Litchfield enquirer., 1876-10-05

| 68CG6. Ou 0u6 OCCaS1Ou, 1t 16 IClubOO, at' ter g feryent prayer for the President ol the United States John Adams) he ad ded; 'And, oh Lord, wilt thou bestov double portion of thy grace, for thou then regarded by all Litchfeld Federal. ists as a kind of agent of the adversary. During Democratic mass convention an aggressive tavern keeper announced in bold placard on his door, "No Dem. ocrats entertained here" About this time too, we learn how Osborn, a rather m scrupulous Democratic editor-a kind o1 local John Wilkes-got into fall and re fusing all terms of release, quickly be- came the idolized martyr of his party; bow Democratic committee of investiga. ton reported for political effect that he had been visited in prison with unheard of cruelties how his name thus became a Democratic watchword in state and na- tion; and how while he was in prison a vast mass convention of his party was held in Litchfeld and passed in process sion before the prisoners window with heads uncovered, giving the martyr as they passed by, respectful and sympa- | the.ic salute.
 | "REMINISCENCES OF DR. BEECHER
 For nothing has the town been better known than for the famous men whose names have been associated with the l place. Heie the Rev. Lyman Beecher passed Sixteen of the most active and fruitful years of his ministry. Six of his | children-Harriet, Henry Ward, Charles, Frederick, Isabella and Thomas K.-were born in the old parsonage. which but late- lx,x rn0xo1 frovo ikc cs&a has now become part of the asylum for the insane, in the northen part of the town lDr. Beecher's wife R0xana sleeps 1 ln one of our burial-grounds- It ia reIa- ted of the old Dr. that after his mind had darkened. he was brought back for a brief visit to Litchfeld, and that, as he passed in the stage coach by the burial ground where his wife lies, in a momen- tary flash of returning reason he waved his hand toward the marbles saying |: There's my Congregation. When in his active pastoral work member of his con- gregation reproached Dr. Beecher for his intense love of trout fishing, saying sneer- ingly: 'sTrout-fshing isn't even respecta- ble. Doctor" ''Then I'll make it SO, re- piled Dr. Beecher. In proof that the admonition was wasted, it is related that not not long after it was given, the doctor while on his way to deliver religious ad- dress, stopped by brook, and with pocket-line, and caught a number of humping trout, which he was forced to keep in his pocket, and which, greatly to the good mans chagrin, dropped out one by one from his coat tails when he ascended the pulpit stairs,
 MEN OF THE REVOLUTION
 .Litchfeld at the opening of the Revo- lution had been founded for more than half a century, and did her share bravely in the struggle for independence. She was almost dralned of her young men du- ring that war, and out of one company of thirty-six only six survived.
 There are trustworthy records in the town which prove that the leaden statue of George III, which was torn from it's pedestal on Bowling Green in your city at the opening of the Revolution was brought here and made into cartridges by the patriotic daughters of the village. Here lived Oliver Wolcott, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ- ence, and afterward Governor of the state; Ethan Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga; Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, valiant soldier in the cause of independence, and tuO 4oVuO1 O1 tuO LhtO 1bOCOEO0I G IOu" erick A. Tallmadge. During several years Litchfield was the recognized home of Aaron Burr. A few miles away in an adjoining town he attended in early man. hood the Theological Seminary of the Rev. Joseph Bellamy, a staunch and learned theologian. It is reported that the doctor was once badly foored in arg ument on knotty dogma by his brilliant pupil, who was in consequence expelled with short shrift. The doughty tempera- ment of these men of the Revolutionary era is revealed hy the following paragraph from a prayer delivered by parson Cham pion at Sunday service soon after news was brought that great British fleet had sailed to subdue the colonies:
 70, Lord we view with terror the ap- proach of the enemies of Thy holy relig- ion: will Thou send storm and tempest to toss them upon the sea and to overwhelm them on the mighty deep, or to scatter them to the uttermost parts of the earth But peradventure, should any escape Thy vengeance, collect them again O Lord as in the hollow of Thy hand and let Thy lightnings play upon them"
 Of the other famous men who were born or for 0 considerable time had their homes i'll the town, were the Rev. Horace Bushnell, Governor Dutton of Connecti. cut, John Pierepont, the poet, Henry Sey- mour, Cunal Commissioner of New York State and Ex Governor Horatio Seymour, and Ex. United States Senator Truman Smith, who still lives at Stamford, Conn,
 A TALE OF A CAT. lac
 A story told of one of these worthies is good enough to stand on it's own mer- it although vouched for by leading lawyer of the state. The old gentlem an to whom refer had favorite cat, which had grown old in his service, and against the killing of which he entertained senG- mental scruples. Several times he had carried Grimalkin considerable distance from home. but the animal had always found it's way back. Finally one day he confded to party of friends that on the morrow he would carry the cat on 8 dls- tant journey which he was to make, and assure a permanent riddance. The next morning one of the party given to practi cal joking took passage on the old gentle mans train. secured the cat hundred miles away. where it was dropped, and immediately brought it home. We may imagine the owners amazement when re- | turning home a few hours afterward he IOun0 pusS puTrln8 nlm welcome on ms door step. It is averred that the old gentleman made mathematical calcula- ton to show that the animal had travelled home with half the speed of an express train, and for several months dilated on | it's prowess to his friends until. one of them took pity on his credulity and let tho cat out of the bag.
 The old times of which have spoken with their quaint memories and tradi- tions, have not gone by so long but that their influence fingers on the old village. There still remain traces of the patrician spirit of the early part of the century and conservative respect of the old regime. The houses where we dwell, the paths we tread and almost all outward shapes save those of active life are symbolic of the men whose frames have crumbled into dust; and. for one, l love to think of | Litchfield, as a village with genuine past, and where everything has not yield. ed to the new and strange. 0. D. { Work was resumed in the THoMAsroN