ter Church seems also to have been a maker
of elegiac verse; for after the decease of Rev. Richard Mather, the
pastor, and one of the ablest divines of colonial New England, the
church records contain the two complimentary stanzas quoted below, the
first being an evident attempt at anagram:

"Third in New England's Dorchester,
Was this ordained minister.
Second to none for faithfulness,
Abilities and usefulness.
Divine his charms, years seven times seven,
Wise to win souls from earth to heaven.
Prophet's reward his gains above,
But great's our loss by his remove."

Sacred to God his servant Richard Mather,
Sons like him, good and great, did call him father.
Hard to discern a difference in degree,
'Twixt his bright learning and his piety.
Short time his sleeping dust lies covered down,
So can't his soul or his deserved renown.
From 's birth six lustres and a jubilee
To his repose: but labored hard in thee,
O, Dorchester! four more than thirty years
His sacred dust with thee thine honour rears."

This couplet to three brothers named Clarke must suffice for epitaphs:

"Here lie three Clarkes, their accounts are even,
Entered on earth, carried up to Heaven."

Before taking leave of these fascinating old records, so rich in facts
and the stuff that fiction is made of, it will be interesting to have an
estimate of the growth of the Dorchester Plantation; for this purpose
the valuation of the town is given, a century from the date of its
settlement:

Houses, 117
Mills, 6
Acres of orchard, 250 1-2
Acres of mowing, 1834 1-4
Acres of pasture, 2873 1-2
Acres of tillage, 518 1-2
Male slaves, 10
Female slaves, 1
Oxen, 157
Cows, 661
Horses, 207
Sheep and goats, 661
Swine, 251

Value of feeding stock, etc., L431

Decked vessels, tons, 64
Open vessels, tons 68
====
132

Ratable polls, 252
Not ratable, 24
====
276

The tax for that year, assessed on real