Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-06-20
PEN PICTURES OF THE COLONIES AT THE TIME OF THE REV.
 OLUTION.

| dSdn, plOPhON OA PASPASS O$ S~S class of '06 of the Crosby High school, and for which she received prize of $50 from the Daughters of the Revolution.1
 Who can picture the surprise of an early settler if the clouds which hid the future had rolled away, and there, in full view of his astonished gaze. was this glorious, land as it appears today? His country cleared and set tied. streets paved and cleaned, cleo tric cars and lights. people dressed 1 in strange fashions-everything so changed. so new. so different. And we l looking back are amused at their manners and customs, as we'll we might be.
 Each settlement followed in gener- al outline as well as detail the houses to which the owners had become ac- customed in Europe. with. of course. such variations as were necessary from the new surroundings, new eli mate. and new Limitations.
 New York was settled by the Dutch and naturally. the first permanent houses were Dutch in shane. such as may he seen in Holland to-day. Ma ] dam Knight. one of the teachers of i Reniamin Franklin. when on visit 1 to New York so wrote of them:-
 "Ruildings are brick generally very i stately and high. the bricks in some ! oP TnY,llapc and laid in checkers being glazed, 1 look very agreeable. The inside of the { houses is neat to admiration. the ! wooden work: for only the walls are i plastered. and the summers and gist are planned and kept very white secured and so is all the partitions if made of boards"
 1 Few of the early houses in New England were painted. or eolored. as I 1t was called. either without or with l in. It is asserted that in the nrovincp of Kennebeck. in the year 1745, there was not house that had q square of glass in it.
 l And the old Virginia homestead. who can describe it in fitting terms? l The mansion was a plain weather board house. one story and half above the helf-basement ground floor, set on a hill in a grove of primeyal oaks and hickories filled in with ash. naples. and feathery-leafed locusts without number. It was built of tim Der cut by the servants out of the vir- gin forests. It had quaint dormer win dows, with small panes. poking out from its upstairs rooms. and long porches to shelter its walls from the sun and allow house life in the open air.
 Of to one side was the orchard. In springtime a bower of pink and snow, and always a pleasant spot in the ! landscapes. and when the gentle zephyrs caressed the fowery branch es. what a shower of beauty filled the pure. fresh air. Oh. Virginia. Virginia, queen of the colonies. what innocence. what comfort. what beauty. what wealth you sheltered! And your flower gardens what strange affairs: pyro- canthus hedged it on the outside: honeysuckle ran riot over it's pailings: yellow cowslips in well-regulated tufts edged some of the borders. while sweet peas. pinks. and violets spread out recklessly over others: Jonquiles. yellow as gold; and here and there were tall lilies. white as angels wings and stately as the maid ems who walked among them: big snowball bushes blooming with snow; lilacs purple and white and sweet in the spring and always with birds nests in them with the bluest of eggs: and tall hollyhocks filled with rich rosettes of every hue and shade, made a delicious tangle. But the flow CT of all others was rose. There were roses everywhere: ciambering over the porches and windows. send ing their fragrance Into the rooms: roses beside the walks: rich yellow roses thick on their briery bushes. coming almost with the dandelions and buttercups before any others dared face the April showers. to learn if March had truly gone: then came the giant of Battles on their stout stems. glorious enough to have been the worthy badge of the victorious Lancastrian kings; white works hard | ly less royal: dainty teas: rich da- masks: cloths of eolds: old sweet hun dred leafs shifting down the petals on the grass and always filling with | two the place where one had fallen. Tn the autumn rich dahlias and pun gent-ordered chrysthemums ended the sweet procession and closed the sea son. These and many more whose names have faded made the air fra grant. whilst the cat-hirds and mock ing-blrds futtered and sang among | them, and the robbins foragei Tn the grass for their greedy yellow-throats waiting in the hidden nests. This was the Virginia homestead.
 Sorrows and care were there where do they not penetrate? But. oh: dear God. one day in those sweet tranquil homes outweighed a fevered ! lifetime in the gayest cities of the globe. The towns may do for a day. a week. a month at most: but Nature. Mother Nature. pure and clean. Is for all time.-yes, for all time. for eternity itself"
 And the people of those days. To us they appear plain. simple. narrow. But were they? Did they not live for each other. and Is that not the uob- lest way 10 liveT Every individual took an interest In the general vel fare. and contributed their respective shares of intelligence and sagacity to ajd plans that embraced important objects relative to the common god. They were not afraid of work. and well did they employ their time
 And what a picture is this of the II azaz~-s--