is given, who seem to have been eminent for their personal piety, and to have learned well the secret of doing good. The story of their lives may be read with profit by all young people.

HISTORY.

THE NORWICH JUBILEE.*-All who were present on the occasion of the Norwich Jubilee, will bear us out in saying that there are few places in the whole country, which, on the two hundredth anniversary of its settlement, could gather up so many and so varied reminiscences to swell the tide of its joy. Most fully did the inhabitants enter into the spirit of the occasion. Every one seemed to be thoroughly impressed with the fact that Norwich had, during the whole two hundred years of its existence, been a power in the earth. The addresses, the speeches, the songs, and the decorations every where telling of the rich past-all helped to deepen the feeling in the hearts of those who were assembled, so that when the second day was ended there was danger, that in the minds of the vast multitude about to separate, the rest of this round ball would be held at altogether too large a discount, and that Norwich would be considered ever after the Jerusalem of the whole earth. We have great sympathy for the feeling that pervaded that multitude, and as we have read the history of the jubilee in the book before us, our interest has been as much awakened as if we had been to the manor born. The book of which we have spoken is a full and fitting record of the great occasion. The reader will gain a correct idea of all the proceedings and of the effect of the jubilee as a whole. There are some things, it is true, of which it can give no idea. One must have been there to have any conception of the beauty of Norwich when decked in robes by her loving sons and daughters for her gala day, or of the enthusiasm and joy which every fresh demonstration of her virtues and glories awakened, or of the wellings up of thought and feeling which were to be witnessed on every side, as those who had been separated for years greeted one another again in their early home.

Two days were occupied with the festivities of the occasion,-and two more beautiful days were rarely ever seen, so that the town had a full

The Norwich Jubilee. A Report of the Celebration at Norwich, Connecticut, on the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Settlement of the Town, September 7th and 8th, 1859. With an Appendix, containing Historical Documents of Local Interest. Compiled and Published by John W. Stedman. Norwich: Conn. 1859. pp. 304. (See Advertisement in New Englander Advertiser, p. 5.)

opportunity to display all its varied charms. On the first day, after a grand procession in the morning, an historical address was delivered in a mammoth tent, erected for the occasion on the "Great Plain," by Daniel C. Gilman, Esq., Librarian of Yale College. In the evening an address was given by the Rev. Alfred Lee, Bishop of Delaware, and on the same evening there was a very general and brilliant illumination of the town. The exercises of the second day consisted of the laying of a corner stone for a monument to be erected to the memory of Captain John Mason, sometimes styled the Miles Standish of Connecticut; an address by the Hon. John A. Rockwell, on the character and services of Capt. Mason; and an address by Donald G. Mitchell, Esq. After these addresses, a bountiful dinner was served up under a second mammoth tent, of which over two thousand ladies and gentlemen partook.

It is not often that we meet with so many appropriate addresses and speeches as this jubilee called forth. We should be glad to notice each one at length, but we must be content with a few extracts and comments.

The historian of the occasion, Mr. D. C. Gilman, had a difficult task to perform, for where there was so much that was worthy of being chronicled, there was danger, on the one hand, of going too largely into details to suit such an audience as was before him, and, on the other, of dealing too much in generalities in an endeavor to avoid the dryness commonly attributed to detail. But the historian was remarkably successful, and his address, while it was well suited to its popular use for the day, will, at the same time, bear the scrutiny of the careful reader. We have seldom seen so much of real history brought out on such an occasion before a promiscuous audience, or with so much appropriateness.

In detailing the early history of Norwich, he, first, very felicitously summons Major Mason before his audience, and calls upon him to testify in regard to the doings of himself and his associates. He then touches upon all the most important points of history from Mason's time down to the time of the Revolution. The large share which Norwich bore in securing the independence of our country, is developed in a full and interesting manner. In introducing it he says,

"In that important struggle, Connecticut performed a part which cannot be too much extolled. Providence had ordered that in the most of her territory, she should be spared the horrors of actual bloodshed. But her labors for the common cause of independence were surpassed by none of the colonies. Her contributions in men and money were beyond those of any of the other states except Massachusetts, and in proportion to the inhabitants were larger even than those of the old Bay State. She well deserved the designation of the provision state,' and the name of her patriot governor has fitly become a sobriquet of the nation.

