near.

has had the contract for carrying the mail since time immemorial, and consequently knows all the inhabitants of the country far and He is an agent for the transaction of all kinds of errands; out of every farm-house peers a face in anxious expectation of a letter or a return for that crock of butter sent on the last trip. Newspapers are thrown over the front gate, letters are picked up from the horse-block; parcels, bundles, boxes, bags, women and children are gathered as we proceed, until the coach is like a New York omnibus, with plenty of room inside.

"The occasion of my visit was a reunion of the old boys at Mr. Gunn's celebrated school. I had heard so much about the school that I was anxious to see it in its gala days, when the passed boys were to return to visit the scenes of their childhood, and the present boys were then to welcome them. Forty old boys; some of them lawyers, doctors, clergymen, merchants; but all boys, even now, returned to Alma Mater, and were welcomed by forty boys. who are only younger in years, but not a whit younger in feeling; and the youngest, jolliest, happiest of the lot, was the teacher and founder of the school.

“I have not in many a year witnessed such a scene of innocent and genuine happiness as was apparent at this school. It is a boy's paradise. The moral tone of the school is its distinguishing feature. Any one guilty of deceit or fraud, is warned by his companions to report himself to the head-master; if he neglects to do so, he is at once informed upon by his companions. Instead of its being mean to report a misdemeanor, it is here regarded as an offence against the whole boy community to permit a misdeed to go unpunished. The methods of punishment pursued at the school are entirely original, and generally arise on the spur of the moment. A little boy makes too much noise; he is ordered to take a horn to the village green, and to blow a blast at the four corners of the church; or he is sent a mile over the hill to the Moody barn; or he helps rake hay for half an hour in the fields, or cleans some bricks that are required for building. One day a boy stole some apples from a poor widow; he was sent the next day to pick up stones from her field as a punishment, but the widow's heart softened, and she made him come in to dinner, and stuffed him with good things and sent him home. A little boy was caught ducking a cat in the rain-water hogshead; up steps the teacher behind him,, and, seizing him by the seat of his breeches and the nape of the neck, plunges him in after the cat, to show him how

it feels. Such things as bullying and fagging are not tolerated. There are no rules, no forbidden games; everything that can afford amusement is tolerated at proper times and in proper quantity. The master of the school is unable to distinguish between the good Dr. Busby and the wickedness of ordinary playing cards, and so the boys play whist, if they know enough, openly and in the parlor. The sinfulness of dancing and the orthodoxy of calisthenics are metaphysical distinctions; and the boys have a dance when there is time for it and they feel like it. Those who are old enough have breech-loading rifles, and they are taught how to use them, as the master of the school is one of the best shots in the country. The older boys learn all about the haunts of animals. They know the track of the woodchuck, the racoon, the fox, and can tell the name of a bird from its song, its nest, or its egg. They roam the forests on Saturdays, and fish and hunt, and bathe in the mountain streams; some trusty big boy accompanies the smaller ones, and no party goes away without the knowledge of the teachers. All the boys wear good stout woollen clothing, which necessarily meets with numerous rents and tares, but is kept in order by Aunt Betsey, whose needle and patch-work are in constant demand. Such a beehive, such exuberant spirits and shouts of happiness, constantly bubbling up and running over, as this school exhibits, it has never been my lot to witness before.

"Mr. Gunn's long career and marked success as a teacher, are deserving of something more than a mere passing notice. Shortly after his graduation from College, he started an Academy school at his native place, in 1839, which with a few years interval he has kept up ever since. Commencing with a day school, he began after a time taking boarding scholars. As their number increased he has made one addition after another to his dwelling house, till now he has nearly fifty boarding in his own family. During the past season he has added another stcry, in which is a large, welllighted, well-ventilated, school-room.

