retreats for the repositories of the dead, A rural cemetery in the environs of any city or town, if taste fully laid out, and improved in accordance with the present established style of landscape gardening, cannot fail of exciting a good influence upon the tastes of a people. Wherever we see these cemeteries introduced we find that gradually the stiff and formal lines of trees and walks, once SO universal upon our neglected and gloomy burial grounds of former years, sometimes used as sheep pastures, or perhaps with broken inclosures which admitted freely all the animals that fed upon the common; or, again, choked with brambles, the mullen being the only flower which lifted its head above the graves, surely we must acknowledge that our improvements in this respect evince increasing refinement and civilization. It was in medieval times that superstition seemed most to delight in those emblems of death which are revolting ST. JOHN'S CHURCH. The skull and the cross bones, and those hideous and distorted groups, both in sculpture and in painting, known as the dance of death, sprung into ex istence then. The refinement of the Greeks led them, in the pagan even age, to associate with the idea of death different forms of beauty; hence we have the genius of death, a beautiful figure of a youth leaning upon an inverted torch with legs crossed, holding in his hand a cluster of poppy buds, emblematic of rest, of the sleep of the grave. In the temple of Juno, at Elis, death and sleep were personified by two beautiful infants, twin brothers, reposing in the arms of and the hope held out to us beyond the vale, these beautiful images of death should have given place to others distorted and repulsive. grounds, are rapidly giving way to the bet- | Night. Strange that, with revealed religion ter taste exhibited in a simple copying of nature. Now we see thick clumps of trees with varied foliage, contrasting, in their dark outline and heavy masses of shadow, with irregular sunny openings of closely shaven lawn. It is no longer deemed a requisite of taste that trees should stand as prim as the lines of soldiers in a well-drilled regiment, or that walks should only be laid out with square angles and in the most precise form. When we contrast the modern rural cemeteries of New England with the The natural adaptation of the grounds of Riverside to the purposes of a cemetery is very remarkable. Here every variety of surface is found; bold eminences, picturesque and shaded dells, quiet valleys. The wildest portions are left for the most part in their natural state, others have been highly improved; hence the grounds present that contrast, so desirable in land SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. Great credit is due to Howard Daniels, Esq., of New York, the civil engineer, as well as to the superintendent, Mr. John North. It is unusual to find such perfect harmony in landscape gardening; all the available natural beauties of the spot seem to have struck the quick eye of Mr. Daniels, and he has developed them to the best possible advantage. The prominent position which is now assigned to Waterbury among the manufacturing places of New England, gives a degree of interest to the early development of manufactures here. Waterbury, from near the period of its first settlement, contained the elements of manufacturing spirit. During the war of the Revolution guns were made here by Lieutenant Ard Welton, who died in the present century, on his farm at Buck's Hill, (so called,) and where some of his descendants still reside. Joseph Hopkins, Esq., a man of some distinction, afterward a judge of the county court, was the inspector of the arms, under authority of the State. This Mr. Hopkins was originally a silversmith, and manufactured shoe and knee buckles, indispensable articles in the costume of the time. After his son Jesse had ar scape, of native wildness with extreme | rived at man's estate, being rather discultivation. Here is a dell filled with bold satisfied with the slow method of castand picturesque rocks and native trees; bordering upon it a piece of closely shaven lawn, upon which is a splendid monument in Italian marble of classic design; the trees in its immediate neighborhood are exotics, but the native rocks have been preserved. The grounds are for the most part wooded, and afford every variety of native tree to be found in this vicinity. ing buckles, which was one at a time, invented a mold to cast six. This astounded his father, who rebuked him in the strongest terms, telling him that it was a device of the Evil One, and boded no good. Fashion, however, soon afterward changed, and there was no longer a demand for buckles. Ezra Bronson, Esq., a man of educa tion, who held a high place in the estimation of his townsmen, was an assistant commissary during the Revolutionary War, and kept a tavern near St. John's Church, which was also used for a magazine, as well as other purposes called for by the public service. To supply troops with soap he established a potashery," as it was then called, which was continued many years after the peace. Specimens of the soap were preserved as late as twenty years ago, and were more highly appreciated than the best Windsor. 66 To the late Mark Leavenworth, Esq., must be awarded the credit of an early pioneer. He was an apprentice to Mr. Hopkins, the silversmith, and being thrown out of employ by dame fashion, he commenced the manufacture of gun-locks; this was followed by axes and steel-yards, which were about the first articles fabricated here for an outside market; these were taken South, and exchanged for cotton and tobacco. This was about the beginning of the present century. About this time Silas Grilley and others commenced the manufacture of composition buttons, made of pewter and zinc, which was carried on for several years with success, until superseded by the gilt buttons, which laid the foundation of the metal business. This has since overshadowed every other pursuit, and made the place what it now is. Toward the close of the last century James Harrison commenced the manufacture of wooden clocks. He is said not only to have erected the first water-wheel known in this vicinity, but to have made the first wooden clock known in Connecticut. His commencement was in a rude way, using a saw, file, and pen-knife for machinery, turning the pinions