amatque, and Tatacenacouse, of the first part, and William Fowler, Edmund Tapp, Zachariah Whitman, Benjamin Fenn, and Alexander Bryan, of the second part, in trust for a body of planters. The price mutually agreed upon was six coats, ten blankets, one kettle, twelve hatchets, twelve hoes, two dozen knives, and a dozen small looking-glasses. On this tract of land a plot was laid out in the garden of the minister for the burial of the dead. The first grave opened on this ground was for the infant son of Mr. William East, on the 18th of June, 1644; and the first adult buried here was Sarah, wife of Nicholas Camp. From this period to 1675 all the dead of Milford were deposited here, among whom was the minister himself. A traveler on the New York and New Haven railroad, on leaving Milford station for the east, will, in a few moments, cross the Wepowage river, and pass the "Soldier's Monument," standing in the south-west corner of the present repository of the dead. Four times, since 1675, has this ground been enlarged, and the ashes of those who died prior to this period have been disinterred and transferred to this place, and, with thousands more, now slumber in silent repose, while the inscriptions on the sculptured marble trace the outlines of the history of Milford for more than two hundred years. To follow out all these in detail would be the work of a lifetime, and would fill volumes; but a brief reference to a few may not be amiss or uninteresting to the readers of the Repository. The first Church organization in this place was in the year 1639, and still exists under the title of the "First Congregational Society." During the first five years after its organization not a death had occurred in the town. But in the year 1855 over fifty fell by ordinary diseases within the same compass. The Rev. Peter Prudden was probably the first evangelical minister who proclaimed the words of eternal life to the inhabitants of Milford. He was ordained in 1639, and remained in the pastoral charge till death signed his release, July, 1656. His birthplace was Edgerton, Yorkshire, England, whence he immigrated to this country in 1637, being then thirty-seven years of age. He was a preacher in England, and also in Wethersfield, Connecticut, previous to his settlement in this place. His grandson, Rev. Job Prudden, was the first settled minister of the Second Congregational Society in Milford. He was ordained 1747, and died of small-pox, taken while visiting the sick, June 24, 1774. Long since, his remains, with the ashes of the aged grandsire, have min gled with the dust of this graveyard. The seven pillars of this first Church, namely, P. Prudden, William Fowler, E. Tapp, Z. Whitman, Thomas Buckingham, Thomas Welsh, and John Atwood, with the exception of the last-named individual, here lie entombed. Rev. Roger Newton, a near relative of Sir Isaac Newton, was born in England, graduated at Harvard College, and was settled in Milford, August 22, 1660. The old Church record says, "He was ordained Pastour by ye laying on of ye hands of Zachariah Whitman, elder, John Fletcher, deacon, and Mr. Robert Treat, magistrate-though not magistrate and deacon, but as appointed by ye Church to joyne with ye ruling elder in laying on hands in the name of ye Church." He died on the 7th of June, 1683. Rev. Samuel Andrews, one of the three most active individuals who took measures to found Yale College, was ordained November 18, 1685, and died January 24, 1738, at the advanced age of eighty-two years, having been pastor of the First Church over fifty years. He was one of the best scholars of his time, and one of the greatest benefactors of Yale College. His wife was the daughter of Governor Treat, of whom we shall speak hereafter. Rev. Bezaleel Pineo was ordained October 26, 1796, and continued in the pastoral charge more than half a century, which brings us down to the time of the present incumbent, Rev. Jonathan Brace. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College, and died on the 28th day of September, 1849. In this lone spot rest the ancestors of many of the great men of our nation. Robert Treat, a young man of eighteen years, came from Wethersfield to Milford with Rev. P. Prudden in 1639. The following year he was elected the first town clerk of the town of Milford, and was soon after chosen one of the first judges of the state. In 1661 he was elected a magistrate in New Haven colony. He was appointed major in 1670, and colonel in 1674. The troops under his command drove the Indians from their assaults at Springfield and Hadly. In 1676 he was chosen Deputy Governor, and in 1683 he was duly elected Governor of the state of Connecticut, and was continued in the last two stations for thirty-two years. He was chairman of that meeting in Hartford, in 1687, which took measures to preserve the charter of Connecticut from the grasp of Sir Edmund Andross, by secreting it in the hollow of a tree, since known as the "Charter Oak," and which was preserved with the utmost care for about two hundred years, during which it continued to spread abroad its gnarled limbs, and put on its yearly mantle of green, despite the ravages of time. "In song and story the old oak is made famous, and thousands of strangers from abroad annually visited it. The tree stood upon the Wyllys place, now owned and occupied by the Hon. I. W. Stewart, who kindly cared for it. A few years ago some boys kindled a fire within its trunk, which burned out most of the rotten parts of it. Mr. Stewart soon discovered the fire, and had it at once extinguished. He then, at considerable expense, had the hollow inclosed by a door, with a lock and key. He also had the stumps of branches that had been broken off covered with tin, and painted. The tree from this time seemed to be imbued with new life, each succeeding spring dressing itself in a richer and denser foliage. On the 22d of November the New Haven fire companies, who came up to join their brethren in Hartford, on the occasion of their annual muster, visited the famous oak. They were, of course, kindly received by Mr. Stewart. To show them the