ly and swiftly to the wished for haven of prosperity and ease. Touch him with the rod of adversity, (not that rod which converts every thing it touches into gold,) let the winds veer and shift, and blow a hurricane,

"Amazement confronts him with images dire,

Wild winds and mad waves drive his vessel a wreck;"

and if his nerves are made of steel, and his heart of sheet iron, or as hard as the neither mill stone, he may feel and do as other men do.

Perhaps, reader, you are one of those who congratulate themselves upon their own superior good fortune, judgment and success in life, and look with contempt upon their less successful neighbors for their want of capacity. Who maketh us to differ? Mayhap you are one of those who are hard, miserly and unconscionable in their dealings; oppressive and grinding, taking every advantage of the simple and unwary; disregarding the cry of the poor, the fatherless and the widow; grappling estates by wrong, and exacting like the Jew, the pound of flesh, from the living and quivering limb. Begone to repentance and prayer! for a day of retribution shall as surely come, as time shall be lost in eternity, and a just, but merciful Judge, rules over all, and be assured that neither an affected zeal for religion, nor the building of temples can shield from the keen tooth of remorse and the eye of the Eternal.

The precise time of the death of Mr. Billing is not known, but it occurred within a few years after his settlement. He was buried in the OLD BURIAL Ground, but no stone marks the spot.

"Mine be the breezy hill that skirts the down, Where a green grassy turf is all I crave,

With here and there a violet bestrown,

And many an evening sun shine sweetly on my grave."

From the brow of the hill at this burial ground,

just in rear of Col. Root's, is to be found one of the most pleasant and picturesque prospects in this part of the country, and worthy the pencil of an artist. The eye here takes in a view of the sloping mountains of Shelburn, Deerfield and Sunderland, and the romantic rocky ridge bordering the village on the east; the rich meadows below and on the river; parts of those at Deerfield; the scattered houses in the hamlet of Charleston, with its stone jail, princely jail house and neat grounds; the old mill; to the left the buildings of the High School, and the lofty spire of the house of prayer; down the valley the cutlery works of Russell & Co. (success to their enterprise); the windings of Green river and the evergreen hill beyond, and minor objects.

"And forest and meadow and slope of hill,
Around thee are lonely and lovely and still.
Oh loveliest there the spring days come,
With blossoms and birds and wild bees hum,
The flowers of summer are fairest there,
And freshest the breath of summer air."

Around in their chambers of decay, repose the remains of some of the first settlers, the bones of the fathers, those hardy and stern men, in their last, long sleep; not to be raised till the last trump :

"Each in his narrow cell forever laid,

The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep,"

and the infant, in the smiles of his innocent beauty, cut off.

The ground has been inclosed but a few years, previously lying in common with the lands around it. It contains, perhaps, one third of an acre, and comparatively few monuments. Few or none are found of an earlier date than 1756. Some are of a dark red color; others of a peculiar grey stone, slate, and a few marble. Few bodies have been deposited there since 1803, when, as I think, several were taken up to be placed in the

new yard. Having a brother and sister removed at the time, I was present at the disinterment, and the coffins were opened, as a lesson for the living. Such it was ; and of those who witnessed it, probably not one has since desired to look upon its like, for the impression made by looking on these remnants of humanity, in their various stages of decay, will last during life, to one at least. But "to this complexion all must come at last." A few years since, a beautiful grove of stately oaks covered the southern declivity of the hill adjoining this ground. Their appearance, to those coming from the south, was very beautiful, and their location very appropriate. What more fitting place than this could have been chosen for the long repose and resting place of the dead, in that shady covert which once surrounded its hallowed ground. It is still a very beautiful spot, although much which rendered it peculiarly inviting, is lost by the removal of the old oaks. By frequent visits to these homes of the dead, the impression they are naturally calculated to make is in some degree lessened, yet the heart is made better, and the vanity of human hopes and human life is strikingly illustrated. Go, ye proud and supercilious and haughty sons of vanity and look upon your home.

In imagination we are carried back to the times of these hardy pilgrims who settled around this spot, and realize their privations and toils, on a new and almost barren soil, and their continual exposure to the incursions of the natives.

"Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,

Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe hath broke, How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke." Reader, have you become weary of the toils, anxieties and disappointments of life; of poverty, privation and dependence; is life a burthen to your wearied spirit; are you a shipwrecked wanderer, misfortune's mark;

are the corroding cares of life too much for your fortitude, daily wasting the well spring of life and hope; have you been "left to cold neglect and penury and scorn," to the oppression of enemies who have trodden you to the earth; have you fallen a victim to appease the ill feelings of a few who sought to destroy an honest reputation; be patient; in a few days such clods as these shall cover you; here is a quiet resting place. See to it that the miseries of the present, extend not to a future life; there is enough here.

"The dead reign here alone, all that breathe
Will share thy destiny; The gay will laugh
When thou art gone, the brood of care plod on,
All shall leave their mirth, and their employments,
And make their bed with thee. Thou shalt lie down
With patriarchs of the infant world-with kings.
Earth that nourished thee shall claim thy growth,
To be resolved to earth, to mix forever with the elements.
As the long train of ages glide away, the sons of men,
Shall one by one be gathered to thy side,

By those who in their turn shall follow them."

A call to settle was given to Mr. Bulkley Olcott in Dec. 1760, with a salary of £66. 13. 4. for the first year, to rise £1. 6. 8. a year till it amounted to £80, and a committee appointed to get subscriptions for a settlement. Nothing further appears upon the records concerning him, and as he was not settled here, the inference is that the call was not accepted.

In August, 1761, the town voted unanimously to give "Mr. Roger Newton a call to settle in the work of the ministry, and to give him as an encouragement to settle among us, £133. 6. 8. as settlement, and £66. 3. 4. as sallary, and to rise £1. 6. 8. a year till it amounts to £80." At a subsequent meeting in Sept. it was voted to give him sixty cords of wood yearly, in addition to his salary. Compared to the amount paid at this day, the salary appears very small, and for an individual, the

quantity of wood very large. The wants of life, in the then plain style of living were small, as the real wants now are. Houses were not so carefully sealed up and guarded against cold as now, and stoves were not in use. Frugal habits distinguished the people of the olden times.

There were differences of opinion existing in the church respecting terms of communion, of the precisenature and extent of which we are not informed. Something may be inferred respecting them from the following, which is his answer to the call:—

"GENTLEMEN-I take this opportunity to acknowledge your favors in manifesting such an esteem of my labors among you that you have so unanimously invited me to settle with you in the work of the ministry and have according to your ability been liberal in your offers to me. Your affections manifested to me from time to time, inclines me to settle amongst you, hoping I may be serviceable to your spiritual welfare, relying on your abiding in your good opinion of me, and esteem of my labors so long as I am faithful in the work of the ministry, and depending upon your catholic sentiments with regard to them who differ from you about terms of communion-that there be no contention, provided no scandalously ignorant or immoral persons are admitted to your communion, that all persons of competent knowledge and sober lives be allowed to come to ye communion who think it their duty to come to the ordinances of the Lord's table, and it is upon this proposal I accept your invitation and desire to give myself to the service of your souls in the work of the ministry, humbly depending upon the grace and strength of Christ, that I may be faithful, requesting an interest in your prayers that I may save myself and them that hear me."

He was settled Nov. 18, 1761. He was a native of Durham, Conn. His religious character was far from that of the bigot, partizan or zealot. He possessed