Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-09-16
WEST BRATTLEBORO.
CHAPTER OF PLEASANT REMIHIsoEHoEs GALL
ED UP BY THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF LAFAYETTE
cLARK's DEATH.

A CHAPTER OF PLEASANT RENIEIsoENoEs GALL
ED UP BY THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF LAFAYETTE
oLARK's DEATH.
A Connecticut valley clergyman, who spent
q recent Sunday in Brattleboro, sends us the
following private letter from a brother in
Eastern Massachusetts,, written ON receipt of
a copy Of The PHOENIX Of Aug. 26th, contain
ing the announcement Of Lafayette Clarks
death. Its recollections Of old times in West
Brattleboro are so pleasant and so charm
ingly told that we are glad to give the letter
entire:
Dear E.:-The departure of Mr.. Clark,
which l had learned from the papers before
you sent the obituary, awakened food of
recollections in my mind, carrying me back
more than half q century 10 what was then
the quiet, rural village Of West Brattleboro
where ] spent a summer in the family of
Aunt F., who was, you know, fathers sister
can see the house now, in my imagination,
standing on rising ground just beyond the
academy and overlooking the main road for
long distance leading TO the East village
which in those days was considerable of a
place. though nothing compared with what
it is now. The view from DIR. F.'s house
took in the academy, where l went to school
hnhl Nhb NhNtAn oh tub ODBOhlhb biuo,
and the village church farther down, which
was then the only one there. remember
the minister, Mr.. Stark, who was an old
school Calvinist, stern in his theology and in
his spirit, so rigid that many Of the village
people were driven out of his congregation
to set up another and more liberal taber-
nacle towards the north end OF the street. not
far from the store where Lafayette Clark
served his time with his father. As a child,
Of course, knew nothing of the isms in re-
Hgion, or of the church polity, but one cir
cumstance illustrating the despotic temper of
the pulpit in those days comes TO mind as !
write these lines. One Sunday during the
SERVICE horse was heard rampaging among
tho vehicles at the sheds, if he were max
ing mischief, and several people got up and
went out to see what was the matter. Some,
perhaps made the incident an excuse for re-
lieving themselves of the weakness of the
preacher, who, fearing that the congregation
might disperse before his homily was CON-
pleted, spoke up in tones of authority
There needn't any more go out!"
You will remember, perhaps, that Mr..
Clark's fathers estate and DIR. f. Joined to-
gether. The familiarity of the families had
worn well-trodden pathway down through
the rose-bushes and shrubbery from one gar
den to the other And this was the trysting
place of Fayette and Mary on Sunday even
ings, as 1 well remember, though did not
know the gentle yet powerful influence that
led them to wander there while the good folks
of either family were reading their Bibles at
home, or thinking of the lessons of the day
as these had been presented by the minister.
They were both gentle creatures, as pure and
innocent as the flowers that were blooming
around them, and stranger might have de-
tected in the frame of each visible token of
that insidious element that so often gives a
beauty TO character while it is secretly under
mining the hold of life. And yet they lived
long while together falsifying the proba-
bilities of nature and the fears of many who
knew them. l visited them in their home
some years ago, and found them just the
same as they seemed in those early days. An
atmosphere of serene unworldliness pervad-
ed their dwelling, quiet cheerfulness BEAM
ed in their faces, betokening faith wholly
independent Of the hard dogmas they both
had been indoctrinated in from childhood.
They have gone, as have the rest on both
sides of the house but the memory of the
place remains one of the scenes love 10 re-
cur to as 1 tread the pathway that leads up
and on. Affectionately your brother,
J. A. u.