St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-12-24
New England in. Early Times.

'eSatlon-S0me one person leading
g I'm. The tunes We're few; such as
FORK, Hackney, Saint Mary's, Windsor,
and Martyrs. But about I7l4, Rev.
john Tufts published Il singing book,
containing twenty-eight tunes. 1t Gre
ated great interest and some dismay.
One writer i'll the New England Chron-
iclc l723 said: ''Truly have a great
jealousy, that if we once begin to sing
by rule, the next thing will be- to pray
by rule and preach by rule, and then
comes popery." And though it did not
result in pOpery, it brought To pass
slnging-men and singing women in New
England; and singing gallery, in
which they stood on Sundays. to
praise the Lord" A singing school
followed, where in the cold winter
nights. hard-handed young farmers sat
hy the side of tendereyed girls. aud
holding the book between them. they
| chanted Near" and Wells" till their
soft young hearts We're attuned to har-
mony. Handin-hand, they walked
homeward, and felt that that was bliss.
The PuritanS resisted churrh-organs.
and the prejudice against organs ex-
tended to other instruments of music
and this seems strange. too, when they
read in the Old Testament how min
StrclS played on the ''cornet. flute. harp.
Sackhut, psaltrcy, dulcimer. and all
kinds of music" How Moses provided
horns for the Temple and David him
self played upon the harp. The pitch
pipe seems To have been the first
pctard. after the singing book had
lullrd the garrison this was Il sort of
wooden whistle, made no doubt b\ the
ch"ri>tcr, with which Il faint apploNi-
nation to the key could he had.
y small squeak from this warned the
audience to he ready. and then the
ch"ri>ter stood mp in his place. and led
his band through the Psalm. all the
while beating time with his arm. and
singing now bass. now treble. now
tal>rtt". in the face of the Lord and his
people. Next to the minister the chor-
I>tcI WIS. on Sunday. the greatest man
hN far before the deacon or the tyth-
lng-nIau. During the singing. little
boys were still, and the tNthing- man
could close his eyes III peace, and lest
from his impossible lahur-thr krrpinC
boys quiet for three homs on hard
hcnrhcs. who could not keep quiet.
The flute. and bass viol Niolincrllo.
and fiddle, and clarionct. gradually
cl"nt III after the ptch-pipc.
uhcrIl> were not performed on the
Sabbath. 1t waS customary to give
wigs and gloves To the ministers and
palI-hcarrI~ : and Il supper was provi-
Died tol the company. At the funeral
"f the Rev. Thomas Cobbett. minister
of Lynn and of Ipswich, who died in
1850. there WIS provided: II barrel
wine. > barrels cider. - lbs sugar.
cord of wood. dozen pairs of gloves.
for men and women. and some spice
and ginger for the cider" And at the
funeral of Robert Ward. Il cooper of
CharlcStown. who died I1:}G. we've: Il
pairs Z loves. wine, one pint stomach
water, mourning Sralts for 3 heirs
The little brown, one story school
house WAS Il ''pccuGar institution of
New England. for Il century and WAS
then transformed hy paint into Il red
one. Travellers on horSchack. would
notice these institutions standing in the
villages. and at the forks of roads in
the most out-ot- the way places but
when the hour of nine o'clock came.
from every wood-road and lane. little
children with their books and dinners.
were seen flowing to the school -houS,.
like rillS to Il lake: and when the win
dows were opened. there came forth at
times. II confused sound of voices, like
the murmur of many waters: this
WAS the result of Il habit which then
prevailed of studying the lessons aloud
which has now given way to Il quicter
method. The simple branches. read
ing. writing and arithmetic. were taught
to all, and it WAS not respectable to he
ignorant of these; but other studies
were also pursued. When four o'clock
came, the lessons were over. and bows
and girls poured out of the modest
doorway. shouting and dashng about.
free as their own mountain streams
The houses ut first were of one story.
but soon were built of two stories. the
upper one projecting about il foot.
Great timberS were used, and showed
on the inside in the rooms. Some
Of these houses are still in good preser-
vation. They commonly faced the
south, so that the sun might shine
square, and then they could tell when
noon-time came. The windows were
small, with diamond shaped glass. A
great stone chimney reared itself in the
middle of the house; in which, wood
four and six feet long WAS used. and
thirty to sixty cords Il year WAS a fair
allowance. In those great chimneys
the bacon was hung. and in the corners
he children sat, aud looking up, SAW
the stars shine in the daytime. Along
the ioists We're hung strings of dried
apples and ripe pumpkins ; and on the
hooks hung Il kings ann" and spon-
tOOn.
Breakfast, dinner, and supper. were
hearty meals, and went with the sun
at sunrise, midday and sundown-and
when nine o'clock came, the meeting
house bell rung the curfew, and then
most people went to bed.
The drink of the people was water,
which is good throughout New England,
beer, which every family brewed from
ITS own barley malt, as was the custom
then in England, milk, which their
cows and goats yielded, cider, which
after few years was ground ont of
their apples.
lea, ''the cup which cheers but not
rnebrlates' the female heart, and i'm
perceptibly brings the nerves to the
hnest condition of excruciating sensi |
blilty, appears to have crept in from
England about 1920, though it was
used here and there in New England in
the beginning of the century. i
In the old country it was used only
by the rich, aud was much longed for
by the poor. For "a time the sutferings