Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1870-04-19
From Henry Ward Beecher in Christian Union
"The Old Sawmillw
Oh, that blessed day /!

What day was that? Fourth Of July
General training-day =? Thanksgiving
Christmas? None of all these. Fla
more important to our heart, was the da
when we first went fishing alone!
Whether we had permission we canno
at this late period certainly determine
We presume, from the recollection of n
anxiety, and from the distinct remem
brance of general exhilaration, that W
had a dispensation on that day to roam.
There is vague impression, too, o
digging worms, Of putting piece of twln
on to pole. Then went we forth east
ward toward the river Bantam. Nov
the river Bantam was to cur yonng hear
what the Jordan was to good and patri
otto Jew. 1t was the chief stream in ouI
neighborhood. 1t was the chief resort fol
swimming purposes. For, though it wa.
hardly knee-deep, and in many places
easily jumped across, yet, there wer,
pools, and notably one, called Lords
Hole" doubtless from Litchfeld family
of the name of Lord), where small boy
could 90 in "over bead" 1t was one Of
those clear brooks--a mere brook, which
mostly brawls over pebble-stones, now
and then widening into quite a sheet, and
then, like men who have been too gcner-
Gus, growing narrow again, and deep
Along its banks grew alder-bushes in a.
bundance and here and there great trees
reached their branches over the stream
and watched themselves in the water be-
low.
Not great way above Lords Hole was
the sold sawmill !" not that there was
then mill there, or even a mill-dam, but
tradition said that there had been one.
and the legend was probable, inasmach as
two steep banks OIL either side, sloping up
some twenty feet, seemed to have formed
the wings Of dam: Ma and a the water made
of some obstruction.
On the blessed day above mentioned, a
harefooted boy might have been seen on a
June afternoon, with his alder pole on his
shoulder, tripping through the meadow,
where dandeions and wild geraniums were
in bloom, and steering for the old saw
mill.
AS soon as the meadow was crossed,
the fence scaled, and descent begun, all
familiar objects were gone, and the over
powering consciousness Of being atone set
ones imagination into a dance Of fear --
Could we find our way back What if a
big bull should come out Of those bushes ?
What if a great big man should come II.
long and carry us off? To a six-year-
old these were very serious matters. And
nothing could have so well tested the ca
gerncss of our purpose as perseverance
under these soul-bewildering suggestions.
For, realities, in after life, are seldom so
impressive as imaginatioDs are in early
life. A child's fears are cruel. They
are to him the signs Of absolute realities,
and he is quite unable to reason on them,
and is helpless to repell or to endure
them. The fears of our own childhood
constitute chapter in mental philoso-
ply.
But no sooner did we see the sparkle
of the water than our soul grew calm a.
gain, and happy.
Now, for the first time in our lives, we
put on worm. We threw in the hook,
and trembled all over with the excite
meHt:
The hook and bait fell upon the wrink-
led water, went quietly down the stream,
and swept in the shore, where some pro-
icctng stone rooted over little pool
Out Of that pool our little eyes saw some-
thing dart, and our little hands all a.
tremble felt something pull. In an ms
tant, with spasm Of energy, we drew
back the line, there was a flash 10 the air
"a wiggling flash, and something smote
the rock, gravclly bank behind. Scramb-
ling up, we fonDd Shiner, but alas,
smashed to pieces! Soon another and
another fared in like manner, and it was
long before we could subdue our nerve,
so as not to dash the fish to pieces.
Our courage grew every moment
What did nee care if there was bull in
the bushes What if a beggar man
should come along? What if q great
black dog shouldn't that thought was a
little too serious. Black dogs were ter
rors not to be lightly thought Of, even by
a six.year-old urchin who had caught
fish, alone, too!
And SO, gathering up two roach and
three sinners, we started home. Up the
sloping hill we ran, till our fathers house
shone out from among the trees, and then,
with the dignity and noncbalepce of 0