capacity of the tree, he invited the firemen to enter the trunk, when twentyfour of the men belonging to Captain M'Gregor's company entered together. They came out, and twenty-eight of Captain Thomas's company then entered. By placing twenty-eight full-grown men in an ordinary room of a dwelling, one may judge of the great size of the famous old Charter Oak." But the old tree, which had witnessed the downfall of all its associates, and the death of the white man, whose ax had laid them low, and also the red man's trail, his bloody wars and decay, has fallen, like one of Homer's mighty heroes slain. When Governor Wyllys came to America, he sent his steward to prepare for his residence. As he was clearing away the trees on this beautiful hillside, a deputation of Indians came and requested him to spare that old hollow tree, as it had been the guide of their ancestors for centuries. It is supposed to have been an old tree when Columbus discovered America. But it was spared to fall after the bold navigator had slept in the grave three and a half centuries. The bells of the city tolled at sunset as a mark of respect for the fall of the ancient monarch of the forest. A likeness of the fallen tree is preserved, and an oak is already growing from an acorn of the old oak, to be presented to Mr. Stewart, to be transplanted, in the same old spot, which may afford a refreshing shade for "Young America." The wife of Governor Treat was the daughter of Edmund Tapp, Esq., and concerning their marriage is this anecdote. One day, while Robert was at the house of Mr. Tapp, he took one of the 66 daughters upon his knee, and began to trot her. 'Robert," said the girl, "stop that; I had rather be treated than trotted." Upon this Robert popped the question, which was favorably entertained, and she subsequently became his wife. One of their daughters was the mother of Robert Treat Paine, one of the signers of the Declaration of the Independence of these United States. Governor Treat died July 12, 1710, at the advanced age of eightynine years. Jonathan Law, jr., a graduate of Harvard College, was elected justice of the peace 1706, chief judge of the county court, 1714, Deputy Governor, 1724, and Governor, 1741, from which time he was annually chosen Governor till his death, November, 1750. On the occasion of his death, Tutor Stiles, afterward President of Yale College, pronounced a funeral oration in the College hall. Governor Law had five wives, all of whom now repose with him in this place of the dead. Henry Tomlinson, ancestor of Governor Tomlinson, here lies among the dead. He built the first public inn in the town of Milford, which was continued till within a very few years past. Twice General Washington put up at this inn, the last of which was in 1789. The ancestors of three of the signers of the Declaration of Independence rest in this graveyard; namely, Robert Treat Paine, Abram Clark, and Roger Sherman. George Clark, the ancestor of Abram Clark, died in 1690. He was the first man who dared to build a house outside the palisadoes, and as a reward for his courage the town gave him forty acres of land. The ancestors of two members of the convention that framed the Constitution of the United States are buried here also; namely, Roger Sherman and Jared Ingersol. And here, also, we find the name of the identical John Smith, who removed from Boston to Milford as early as 1643. His descendants, some of whom bear his own name, are numerous, and many of them highly respectable, and are thickly spread over all the states in the Union. Among the list of names here engraved we find that of Micaiah Tompkins. He was one of the planters of Milford. Two of the regicides, Whalley and Goffe, were secreted in the basement of a shop near the house of Mr. Tompkins, August 20, 1661, where they remained for two years. Tradition says that the daughters of Mr. Tompkins often spun in this shop, and unwittingly amused the judges with a song composed on the execution of King Charles I. Previous to their coming to Milford, they had been secreted in a cave at a place called West Rock, near New neatly engraved, and surmounted by the thirteen emblematic stars, and underneath a brief history of the monument. On the other sides appear the names of forty-six American soldiers, and their places of residence, whose bones lie wasting be Haven-a bold, lofty pile of rock, three hundred In the month of January, 1777, a British cartel ship, with two hundred American prisoners on board, taken from a prison-ship near New York, sailed for New Haven. Adverse winds forced the vessel into Milford harbor, and forthwith the prisoners were put ashore on the beach at midwinter, in a destitute, sickly, and dying condition. The inhabitants of Milford came at once to their relief, and nobly exerted themselves to mitigate the sufferings of the destitute strangers. About During their stay here Hadley was surprised one-half of their number soon left for their homes. by the Indians, September 1, 1675, during public The remainder, too weak and sickly to move, worship, and the people were thrown into confu- were nursed with almost a mother's care in the sion. But suddenly a venerable man, in an un- dwellings of the hospitable inhabitants. Yet, common dress, appeared in their midst, reviving notwithstanding all these philanthropic efforts, their courage, and, putting himself at their head, in one month forty-six of their number were laid led them to the attack, and repulsed the enemy. | in one common grave near the monument where The deliverer of Hadley immediately disappeared, their names are inscribed. Here in solemn silence and the inhabitants, overwhelmed with astonish- they sleep, while the flying trains, with their mulment, supposed that an angel had been sent to titudes of human beings, of every age, sex, contheir protection. It is supposed that Whalley and dition, and character, dash on their way, and nothGoffe were buried in the minister's cellar, and that ing will break the stillness of their repose, till the their remains were subsequently removed to the voice of the archangel and the trump of God rear of the Center Church, New Haven. This shall wake the dead to life. supposition is strongly confirmed by three stones, marked as follows: E. W. 1678, for Whalley; M. G. . . . 