Page:Sketch of Connecticut, Forty Years Since.djvu/247

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FORTY YEARS SINCE.
235

reached the southern part of the town, where the clergyman resided. Presenting the letter, the reverend man perused it, and said with affectionate feeling—

"My brother, I will come to-morrow to your house."

The afternoon of the succeeding day, the clergyman was seen fastening his horse to the fence that enclosed the garden of Zachary. He approached with the slow step, and benevolent countenance, which were indicative of his character. Firmness in the truth, and mildness in the expression of it distinguished his conversation among men. Filial trust in his God taught him to consider all as brethren, and no hand raised the bruised reed more tenderly than his. When a child, the amusements of that giddy period had no charms for him, in comparison with those studies which nourish intellect. Thirteen summers had not past over him ere he made his election in favour of that Church to which he faithfully devoted the remainder of his life. So uninfluenced was this determination, that his parents and friends, who belonged to a different sect, were ignorant of the arguments by which his belief was fortified until he adduced them as a reason of "the hope that was in him." After spending his youth in collegiate studies, he found that the sect to which he had devoted himself was so far from enjoying popularity, that not a single person existed in this country, to administer to him the vows of ordination. He crossed the Atlantic, and received holy orders from the Bishop of London, in 1768. From that period he had been con-