The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1878-12-26
CoHItnsPosDENcE
ADAMS matt.

in men have lived and died are hsuotet
houses" Though we may not believe
10 ghosts, and will not stop tonight L
question whether this building, which
seems to be occupied by ourselves
alone, IL or is not filed with an invisi
Bile teuantry Of disembodied spirits
yet il is morally certain that every
place frequented by human steps and
made familiar to human thought and
Affection, is haunted by memories and
associations that remain vivid for years
sometimes for generations.
II. beginning at the time when what
ia now Adams Hall was the new school
house and town hall of Factory Point
we had power TO call up before our
eyes all the events that have transpired
within il, or even all the persons with
whose lives its existence has been
connected. what a vast panorama
would he presented to US How many
spelling Vbools aud singing classes
would we see serving their double pur.
pose OF pleasure and OF profit; how
many social gatherings ia whose ap
parebtly happy midst ranked the ar
rows Of envy. jealousy and pride how
many March meetings from whose
noisy sessions the town emerged newly
differed How many youthful minds
have here learned to love the paths Of
knowledge aud taken their first steps
upward TO the pleasant fields OF science
and literaturel Many a strong man
to-day amid the vicissitudes Of active
life. struggling to realize the high pos.
sibilities of his boyhood's dreams, looks
ba ckto the old school room beneath
this roof as the birthplace Of those
dreams. Many a matron, with hair
already silver-hecked, AS she watches
the physical and mental development
OF her o y and daughters, recalls with
pleasure this place as the place Of her
own early training Many, alasl both
and women, gaze sadly backward
over years Of wasted. useless lie. to
behold here the scene Of rejected conn.
Sc and neglected opportunities. Aud
those others who once trod these floors
with the uimhle ieet Of childhood. and
WHO now walk the shining pavement OF
the Celestial Cts, or wander unblest
among thuse who have chosen the
wages 81 -m a. their eternal portion,
DO they retain no memories. glad or
souowiul, of the surroundings that
here influenced their lives for good
or Hlg
Some Vt rs gath cred here tonight
remember almost as clearly as il it
but yesterday. how in the same
schoolroom we diligently studied the
assigned us, or fooIishly followed
Out own devices TO the neglect Of les
sons, the great annoyance Of teachers,
and our own iDcslculable loss We
remember the riValries and emuIatious,
The friendships aud animosities of those
iays and no. less wildly the wild
faees and frolics aud fun. And how
- a witness o. all this the building
became married and splintered.
old before It's time How the
nerciless years and still more merciless
'avages Of mischievous hands despoiled
ts beauty and destroyed its usefulness
until at last Il stood With battered win.
10 a state Of general dilapidalion,
title better than = target for stones
nd ridicaie Then il humbly stepped
to give room for that other more
avn 1~AhfFhAtut skfQCfNFt 10 e
shich The present juvenile mind sips
Il the cup Of wisdom and chafes under
be rod Of discipline. And while the
iew school house Is busily writing its
ecord 10 lay on the shelves az iiue.
'ur task Is still 10 tollow the fortunes
{ the old. Scarcely bad il taken %
Is new position when summoning TO
Is aid the hand OF improvement, il soon
rose from The ashes Of IL worn-oat
eli. remcdeled and rechristene1, 70
n,er upon new duties and gather 10
self new experiences, As we gaze
pom II ia The light Of the present We ,
its lover oons marked by the ebb /
ID flow 81 the ever changing tide oflc