husetts presents a series of most
magnificent scenery, and in the villages which nestle among its
summits, dwell some of the noblest hearts and sturdiest frames of New
England.

Mountains have always been the rugged nurses of independence of thought
and action, and the grand chains of our own land form no exception to
the rule. Nor is this all--none who have not dwelt among our rural
population know the strong sympathy which pervades the inhabitants of
the same settlement--long may it continue! Each takes an interest in the
welfare of all about him, and though there are some things disagreeable
in the minute surveillance to which one is thus exposed, yet it is more
than compensated by the affectionate interest which is manifested in the
weal or woe of each neighbor. Not there, as in the crowded city, may a
man be laid in his grave, while the occupant of the next dwelling
neither knows nor cares concerning his fate.

The intelligence of illness spreads from house to house, and who can
number the kind offices which are immediately exercised by neighbors far
and near. The very schoolboys lower their voices as they pass the
darkened windows, and there needs no muffling of the knocker, for who
would disturb the invalid? And when the bell solemnly announces the
departure of a soul, sadness settles in every heart, and the cathedral
hung in sable is a poor tribute to departed worth, compared to the
general mourning of the whole village, when the long funeral procession,
whence old and young unite

"To pay the last sad tribute, and to hear
Upon the narrow dwelling's hollow bound,
The first earth thrown."

Oh! who would not exchange the pomp and hollow pageantry of the
metropolis for such attentions?

In one of these same homes of virtue and happiness dwelt a family, who,
contented with their lot, sought no wide sphere of enjoyment. With a
good education, fine talents, with a strong constitution, the father had
commenced his career about forty years before, and by his own exertions
had risen to wealth, respectability and honor. Having often represented
the interests of his fellow-townsmen in the assembly of the State, the
county in which he resided had deemed that they could commit to no safer
hands the senatorial dignity.

His gentlemanly bearing, his benevolent smile, his tall and commanding
appearance won all hearts; while his calm judgment, his energetic course
of action gained respect and demanded admiratio