"The bistory of Norwich, during the whole period of the American revolution, presents, in many respects, a miniature view of the history of the state and of the country. There were several circumstances, however, which unitedly gave it an importance equaled by no other town in Connecticut, except, perhaps, the capitals. On the bank of a large river, several miles from the Sound, it was not exposed, like New London, to the attack of a hostile fleet, nor too far inland, like Lebanon, to be a store place for the army. It was on the highway between Boston and New York, convenient to the residence of the governor, Trumbull, surrounded by a productive farming country, and inhabited by men of wealth, sagacity and patriotism.

"Credit enough has never been bestowed upon our Norwich fathers for the part they took in the war. Hundreds of letters, never printed, some of them hid in garrets for the last half century, have passed under my examination within the past few weeks, and I rise from their perusal amazed at the circumstantial record they present of the diligent exertions and the patriotic sacrifices which were made by our fathers in this town to secure the blessings we enjoy." pp. 73, 74.

He then spoke of many of the distinguished Norwich men who entered zealously into the struggle. We have only room for a short extract from his reference to the family of Gen. Jabez Huntington.

"One family is especially identified with the history of those days—I refer, of course, to the Huntingtons. Foremost among them in the early stages of the war stood General Jabez Huntington, the incidents of whose life are worthy of grateful remembrance at this time." p. 74.

'The merit of General Huntington does not consist alone in his self-consecration to the cause of American freedom. He was the father of five sons and two daughters, all of whom were early imbued with his own patriotic spirit. It was clear that if he engaged in the opening conflict, his property and theirs would be seriously diminished, and perhaps entirely confiscated. Chiefly solicitous in regard to their interests, he assembled them, one day, to advise what course should be pursued. He laid before them the great interests at stake, both public and personal. Should the colonial arms be victorious, private prosperity might be sacrificed in the struggle, but American liberty would be secure. Should the British forces triumph, no one could foretell the ignominy and suffering to which, as rebellious subjects, they would certainly be exposed.

"Accustomed, in all his ways, to ask for guidance from above, he called upon his family to bow with him in prayer. We cannot doubt that the petitions which arose from that family altar were humble and devout, and that the God of battles listened to his cry.

"At length, having first consulted his wife, he called upon his children in turn, beginning with his eldest, and asked for their opinions. They answered with one voice, daughter and son alike. That voice was for liberty! Nobly did their after course redeem the pledge thus sacredly given, to devote both purse and sword to the interests of their country. Four of the sons-Jedediah, Andrew, Joshua, and Ebenezer and their brother-in-law, Colonel Chester, soon entered the armyone of the brothers being too young for such service, while the other brother-in-law (Dr. Strong) not detained by the duty of his calling, fulfilled his sacred office

by acting as a Chaplain in the army. This band of brothers were found in service from the time of the earliest entrenchments on Bunker's Hill to the decisive victory on the plains of Yorktown. If the annals of the revolution record the names of any family which contributed more to that great struggle, I have yet to learn it." pp. 75, 76.

While upon the subject of the revolution, he alluded to the "American. Hero," an ode which was written by Nathaniel Niles of Norwich, and was often sung in the revolutionary army with an effect like to that produced by the Marsellaise in France. Governor Buckingham, the President of the day, as the record says, here interrupting the speaker, said"The first impression on my mind of the battle of Bunker Hill, was made by hearing this ode sung. Perhaps it may produce a similar emotion on the minds of the audience, which it did in my own. I should like to have it tried." The choir then sang the ode with thrilling effect, many of the older persons joining with them.

