The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1880-08-20
NEW H1I I'm

envy this fail. The people naturally
place confidence In the administration
OF this school. For years II has stood
deservedly high In the estimation OF
those best qualified TO know what a
good school ought to he, and, as a re-
suit, 1t has received generous patron
age. It's facilities have been largely in
creased; IL never was before prepared
to do so good work as at present, and
the wise parent will best consult the
interests of his children by giving them
Q few terms at Beeman.
The Alumni Association Of the acad-
envy will meet on the oath inst. Prof.
Kellogg will give the address; brief
speeches will be made by Others inter-
ested In educational work; the Bristol
Band will furnish music. The ladies of
the town will provide for the hungry,
and everybody who fails to attend will
be sorry.
We copy the following, which en-
bodies much good sense, from the
Poultney Journal:
Last week we had occasion to visit
New Haven, a town located north of
Middleburv, in Addison county, VT.
For few years prior to 1850, the writer
resided in Bristol, a town adjoining
New Haven on the east, and then en-
ioyed the acquaintance of several of the
whom were Gen. VIM. Nash, his BROTH
or, Col. Nash, a Mr.. Walker, DR.. L. d.
Warner, Col. Ira Clifford, Elias Bottum,
A. p. Roscoe, and several gentlemen
by the name of Squiers, Langdon and
Hoyt. There were then an unusual
number of solid men in that town; men
distinguished for their intelligence,
business capacity, high moral character
and devotion to the interests of their
town. Middlebury and Vergennes are
the centres in Addison county, and like
the centres elsewhere in Vermont, since
the building of the railroads, have been
drawing to themselves the business
round about. But New Haven has held
its own better than majority of the
rural towns In the state. Its village
''New Haven street," as It was called
in days of yore, has undergone but little
changein 30 years. "The one store"
10 still here and its proprietors still bear
the name OfRoscoe they are the sons of
a former owner of the store. The Same
Congregational church edifce is here,
and we are told that the same church
worships in that house, and still retains
its old time prosperity. The Congre-
gational church embraces in its men,
bership and support the large majority
of the church-going people Of the town,
and this is fortunate, not because the
Congregational religion Is better than
any other, but because this union gives
strength and permanence to q religious
influence in the town. The number of
dwellings in this village is not large,
but ali indicate that their occupants are
well-to-do. The glory Of New Haven
is its farms. There are no mountains
or high hills within the town, but as
they sometimes say of the West "the
lands are gently rolling" Upon an
elevation half mile or thereaborts,
east of the village on the road leading
to Bristol, a view of the farms Of New
Haven may be had which would delight
and cheer the agriculturalists. While |
here and viewing magnificent
region, which lay open to view |
at this point, between the Green Noun.
tains and Otter Creek, such thoughts as
these arose in the mind of the writer:
The first and most important item in q |
nations wealth is its agricultural inter-
est-its land. No situation in life, said |
a wiser man than the editor of the |
Journal, is so favorable to establish hab- |
its of virtue, sentiments Of devotion,
or Of laying the foundation for intellec-
tual growth, as residence in the country
and rural occupations. n this is so
why this dcpopulation Of our rural
towns? A total error seems to have
taken possession of our people in these
latter days, which is that the large towns
with their din and clatter of business,
their show of wealth and grandeur in
costly dwellings and public buildings,
offer advantages for q residence therein,
or for the education of the young. And
this error causes drain every year
upon the wealth and resources of the
state.
Beeman academy in the rural town of
New Haven, uses the same arithmetic,
the same geometry, and the same Latin
grammar that is used in the most popu-
lar school in the city of New York, at
least the same in principles if not by the
same authors. A knowledge of these
principles can be acquired ut New Ha-
ven or at any good academicsl institute
in Vermont, as readily as at New York,
and the young man or the young wo-
man as well (probably better) prepared
for the duties of life, than if educated
in the great city of New York.
There seems to be strong desire
among the leading men of the state,
for gain in population and wealth,
and the theory seems to be that il must
be done by an increase of manufacture
ing and business interests. or course
an increase in that direction would help
us, but it is discouraging to see the
farming communities fall behind at the
end of each decade, as they have in the
last 40 years, and we think this the re.
suit of erroneous notions which should
be educated out of the people.