Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-01-18
TIfE VIEW ENGLAND IILLIC}E
A Picture Of Town-hcnd Forty Wears
Ago.
BY REV. DIR H. L. WAYLAND.

adelphla Dec %, on the 26Sth anniversary
Of the landing Of the Pilgrims, the presi
dent Of the society, Rev DR.. Waylnnd, ed
itor of the National Baptist chose for the
theme of his opening address "'Ihe New
England Village In "A note to his friend
Rev. f. j. Parry Of Brattleboro, Dr. Way
land says that the sketch of typical New
England village which the address contain
ed was drawn from his recolections Of
Townshend as it was 81 years ago, when he
was the principal Of Leland and Gray sem
mary. We reproduce this portion of the
address
The village is unvexed by railroad or
commerce or factories or foreign operatives
or summer visitors. On one side Of the
green which forms the centre Of the town
is the meeting house Of what was long "thc
standing order Here, the minister taught,
or, rather asserted uuquestioned. He
was not, perhaps, up ia all the social ques
tions he was not versed in evolution or
development, or in the lighter literature
or in the merits Of the dramatic stars his
manner was somewhat formal and stately
But he kept the thinking and believing Of
the people on a high plane and he led a
pure, blameess life, as of one conversing
with the skies, which was, Of itself an in
spiration. The minister was regarded as a
part Of the established system of the uni
verse. In the earlier days, he was settled
for life the infrmities Of age did not vi
tiate the contract if it were needful Il
younger colleague was employed but the
minister was the minister still There was
old Dr. Ripley, down at Concord, who had
hecuue well stricken in wears, but who
still read the hymns with such success a,
Providence and his impaired sight allowed
Once, IN reading the hymn. he came 20 a
word which offered peculiar obstacles he
read,
/ our flesh and sense must h.. denied
! Passion aud envy. lust aud pride.
] While justice, TEMPERANCE, truth. and
he paused and began the line again
/ While Justice. Temperance, truth. and
/ then once more determined 10 conquer or
/ die
/ Wuic justice, Temperance. truth and word
which Is blutt.4i cut.
I bur inward li-tN approve
From time immemorial this had been
I he church nobody in his widest dreams
ever conceived Of another, any more than
| oi second sun and moon but one day it
was whispered that over at Joues's settle
ment stranger had been preaching the
doctrine of adult baptism or that an timer
ant had been holding love feast at West
Farms The story gained no credencr ~
George Eliot says, "thc human mind has
always refused To- accept Of chaos But
IN time, the ruuor took shape and at last
hccune rmi,plird ia the riyalliug stecplr ON
the other side of the green The 1d church
woke mp aud rubbed It's ewes and no longer
lived uu the past, aud experienced the emo.
tIou of emulation aud found Oa, old Dr.
q.
grace plus human nature can do more
Near 10y in convenient location " II, the
doctors office lie was spoken ui with
awe as II man po,srs-ed uf dark and uc
cult ppWer,, hu had insight into the ~e
crets Of the human frame H. was natural
Tor had he not skeleton hanging up u
that long, upright casc IN the office. the
outside OF winch the young regarded with
shuddering delight lie was credited with
power to dart the frequent aud volumu
Gus pill far into the depths of the human
economy lie was possessed Of the great
medical principles of those DAYS, namely
not to let nature have her own way sin
gle inch. tu consider that whatever the pa
tient desired was poison, that every RENE
dy was eiiicacious in proportion as it was
nauseous, that fresh air and cold water we're
to be kept at bay, as the deadly foes of the
sick, and that bleeding. salvation and
purgatiyes stood 70 medical science as faith,
hope and charity To the Christian system
He was firm believer in law II the
books said that a certain disease or injury
was fatal, It was little better than atheism
tu contend against Providence II "A man
died. why, he was buried and there he
was theoretically but if law was bruk-
en-, there was no knowing where YOU were
His friends might proudly say, If yoL
seek his monuments, look about you - and
sure enough, there they were, in the little
lot near the church
Far from him the heaven-drfying radi-
callsm Of modern practitioners who hy
right IN the face of destiny, who insist ON
curing man when, according to the books,
he ought to die a., who with light heart
and case Of anti-septlc instruments. re
move the entire thor cic and abdominal
viscera to say nothing Of the contents of
the cranial cavity and replace them some
tlmes-with all the nineteenth century i'm
prOvements. and who really do not give
the undertaken and the marble worker half
a show,
The lawyer had probably gravitated to
the county town and there during court
week, one might see such Il sight as would
he found now here, save in New England
you might see plain men and women turn.
ing from their prosac lAhors t. exchange
the highest thoughts ON "A level with men of
station aud learning YOU might see the
original of the picture drawn 10y our own
gifted townswomen, Mrs Lesley, Of her
mother, the wife of Judge Lyman, sitting
IN her doorway at Northampton and shell
ing peas with one hand, while, with the
other laS 1t werel, she cuuversed with Chief
Justice Shaw and Daniel Webster.
i,st fttl.
aud within convenient distance was IA tree
intimately associated with intellectual de
velopment. The question Of national
flower or plant, or tree for America Ina, of
late been debated England has the rose,
Ireland the shamrock-and the Shilalah -
Scotland the thistle. | am sure that if an
appeal were made as to the member of the
vegetable kingdom which has done most t.
make the rising generation smart a unani-
nous vote would be given to the black
birch Of New England
But what is that brick building. too large
for n schoulhou,e, not large enough for "a
church. though it boasts spire which wa,
apparently discouraged in its youth That
is the academy, whose preccptor divides
with the minister and the doctor the repu
taton Of umnisceuce | speak alviselly
for / have been there Many, all, very
many, years ago taught an academy in
village in the southeastern county of the
Green Mountain state One day there came
along young man, one Of those intellectual
anomalies engendered 10y the district schuuls.
n sort of hydrucrphaluus monster only he
had mathematics on the brain instead of
water If You made section of his head,
il wouldn't have been AN ordinary section
It would have been IA comic section, "a hyper
pola or parahola perhaps aud he wanted
10 take IA course in analytical geometry aud
dltierental and integral calculus. Now, tu
say that | was innocent of these branches
would he to put il very mildly; far from
being to me n, b, q, they were all \, Y, Z,
all unknown quantities. | asked him To
call day after to morrow | sent down to
Brattleboro bv the stage driver. whose de
parture and arrival made the morning aud
evening sensation of each day, for Davies's /.
analytical geometry and calculus and |
devoted an evening 10 reading at them as
IA result of my perusal, | told the youthful
La Place next morning that, there was
but one of him, | should not feel justified
in forming him into u class. | have often
qurried what | should have done if he had
gone and skirmished around and got a class
of IA Dozen as, no doubt, he might easily
have done presume that in that case |
should have recalled the familiar incident
OF Richard brlnsey sheridan, who was Wis
itng in ii country house, when a lady pro
posed to him TO take a walk he replied,
1T is raining too hard" Presently he
strolled out alone, and chanced to meet the
lady, who, with some acerhity, said, so,
Mr.. Sheridan, it has cleared off, has it .n
"Madam, enough for one, but not enough
for two"
In any event, | should have recalled the
reply of the Arab Sheik (who was no doubt
well known to our eminent orientalist, DR..
TrumbulD whose neighbor came desiring to