"Of the character of so old and well established an institution, it is hardly necessary to speak. Mr. Gunn is a born teacher, with that remarkable faculty for interesing pupils in study, which Normal Schools may improve, but cannot give. He has excellent methods of play as well as of study for young folks, and early recognized a fact, now becoming generally understood, that the developement of boys' bodies is as much a part of the teacher's

duty, as the developement of their minds. Taking into consideration, also, the additional and most important fact, that with him the boy finds a home, as well as a school, we are not surprised at the evidences of increasing prosperity that strike us at each return to the old institution. One other fact we can hardly pass by without due reference. From the outset, Mr. Gunn was an outspoken Abolitionist. At that time the Abolitionist was distrusted and disliked, if not persecuted as a disturber of the peace. The effect on the school was for a time disastrous. The number of pupils diminished; and, for a year or two Mr. Gunn taught at Towanda, Pennsylvania. Returning, the school was started again, and from that time its prosperity seems steadily to have increased. Prominent Anti-Slavery people remembered a co-worker, and at different times sons of Henry Ward Beecher, Mrs. Stowe and John C. Fremont, have attended this school. Of late, too, many have not only ceased persecuting the prophets, but have become prophets themselves, so that the social condition of an abolitionist is now by no means as lamentable as it was thirty years since."

The present population of the town, by the census of 1870, is 1,563, a loss of 96 since 1860.

ROXBURY.

Rev. Austin Isham was pastor of the church at the date of the last edition, and until the first Tuesday in June, 1863, when he was dismissed, having been pastor of the church twenty-three years. During the year following, the Church and Society were supplied by the Rev. Oliver Stone Dean, a young man of superior abilities and power as a preacher.

On the 6th day of June, 1864, the church and society, by their vote, gave the Rev. Oliver Stone Dean, of Putnam, New York, a call to settle as pastor, and appointed Charles Beardsley, Edwin G. Seeley, and Frederick W. Lathrop, a committee to inform him of the votes of the society and church. This call was accepted by Mr. Dean, and he was ordained and installed pastor of the church and society, July 6th, 1864. He continued pastor for three years and one month, and then handed in his resignation, which was relectantly accepted, and was dismissed, Dec. 17th, 1867, though he left some months before he was dismissed, and went to preach in Kalamazoo, Mich., where he is now settled. The fol lowing year, the society employed about all the "Theologs" in

Yale College. I will not undertake to give their names, "for they are legion,"

Among the number, however, the society selected the Rev. Juba Howe Varce, a young man in whom the society and church were very well united; he preached nine months, when his health failed him, and he had to leave. The society again resorted to Yale College for a few Sabbaths for a supply, when the Rev. Arthur Goodenough, who had been preaching in Ellsworth, this State, was hired for a year or more, but when his time expired, Nov., 1870, he left, and has since been settled in Winchester, in this State. The society is now drawing from Yale, the old School of Prophets."

The baptisms which have been recorded since any authentic records have been kept, are 440. This record goes back to 1795, and down to the present time.

The revivals which have taken place in the church since the last one named in your edition, have been somewhat frequent. The church was visited by the Holy Spirit in 1832, and forty-two were added to it. In 1833, eleven were added. In 1836, ten were added. In 1838, twenty-two were added. In 1843, eighty-four were added. In 1852, eight were added. In 1854, twelve were added. In 1857, five were added. In 1858, seventeen were added. In 1863, thirteen were added, and in 1867 twenty-five were added. Some others have been added by letter, and some few in other years not enumerated above, by profession. Some have been dismissed by letter, and some have gone to parts unknown, and have been erased from the church records. Many have died, leaving upon the church records, February, 1871, 174 members.

Deacon Sheldon Camp and deacon Aaron W. Fenn, are the present deacons. Deacon Sheldon Camp was elected, April, 1857. Deacon Aaron W. Fenn was elected, October, 1858. 1

From the other churches of the various denominations in the several towns, the author has received no reports.

As soon as it was announced that the rebels had fired upon Fort Sumter, the old spirit of "seventy-six" was observed in this town, and true to their Revolutionary instincts, the young men sprang to arms. Many a voice joined in chorus with that of Jeremiah T. Bronson, who was one of the first volunteers, and gave his life for his country; in the words,