 8 few, as studious young man, little in. clined to practical jokes, and withal, somewhat eccentric. It is said that his re. collections of my native town were not pleasant, and saw him tbere but once ! an aged and venerable looking man. ridine through the village street in a chaise ac companied by his daughter; but it was said that he did not stop.
 In these days, when so much is said written and done in the way of female ed i ucation, and when such high expectations are entertained of the women of Ameri ca, after they shall have attained to the full enjoyment of their rights as mental and political entities, it may not be unin teresting to recall feats which the world has long since forgotten, but which tend to show that some honor, in this respect. be. longs to my native town In an outlying parish among the hills, which was known, enthusiastically, as the Society of Ells. worth, there was settled over a meaere Congregational church, and at beggarly salary, young minister named Daniel Parker. To lengthen out his poor pit tance, Mir. Parker established school fol females, and being we'll educated, and hay. ing a native gift for the communication oi knowledge, his seminary, in the course oi years, grew to large dimensions, and be came celebrated far and wide through the country. It is probable that, in point o time, it was among the first, if not the very first, female boarding school in the United States; and its success, educationally anG pecuniarily, prompted the establishment of several similar institutions in Connecti cut and the adjoining states. .a
 But Mir. Parker was so unfortunate as tt incur the dislike of a man more potent than himself, and one who never forgave or ceased to pursue. Lyman Beecher wa at that time settled over a congregation a the county town, Litchfield, and by his ac tivity and force had gained that ascenden cy among the clergy of that part of Con necticut to which, wherever he went, h. always aspired. In his theology Mir. Parke was inclined to mysticism, while the theol ogy of Dr. Beecher was that of literal Calvin ism, with his own variations. Howeve 1 that may be, Mir. Beecher, by the hand o his parasite, the Rev. Joseph Harvey. o l Goshen, caused Mir. Parker to bo prosecn ted for heresy in the ecclesiastical tribun als. In loft of my fathers, when was
 little boy-how they came there l neve knew-was pile of pamphlets of larg size, containing the records and proceed ing of these tribunals, running throug sev eral years, with the arguments, appeal and explanations of the parties, and thei corresponcence with others and with eac other. There was Prescription Delnea ted by Daniel Parker. in which the poor
 worried man sought to interest the publi I in his favor. protesting his innocence, an
 setting forth the injustice of his prosecu tors. There was ssrhe Reply of Josepl } Harvey to Prescription Delineated, an ssA Complete Rsfutation of the Reply { Joseph Harvey to Prescription Delineated; to ali of which in my infantile pursuit c
 knowledge with their contents, did se riously incline I think that in none C the biographies of Dr. Beecher are thes facts mentioned; and perhaps the futur historian of the Reecher family will fe' grateful to me for bringing them to ligh The result of the proceedings may be ar ticipated. It is an old story tho fate { the weak when he. falls into the hands 1 the strong. MT. Parker was silenced. ss,n ,.n..,i-s .,e thooa dava were piOna an