of the man, who used to
recount to his grandsons his early poverty and hardships, the kind home
he found, and dwell with grateful pleasure on every trait and habit of
the Colonel. "Now, boys," he said, "be sure, when you grow up and can
afford it, that you go into New Hampshire and see where I used to live
as a boy, and if the house of Colonel and Madam Toppan is still
standing, with the beautiful elms and all."

Verily the good men do springs up, they themselves know not where, and
blesses, they know not whom.

SOCIAL LIFE IN EARLY NEW ENGLAND.

BY REV. ANSON TITUS.

There is much value in knowing of the past social life of New England.
By regarding the ways and manners which were, we are the better prepared
for the duties which are. In entering into the labors of others, we
should know what those labors were.

At the outset we must regard the singular oneness of purpose in the
minds of our New England ancestors. To serve God unmolested was the
ruling idea of those who led in the settlement of Boston, Dorchester,
Salem, and Plymouth. The hardship of laws and social oppression
stimulated many more to join those who came from a religious motive. But
those who came, came with a deep purpose to make these parts their home.
They brought their families with them. This made the settlers more
contented in living amid the new scenes, with privations they had not
known. The early settlers in many instances came in such numbers from a
given section that they brought their minister with them. There was a
great bond of sympathy between those who thus came together. The new
communities became as one home. Add to this the fact of the settlers
living within a mile of the meeting-house, often meeting with each other
on Sunday and at the midweek meetings for town purposes, for the drill
of the military companies, and having the same hopes and fears regarding
the Indians, we find the common sentiment welded even stronger. The
oneness of the New England communities is proverbial. There were rich,
there were poor people, and in the meeting-house the people were seated
and "dignified" according to title and station; but in spite of these,
there was more in the name than in reality. The people were not hedged
in by their differences. President John Adams was asked by a southern
friend what made New England as it is. His reply is memorable: "The
meeting-house, the school-house, the training-green, and the
town-meeting." In these