Litchfield enquirer., 1876-09-07
WHOLE..NO. 2623:
h9s ais From The Advanee.lr 10 From Northwestern conuScticus.

2
 One hundred miles ,northeaskerly from New York, anj about fifty miles due north from tide water, 1. .16O feet above the level of the sea, and overlooking in all directions hills and valleys green with fields and forests, lies Litchheld, Conn. The autobiography of Dr. Lyman. Beech CT has fixed the place and it's oldePinhabi- tants indelibly upon the memories of all readers of good books. It would be dis tinguished for it's beauty of situation, if not for the history of it's famous men.
 The Shepang railrcad is SO rural, so winding and slow, it gives you so many sudden views of old mills in shady hooks, clear streams. dashing over pebbly bot. toms, distant hills and wooded ridges. that 1t seems more like an old-time stage route than a railroad. The traveller rests and feasts his eyes on all shades of green as the train slowly climbs the rising val ley. A short walk to the right of,the sta tion, which is compelled Co keep below the town, and a beautiful sheet of water. Bantam Lake, four miles away, flashes ont like a mirror Des&eeil the hills. Out of it come the delicious fish for our break. fast, and the sweet lilies for our button holes. The old Beecher mansion and church edifice have passed away. A mod. ern sanctuary of ample proportions, a mixed audience of townspeople, farmers families.o and summer visitors, a sweet toned organ accompanied by skillfully played, cornet, leading congregational singing, and strange minister, on ex- change with pastor Mclean, made up the church attractions of this sunny August Sabbath. There is a deacon who is Q doctor. He has a sort of rural home for those sick of nervous diseases, and con- ducts public worship for his patients on Sabbath evenings. Dr. Buel heals in part by his patience, forbearance. and the vitahzing atmosphere which his very presence seems to create, as well as by his medical skill. He drives out faithfully through winter snows, over the hills and, as Whittier's ''wise old doctor, makes his rounds" sE ,,ar sirT ea'..
 Three summer hotels hold but small portion of the summer visitors, who are also scattered among the farm and village houses. The sons and grandsons come back from the cities and the West and adorn their ancestral hills with new and tasteful homes.
 A ''village improvement company" wisely follows the example of earlier years, and adorns the streets and public park with trees. Litchfeld has the grandest old elms out of New Haven. I wanted to ask them if they saw the boy John Todd, when he came here in his ju- nior year from Yale College, seeking health, and drew tears of joy from Lyman Beecher's eyes with his account of the opening revival, which the Litchfeld pas- tor immediately went to New Haven to labor in. l am not surprised that the present inhabitants, and all who have grown up among these hills, are proud of the old place. s. i..-,'ag
 It is not place to make money in, for the rich pastures and hay fields are equal ed elsewhere. There are no mannfac- tories, and only meager country trade, and narrow range of business at the old county Court House. But 1t is place to be born in, to live, study, grow up in. The great white house stand in quiet dig nifty behind the elms and amid the vide spreading sward. The Centennial fills a room with revolutionary relics, and O hall with fine paintings contributed from pri- vate collections. The principal men of the 5slaoo--naitod with all the people to celebrate the one hundredth Fourth of July, with oration, song, prayer and ova- tions The solid, and beautiful soldiers monument upon the village green, with it's list of honored dead, shows that pat riotism did not die in 1776.
 OJ OuO COOA AlSAO OA buc kuAA moon We waited till eleven o'clock, Aug. 9th, and joined those who were watching through the leafy elms the occultation of Saturn The star crept up to the broad and unblushing face of the moon as timld- ly as coy maiden to an appointed rem dezvous Litchfield boasts of astrono- mers who are intelligent and accurate ob- servers of all unusual heavenly phenome- na. How still it was next::morning when the sun rose! The very cocks crew quiet ly, and now and then blrd dropped timid strain of melody, as if by mistake. You go out and the morning mist rises off the green hillsides and tue lake lifts her veil gently to receive the kiss of the early sun. A Sabbath benedictlon that fell yes terday seems to finger and abide on the face of nature. .,,
 We drive about the broad and shaded streets. We remember the busy, restless life which. generated here, has oveIfowed in tongue and pen for the benefit and blessing of our country and world. We would not exchange our Litchfield for a thousand English ones. Ours, too, has her ''swan," poets, novelists. teachers, jurists, preachersl It was very kind Providence that gave you such an early home. ..s-4---,l
 r.... . ... R. B. H.