Mrs. Rowlandson was taken as she was leaving the house, by a Narrhaganset Indian, and sold to a Sagamore named Quannopin, who was connected with Philip by marriage, their squaws being sisters. The Indians made great plunder in various parts of the town. They were forced, however, to quit this scene of their destructive efforts on the appearance of Capt. Wadsworth,* who hearing of the distressed situation of the town, immediately marched from Marlborough with forty men. The Indians had removed the planks from the bridge, to prevent the passage of horsemen; the river was high, but Wardsworth at length succeeded in passing it. He stationed his men in different parts of the town, and remained there some days. But so great was the alarm of the inhabitants and such the general state of the country, and so numerous were the Indians, against whom those who dwelt in border towns felt no security, that when the troops withdrew, about six weeks afterwards, the inhabitants under their protection deserted the town after destroying all the remaining houses, excepting two. The restoration of peace by the death of Philip in August, 1676, did not restore their courage and confidence. Lancaster remained a vacated place, till Oct. 1679, when a committee‡ was appointed by the County Court to rebuild the town. We shall say nothing now of the captivity of Mrs. Rowlandson, as we propose to give in a future number a narrative, by itself, of her various "removes," or to incorporate it in a historical sketch of the town of Lancaster. J. W. THE EMMET. Ir cannot but be expected of him who engages in the magazine trade, that he will do something more than merely furnish substantial articles of history, or produce pretty good poetry. Man, whether in the wilds of Missouri or the streets of Boston, is terribly giv en to speculation. The same extravagance that, compels him to Capt. Samuel Wadsworth of Milton-he was killed on the 18th of April following, at Sudbury, in a severe battle with the Indians; a monument over his grave, on the spot where he fell, was erected by his son, Rev. President Wardsworth of Harvard College. + At that time there was but one bridge in town; it stood 40 or 50 rods to the east of what is called the center bridge, which is at the confluence of the two branches of the Nashuah. Oct. 7, 1679, the Committee consisted of Capt. Thomas Prentice, DeaJohn Stone and William Bond. complain of the dryness of our pages, prompts him to tax even nature with a want of interest. Do what you will, there is no satisfying his exorbitances. Though we singe him with volcanic eruptions in one number, and break his bones on the wheel of torture in the next; though we send him with Symmes into the very bowels of the earth, and there stun his ears with earthquakes; though we charge him with the most fulminating compounds, and actually blow him up; yet he will not be contented; but like a bravado still dare us to accompany him further. Valliant as we are ourselves, we have not the fortitude to enter the lists with such a fury. Surely the present is most incontestibly an age of courageous reading. The ordinary food for the mind is become quite insipid to the intellectual palates of most readers, and like certain epicures they must have every dish so highly seasoned with spices and cayenne as to lose the taste of the meat, before any thing can become eatable. Thus in giving an account of a short ride with the ladies, we are driven to the painful alternative, either to order the carriage to upset and break their heads, or sit down and be called dull and tedious. We cannot look at the cataract of Niagara but at the expense of half a dozen precious lives, and to save our own necks,` such is the bloody character of the times! we are compelled to butcher, with every circumstance of cruelty, every body that chances to pass near us. Even the women, dear souls! forgetting their natural clemency, seem never more delighted than when indulging this love of the marvellous. They have of late really become more fierce than the men. I know of many who never think of reading any other part of a newspaper than that in which deaths are recorded; and one in particular who scolded the Editor severely when she found none of her friends were dead. There! there's courageous reading for you. To soften the asperity of the reader's taste, I have selected a title for my essays which is certainly very unpretending. Like the ant I only intend to keep about my business. I do not promise great things, for my strength enables me to do but little. I have taken a name emblematic of industry, and if I succeed in recommending the practice of this virtue to my reader, I shall have accomplished my errand. Naturalists have long been divided in opinion which of the two was the most remarkable insect, the bee or the ant. Poets have from the beginning regarded the former as a favorite, and they have loaded it with their caresses in the most stately verse. Vir gil, whose admiration was greatest, thought so well of bees that he set himself about devising a process, by which, in the event of the destruction of the species, he might reproduce them, and has accordingly left a recipe for making them. The ant, however, has found no such admirers. Instead of giving it protection, most persons delight in killing it. If, at any time, it raises its pretensions, it is flattered with no other notice than, perhaps, to be trod on, or have its habitation knocked about its ears. This is the only reward it receives from ungrateful man for the useful lessons it sets him by its temperance, frugality, and industry. It is by constant exertion, rather than by any remarkable individual effort, that man accomplishes the greatest and most stupendous works. Not he who steps quickest or is the strongest amasses greatest wealth, but he who is most temperate and industrious. By proper industry man may do almost any thing. The Germans have a saying, finely illustrating our individual resources, which is, "speak the commanding word I will and the work is done." Chatterton once said of men of letters, if they would abstain from eating too much, the Almighty had given them arms long enough to reach any thing. The old proverb, "constant dropping will wear away a stone" holds true with almost every engagement in life. B. It doth but bid me prize the more, The shelter of thy hallowed hearth; Then let the churlish tempest chide, Of this world's passion, strife, and care, Thy precincts are a charmed ring, Where no harsh feeling dares intrude; I'll pay my debt of gratitude To thee-my own Fire-side! Shrine of my household deities! Fair scene of home's unsullied joys! When fortune frowns, or care annoys; Thine is the bliss that never cloys; The smile whose truth hath oft been tried; Oh, may the yearnings, fond and sweet, Let joy, or grief my fate betide; Be still an Eden bright to me My own-my own FIRE-SIDE? MARRIAGES. Brookfield-Col. Joseph Robinson and Miss Caroline Cutler Banister. Paxton-Mr. Silas Bigelow and Miss Adeline Baxter. Oxford-Mr. John Stone and Miss Pamelia Stone. Dea. Nathan *DEATHS. Dr. Moses N. Phelps-75. James Berlin-Sally Howe-aged 17. Hubbardston-Levi Conant-50. Thompson-83. Sterling-Ebenezer Fitch--76. Westminster-Joseph Estabrook-49. John Estabrook--69. Charlton--Gershom Harwood-69. Holden-Miss Mary Bennet--22. Gardner-Widow Hannah Conant-96. Petersham-Mrs. Sally Wilson-42. Oxford-Stephen Webster-32. Mrs. Caty Vassal-79. New Braintree-Nathan Sargent--80. Athol-Dea. Aaron Oliver-75. Barre-Nathaniel Phillips-90. Northbridge-Widow Patience Goldthwait-89. Thermometrical Register. JANUARY, 1826. Wind, Weather, &c. S. W.-S.-E.-cloudy, rainy. N. W.-N. W.-N. W.-cloudy, fair. S. W.-W.-W.-snowy, fair, cloudy. W.-S. W.-W.-fair. W.-S. W.-W.-cloudy, fair. N. W.-N. W.-N. W.-fair. N. W.-W.-W.-fair. W.-N. W.-S. W.-fair, cloudy. W.-W.-N. W.-fair, cloudy. |