The Newtown bee., 1904-12-02
LlTCHFIELD COUNTY
NEW PRESTON.

WHAT REV MIR EVANS SAID OF MRS
 c. W. PICKETT.-A BEAUTIFUL TRIB-
 UTE OF RESPECT AND AFFECTION
 SHE LIVED A LIFE OF SUNSHINE AND
 USEFULNESS.
 Many friends have requested that the eloquent and tender tribute to the memory of Mrs Charles w. Pickett, given by the Rev Evan Evans of Bridgeport, who conducted the funer- al services in New Preston, be printed, hence it is given. MT Evans was pas tor of the New Preston Congregation al church for several years, and it was of this church that Mrs Picket, early in life became a member. There were few dry eyes in the church when MT Evans finished his remarks. He said: The children who used to play on these roads, and used to cali these houses their homes, come back one by one-to stay. After the toll and cares, after the strife and the success, they come back to rest. After days of anx- iety, of suffering and of sorrow, and the sleepless nights that unfailingly follow such days-they come back here to sleep-and wait for the resurrec- tion. To-day one of them has come back to her native village, the place she was so: fond of describing in her writings-the place whose hills and valleys, people, teachers and associa- what she was. Heredity and environ ment turned out choice product. Mrs Pickett was full of the spirit of her age and country; a spirit not afraid of work, indeed delights in matching itself with hard and difficult tasks. She impressed one as having boundless energy; and the amount of work she did and the quality of the work, prove the impression true. It is not everyone that can catch the spirit of the age, and become a living interpretation of it. Mrs Pickett be- came that. Her energetic spirit was alive to the worlds doings; held itself ready to rush the work along. There were many fields of usefulness that she filled we'll; but her literary work brought her to the notice of the pub lie, and people immediately recognized her talents and were free with their praise. She used her talents for truth and righteousness, for cheering and elevating her fellows. She not only had the ability to entertain peo- pie, but to raise their aims and Strengthen their purposes. She, un- derstanding the possibility of self-im- provement, did her share to arouse others. That is the reason that to- day, strong men feel that they have lost their prophecies. That is the reason people from different walks of life, in New Haven, know that some of their light has gone out. Thus we shall think of her, full of nervous en- ergy, full of kindness and goodness, cheerfullv taking upon herself full share of the work of the world; cheer fully doing it unto the end. When the sad news of her death spread through the state, people were dumb. Even those who knew her not, felt the suddenness of it. To us who knew her as being so full of life and energy, so fit to live, so in love with her work, it make ourselves believe it to be true. The time of life she is taken makes the sorrow keen. In the midst of her days, at the noon of life. It has been said, "All time is thine, O death. :" We instinctively think that old age is ! the time to die, when one drops to the ground like the fruit of the orchard in October. Even then, old and tender ties are broken and there is mourning | in places. How much more violent the mourning in this instance. It shakes strong people, as the storm the giant trees; and the thoughtless has The pain of severing is acute, for the cords are strong. God gives us many
 books to read that we may grow wise, and of them is the lives and experi- ences of other people. There are some experiences we go through but once; all the facts relating to these we are to gather from others. We un- derstand what may happen to us be- cause we know what happens to oth- CTS. Today we again read: Life is short and uncertain" sIn the midst of our days we are in deaJh." Many are laughing and trifiing, playing and we'll that they do not know it. That it is so, we read in the book of life of our sister. The fact should appeal to every one. Through life she taught
 that life is earnest. In death she emphasizes it. We read in this life
 book, opened before us, that life is short. People have the same feeling 1 towards it as of old. It is story, an interesting story that is soon told, and told but once. We say that life now is much longer that it used to be, for 1 people are able to put so much more into it. Twenty years now more than ] dA uuuOi Gu yCdlo lOuS dSO uc WOl K accomplished is his measure of life, says the practical man of the day
 Yet the fact that people do more does not make them feel that life is long
 Indeed the opposite is true The more they are able to do, the more they want to do. Their plans reach far, their ambitions reach high. Those
 who want to do much feel more keenly the shortness of life. True, when you compare the life of to-day-measure bya the work done-with that of olden time, you find life now much longer: but measure them by what is
 planned, by what is undertaken, by what is left half-done, and you find life short as ever, tale that is told
 Measure Mrs Pickett's life by what she did and it is long, long life. Measure it by what she wanted to do, and planned to do, and it is a short, short
 life. The very brevity of life should make us appreciate it and keep us from wasting it. The joy of living is one of our greatest joys, especially when we are able to appreciate the goodness of God, and the kindness and love of our fellowmen. When the grip of our friends is warm and cordial, when
 their voices ring true, and we are privileged to see and share the riches of their souls, when faith in God is steadfast, then there is joy in living. Mrs Pickett found life such. She met apDrecia tiOn and kindness, she saw