by foot power. Subsequently, after erecting a water-wheel on Little Brook, he invented some very ingenious machinery for cutting the wheel - teeth and pinions; but having little means and moderate ambition, he was content with a very small business. Others, more eagle-eyed and enterprising, foresaw that, with proper energy, the business might be multiplied and rendered profitable. Among them was Colonel William Leavenworth, formerly a large merchant, but having met with reverses and given up trade, he therefore converted his store into a clock shop, and finding his business increasing, changed a flour mill which he owned into a larger establishment, where he erected improved machinery, and prosecuted a large business for several years. In the meantime NEW ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. ness for several years. In the meantime several rival establishments sprung up, the most successful of which was that of Mark Leavenworth, before alluded to, who continued a prosperous business up to 1835, when he commenced the manufacture of gilt buttons. This he ultimately abandoned, but continued to manufacture lasting or Florentine buttons until his death. He was the last of the wooden clock makers in this town, having amassed a handsome fortune by the business, which was much lessened by subsequent schemes in connection with others. This brings us to the establishment of the gilt button experiment, about 1804. by Abel, Porter, & Co., but which first rose into importance under Leavenworth, Hayden, & Scovill, but was not fully developed until the accession of the brothers, J. M. L. & W. H. Scovill, whose names for the last twenty-five years have been so conspicuous in the history of the town. In 1810 James Scovill and Austin Steele commenced the manufacture of woolen goods here. From these small beginnings a colossal business has grown up in Waterbury. In 1830 the amount of capital employed in manufacturing here was less than one hundred thousand dollars. There is at the present day an actual capital, invested here in different branches of manufacturing, of three million dollars. The banking and mercantile capital employed here amounts to about one million in addition. There are some fifty stores, and a present population of about eight thousand five hundred. Thus we see what enterprise has accomplished within the last few years in an interior Connecticut town, possessing no advantages from situation save in its water power. Until the completion of the Naugatuck Railroad in 1849, all the transportation to and from market was by way of New Haven, requiring a land carriage of twenty-two miles. This, it will at once be seen, was a serious obstacle to the success of a business requiring so large an amount of tonnage as the manufacture of metal, which has become the principal business of the place. The variety of articles manufactured here, collected in a list, would be quite a curiosity. Among the illustrations which I present in the present number are views of St. John's, the Second Congregational, and the new Roman Catholic Churches of this city. St. John's Church (Episcopal) is a massive structure of native granite. The corner stone was laid June 6th, 1845. Consecrated January 12, 1848. This church has for the last twenty years been under the pastoral care of the Rev. J. L. Clark, D.D., and is in a very flourishing condition. The Second Congregational Church was organized April 4th, 1852. On the 19th of May Rev. S. W. Magill was installed in the pastoral office. It is a handsome edifice of brick and stucco. The lofty and graceful spire which adorned this structure was two hundred and nine feet in height. Both St. John's and the Second Congregational Churches have suffered severely from a gale, the violence of which was unparalleled in this vicinity, which occurred on the 18th January last. The spires of both these edifices were destroyed at that time. The cuts represent the structures as they appeared previous to the gale. The new Roman Catholic church, of which I present a view, drawn from the architect's elevation, is now in process of building, under the direction of Mr. B. P. Chatfield. The material is brick, with freestone copings. The whole extent of the structure is sixty-six feet by one hundred and sixty. The corner stone was laid 5th of July last. STRIVE, WAIT, AND PRAY. STRIVE; yet I do not promise The prize you dream of to-day, Will not fade when you think to grasp it, And melt in your hand away; But another and holier Treasure, You would now perchance disdain, Will come when your toil is over, And pay you for all your pain. Wait; yet I do not tell you The hour you long for now, Will not come with its radiance vanish'd, And a shadow upon its brow; Yet far through the misty future, With a crown of starry light, An hour of joy you know not Is winging her silent flight. Pray; though the gift you ask for May never comfort your fears, May never repay your pleading, Yet pray, and with hopeful tears; An answer, not that you long for, But diviner, will come one day; Your eyes are too dim to see it, Yet strive, and wait, and pray. Here, where the poet thrush so often pours His requiem hidden in green aisles of lime, And bloody-red along the sycamores Creepeth the summer time. "Where through the ruin'd church's broken walls Glimmers all night the vast and solemn sea, As through our broken hopes the brightness falls Of our eternity." But, when we die, we rest, far, far away; Not over us the lime-trees lift their bowers, And the young sycamores their shadows sway O'er graves that are not ours. Yet he is happy, wheresoe'er he lie, Round whom the purple calms of Eden spread; Who sees his Saviour with the heart's pure eye, He is the happy dead! By the rough brook of life no more he wrestles, Huddling its hoarse waves until night de I saw again. Behold! Heaven's open door, I saw a wondrous book; an angel strong To heaven and earth proclaim'd his loud ap peals; But a hush pass'd across the seraph's song, Then, fast as rain to death cry of the year, And a sweet voice said, "Weep not; wherefore fails, Eagle of God, thy heart, the high and leal? The lion out of Judah's tribe prevails To loose the seven-fold seal." 'Twas Israel's voice; and straightway, up above, Stood in the midst a wondrous Lamb, snowwhite, Heart-wounded with the deep, sweet wounds of love, Eternal, infinite. |