THE SOUTH CHL'UCH. 185 



bility of organizing a church which should better accommodate tlie 

 residents of the south end, tlic old church on the site of the present 

 Burritt school, being at that time located at almost the extreme nortli- 

 ern limits of the village. 



"The occasion above referred to was an entirely informal one, 

 there being but two others present besides myself (Mr. North's father 

 and uncle), but the subject had engrossed their minds for some time, 

 and they believed the time was ripe for its initiation. With them to 

 decide was to act, and, as the edifice could not be expected to rise 

 without material aid, they together pledged themselves for one-half 

 the amount which they considered would be necessary to complete the 

 structure. There were those in the village who doubted if the place 

 was large enough to support two churches of the same denomination, 

 and they were not sure that the call to build was from God, but cour- 

 age was not wanting and faith was strong, and we have reason now 

 to believe that they ' builded better than they knew.' 



"In those early days the church prayer-meeting was always held 

 in the afternoon, and there are those who will recall the announcement 

 every Sunday from the pulpit — Church prayer-meeting Friday after- 

 noon. There was good reason why the afternoon and not the evening 

 should be selected, for good old Horace Butler, Josiah Dewey, Deacon 

 Cornwall, Alvin North, and Professor Andrews, were not greatly in 

 the habit of venturing out evenings, and upon these the pastor mainly 

 relied for remarks and prayer. The remarks were generally short and 

 sometimes far between, but the prayers made up for what was lacking, 

 and in their generous proportions took up whole countries and the 

 islands of the sea, together with all the ends of the earth and the in- 

 habitants thereof. 



" Those were not the days of Young People's Societies of Christian 

 Endeavor, and I am not now able to recall an instance of any young 

 person taking part in the exercises. Indeed, it was not always the 

 case that enough young people of both sexes were present to aid 

 appreciably in the songs of worship, but the older people who man- 

 aged the singing were quite familiar with many of the good old tunes, 

 and ' Old Hundred ' and the tune that was always set to the hymn, 

 ' Hark, from the tombs a doleful sound,' could always be relied on. 



"Those early days recall to mind the grand old company of min- 

 isters who were set upon the watchtowers in the surrounding towns, 

 and whose labors aided and encouraged the upbuilding of the new 

 association -Doctors Horace Bushnell, Joel Hawes, Noah Porter 

 Rev Mr. Jones of Southington, Rev. Mr. Robbins of Kensmgton, and 

 last but not least, Rev. Joab Brace. The sermons of the latter did not 

 always impress tke young people with a due sense of the folly of 