At the close of his account of that period, Mr. Gilman says,

"A grateful task awaits the writer who shall undertake to prepare a volume on 'Norwich in the Revolution.' The town that can point to its citizens active as counselors, as surgeons, as commissaries, as soldiers, as ship builders, as store keepers, as gun makers, and not least honorable, as song writers for the cause of civil independence, may glory in her sons; and though her hills be rough and her rivers small, it will always be an honor to claim Norwich as a home." pp. 93, 94. We will add but one extract more, which we take from the conclusion of the address:

"Enough has been said to show that the history of the town is a record of patient enterprise, unfailing patriotism, and religious faith. Well may we be proud of our ancestry and birth-place. Well may we be thankful to the God of our fathers for his increasing blessings.

"If there be one in this assembly who inquires the use of this protracted story, let me assure him that by the joyful recital of our fathers' virtues we incite ourselves and our children to like exploits of valor and trust. Some of us, now and then, have heard Connecticut decried! Be assured that it is only ignorance and jealousy which assail her past reputation, while it is a knowledge of her true character which will strengthen the affection of her sons and weaken the power of unjust critics. What you know to be true of Norwich, is true in some degree of all Connecticut. A state which has Haynes, and Winthrop, and Eaton, and Mason, as its civil founders; Hooker, and Davenport, and Fitch, as its religious pillars; Trumbull, and Sherman, and Williams, and Huntington, and Silliman, as its leaders in the struggle for civil liberty, should never fail of the filial reverence, the honest pride, the faithful and willing service of every son." p. 97. In the address of Mr. Rockwell we have a faithful tribute to the energy, wisdom, courage and piety of Captain Mason. Well does this Christian hero deserve a monument from the inhabitants of Norwich,

It is well known to the country at large, that Norwich bas furnished more laborers to the missionary field than perhaps any other town of the same size in our land. In speaking of its agency in this respect, Bishop Lee, in his exquisitely beautiful notice of Sarah L. Huntington, touched a chord which vibrated in all the hearts of that immense multitude. We will give the passage entire. The orator was speaking of the small tribe of Mohegan Indians near Norwich, which, when she began her labors among them, was fast moving towards extinction. He says,

"At this sorrowful period, when the light that had once shined in their hovels (the Mohegans) was darkened, one came to their relief, who might have well seemed to their untaught minds as a messenger from a better world. With an angel's alacrity, and an angel's countenance, she entered upon an angel's work. In 1827, Sarah L. Huntington began her self-denying labors among these neglected outcasts. She traversed, from week to week, the distance of nearly six miles between her home and the Mohegan reservation, regardless of summer suns and wintry storms. When strong men would have shrunk from the icy blast, this fair and delicate woman made her way on foot through the drifted snow to the scene of her toil. She gave up her own pleasant home to spend half her time in the comfortless abodes of the objects of her solicitude. With the aid of a like minded associate, she sustained a day school and a Sunday school, instructed the rude females in those womanly arts that make the poorest dwelling cheerful, conveyed to their dark minds with unwearied assiduity the precious truths of the Gospel, and by degrees lifted them above their abject condition to a higher level of knowledge, holiness and hope. In this work there was no attractive romance; distance lent it no enchantment; the voice of flattering commendation was unheard; for a time even friendly sympathy seldom cheered her onward. The enterprise was accounted visionary, and unsuited to a female in her circumstances. Rebuffs and hindrances of no common sort were her frequent experience. But the love of Christ, and of the souls for which he died, constrained her. She willingly resigned personal convenience and ease, social and domestic enjoyment, and valued religious privileges, that she might by all means save some of these children of ignorance and ill fortune. In due season she proved the promise faithful—' He that goeth forth, even weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.' Her devotedness awakened interest in other hearts. Her earnest appeals procured assistance from Government. Her heart was gladdened by the erection of a house for the worship of God, and the settlement of a pastor and teacher. Her school responded to her unwearied culture. And when at length the impression of a higher call of duty led her, as the bride of the Rev. Eli Smith, to embark as a missionary for Syria, tears gushed from many dark eyes at the parting, and petitions for God's blessing upon her were uttered by many tongues which she had taught to pray. In the distant Orient lies the mortal part of one, as fair within as she was beautiful in person. Her works have followed her, and to the visitor who remarks the social condition and Christian privileges of this remnant of a once powerful race, she, being dead, yet speaketh. England hailed with a burst of universal enthusiasm the Christian