Norwalk After Two Hundred & Fifty Years

Our limit is reached, we fear transcended, but one thought, just here, is irrepressible. The glory of our celebration is heightened and an honor done this ancient plantation by the offer, at this historic juncture, from a world benefactor, of funds for a library building, fol- lowed quickly by the gift of a handsome site for the same. Words of fulsome eulogy would be offensive, but the name of Carnegie, of collossal munificence and Bishop of local beneficence, the donations of whom mean so much that is better, purer, loftier to us, are written on our hearts, and our people are conjured by all that is truly valuable to make, as a suitable acknowl- edgement on our part, this noble offering a grand and lasting success. Our tribute to-day has largely been that to old- fashioned virtue, which has certainly here proven itself competent to be the safeguard of right, and depend upon one thing, if it be desirable that the hour shall re- turn when ancient conscience shall again bear rule, the stars in their courses will never alone bring it round ; it will come, under God, not by going back to ancient agriculture, or manufacture, or travel, but to the Godly grounding ideas of days departed. This stone, brethren and friends, is a witness. Joshua's figure is fact, his rock had a tongue and this week's ceremonies here in these courts, this blessed Lord's day opened, are a voiceful and proud attestation Salutation to all, descendents of such sound stock. We bless our God for what our ancestors were, and for what they wrought. Norwalk, South, East West nd North, all Norwalk should now pitch its te deum to an exultant Key, and join in a rapturous Gloria in Excelsis. The observance has a profound interpretation. It is an important object-lesson, and an all important spirit- reality. May we enter into the spirit of the occasion. May it be more to us than a past commemoration. O may it be to us a present product and a present profit, and when the years shall have chased each other over these hills and valleys of our progenitors, and over our graves, and brought in Anno Domini two thousand one hundred and fifty, may the projectors of the five hun- dredth anniversarv of our beloved father town's birth \ be inspired by the record of what we, at this anniver- sary, have decreed and done. The Lord bless us; the Lord be merciful and gra- cious unto us. The Lord our God and our father's God, lift upon us the light of His countenance, and for- ever keep us and all who shall come after us, in His perfect peace. Amen, Amen. To Father, Son and Holy Ghost be all the glory, henceforward forevermore. Amen. The audience then joined in singing "My Country, Tis of Thee," and was dismissed with the benediction, pronounced by the Rev. Mr. Egbert. :»;C First Congregational Church. 2. Norwalk Methodist Church. 3. Trinity Church. Baptist Church. 5. South Norwalk Congregational Church. 6. First .Methodist Church. 7. St. Mary's Church. S. St. Paul's Church. First AT THE FIRST CHURCH-NORWALK S FAR as practicable the morning ser- vices of Sunday, September 8, were devoted to historical discourses appro- priate to the anniversary. During the services in the First Congregational Church in the morning the following address was delivered by the pastor, Rev. George Drew Egbert. A stage coach is picturesque ; once upon a time, it was even swift. The tourists of a nation and the corres-| pondence of a nation were once carried in this fashion, - to the satisfaction of all concerned. Just now, to get anywhere, and to get there promptly, people have a habit of using limited express trains. The romance of the sunny turnpike has gone, and the rough reality of rattle and cinders has succeeded. The coach has been rele- gated to the ultra society of the tally-ho, and at the other extreme, to the picturesque ultra society of the wild-west. But it was so picturesque ! Yes — but the everyday traveler has one purpose, and that is to get there. Hence the locomotive. A bureau with carved legs and antique handles of the revolutionary period will hold no more clothes nor hold them more securely because of its legs or handles; and what, pray, is the bureau for? Curios- ity is one thing and capacity is another. That General Washington drank from a well is no certificate that the water is not crammed with microbes. It is clear enough that every man in a house divided against itself on the historical question ; a sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the one meaning a passion for the old, and the other an equally violent passion for the new. The latest fad — that's attractive, because it is late ; the oldest candle- stick— that is attractive, because it is early. But would you exchange a spluttering flicker called tallow-dip for a sixteen candle-power electric light? When it comes to light for everv-night use, you want the latest, just as when it comes to heat, you prefer radiators to foot- stoves. We can grow sentimental over a faded rose, but we take good care that the flower gardens are up to date, and we do not grow faded roses. Just remember, the Venus of Milo is no more valuable for having lost her arms. We look back, then, not because we believe that the better landscapes are nearer the sunrise ; for the west 37 is tapestried as magnificently as the east ;not because men were better and life was finer, for life is surely not the one exception in the story of progress ; nor yet do we look back, because as a church, we can climb into the upper and airy branches of a genealogical tree. We all have an ancestry, and to be able to trace it simply, is no large compliment to the ancestry, any more than to be able to trace the way of a brooklet through the underbrush up a mountain-side is to say that the water has a good flavor. What the thirsty climber tastes is not to be expressed in furlongs and miles. So, I say, we have stopped and turned around for a little at this season, be- cause it is healthy for us to recall that men with smaller favors than ours have lived nobly and effectively — because their faithfulness with a little has made our abundance possible, and because we should be ashamed to do less and passionately eager to do far more than they. Our yesterdays are to hint our to-mor- rows : our pride that our church is old is to transform itself into a determination that we shall make it young. Thank God for the frost on the forehead, but take good care to keep it out of the heart. Though our age is unquestioned, we have to depend for the details, or at least for such details as are available, on records that are sadly incomplete. Down as far as the period of the pastorate of Mr. Swan, who was in- stalled in 1807, three large folio volumes of church rec- ords were carefully preserved, during the latter part of their existence, in the library of Dr. Matthias Burnett, Mr. Swan's predecessor. These volumes are edited res- pectively by Mr. Hanford, Mr. Buckingham and Mr. Dickinson, the first of whom was the first pastor of the church ; and we may be sure that the story they told would be fascinating to all of us who are interested in the history of this venerable organization. It appears, how- ever, that after Dr. Burnett's death, these valuable books were left in a basket in the garret of the then parsonage, and irreverent rats, with a taste for antiquity — at any rate a taste for paper, gnawed their way through the precious pages, and nested among the deacons and feasted upon the statis- tics. I am glad to say, however, that there is still in existence and now in the possession of Mr. George B. St. John, the original records of the society, begun in 1726, when the church was organized as a separate insti- tution. Curious to relate, this old volume is still the 88 record book of this society. This book and the various historical memoranda that tell the story of the town, while not ample as sources of information still serve to furnish us considerable data regarding the earlier history of this dear old church. I may add that conversation with the older members of the present congregation have furnished me with items of interest that will be available but little longer, but which add much to our stock of information concerning the every-day experiences of our predecessors in the work of this ecclesiastical society. May I also add that should any statement of this little sketch need alteration or modification I trust that the few familiar with the finer particulars of our history, particu- larly of our more recent history, will not hesitate to sug- gest the proper corrections.