80, for Goffe; and J. D., Esq., 1668–9, for Dixwell. CALVIN'S COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. Some of the early settlers of Milford removed WE to Newtown, Durham, Wallingford, Cheshire, Farmington, Woodbury, Washington, Norwalk, Ridgefield, and New Milford. Once the town of Terbey, a large part of Woodbridge, Bethany, and North Orange, formed a part of this town, and the ashes of the ancestors of many of the people of these towns now molder in this sacred spot. But their detail would render this article too prolix for the columns of the Repository. Should this meet with favor, I may possibly have something to say of modern graves and of mon uments. We close these records with a brief history of the "Soldiers' Monument," which was erected in 1852, by the joint liberality of the state of Connecticut, the citizens of Milford, and other contributing friends. It is composed of red sandstone, from Hall's quarry, Portland, opposite Middletown, on the Connecticut river. It is a square shaft, thirty feet high, and well proportioned. On the south front is seen the arms of the state, E are all familiar with the tale of Howard traveling amid the sumptuousness of palaces, the stateliness of temples, and the remains of ancient grandeur, yet almost unmindful of their existence by reason of the intense interest he felt in dungeons, and hospitals, and lazarettos. And it is reported of Andrew Fuller that, when walking among the most attractive sights of Oxford, he turned to his companion and began to discuss the doctrine of justification by faith. But neither the enthusiastic philanthropist nor the meditative theologian, occupied as they were by substantial affairs, and slight as was their appreciation of the toys and graces of human life, was proof against the universal passion. We remember to have seen a book presented by Mr. Fuller to the lady he afterward married, in the fly-leaf of which were two intertwined hearts, traced by a pen, and beneath them a suitable sentence, also written by the lover. But John Calvin seems to have been as free from all such infirmities as was Elijah the Tishbite. To protect the persecuted Waldenses, to establish the Presbyterian disci pline, to maintain a rigid censorship of morals, to replied that I could not undertake to engage myadvance the reformation throughout Europe-self unless the maiden would undertake that she such were the purposes on which his heart was set. As for Calvin being brought under the tyranny of love, about as readily might the sunbeams have dissolved all the snows of Mont Blanc. As his friends wished him to marry, he would do so to oblige them, and forthwith he authorized them to enter into negotiations for the purpose. Several ladies were proposed to him, but were not deemed entirely suitable. The following extracts from his correspondence upon this subject will be interesting. At the time of writing he was about thirty years of age. Negotiations in the first case seem to have gone so far, that he writes to Farel: "An excellent opportunity will occur for your repairing hitherStrasbourg-if, as we hope, the marriage shall come to pass. We look for the bride a little after Easter. But if you assure me that you will come the marriage ceremony might be postponed till your arrival." This is very unlike the rapture of a young lover of thirty on the eve of marriage. The match, however, was broken off; and a few months later he again writes to his friend, who was engaged in the quest, and who seems to have reported a hopeful discovery: "Always remember what I expect in one who is to be my companion for life. I do not belong to the class of loving fools who, when once smitten with a fine figure, are ready to expend their affections even on the faults of her whom they have fallen in love with. The only beauty which allures me is a woman who is chaste, not too fastidious, patient, economical, and if there is hope that she will interest herself about my health. If, therefore, you think well of it, you may set out immediately, lest some one else should be beforehand with you. But if you think otherwise, you may let that pass." About a year subsequently, when the storm of opposition and persecution was gathering very thickly around him, he writes again, "Nevertheless, in the midst of these commotions, I am so much at my ease as to have the audacity to think of taking a wife. A certain damsel, of noble rank, has been proposed to me, and with a fortune above my condition. Two considerations deterred me from that connection-because she did not understand our language, and because I feared she might be too mindful of her family and education. Her brother, blinded by his affection to me, urged the connection. His wife also, with a like partiality, contended as he did; so that I should have been persuaded to submit, unless the Lord had otherwise appointed. When I would apply her mind to the learning of our language, she requested time for deliberation. Thereupon, without further parley, I sent my brother to escort hither another, who, if she answers to her reputation, will bring a dowry large enough without any money at all. If it come to pass, as we certainly hope it will, the marriage ceremony will not be delayed beyond the 10th of March." It was then the 6th of February, and he had not yet seen his bride elect; but he was evidently getting anxious to have the irksome and perplexing business speedily brought to a conclusion one way or another. This match, however, came to nothing; for in June he writes again, "I have not yet found a wife, and frequently hesitate whether I ought any more to seek one. Claude and my brother had lately betrothed me to a damsel. Three days after they had returned, some things were told me which forced me to send my brother that he might discharge me from that obligation." In the month of August, however, he was actu ally married to a lady with whom he had been on terms of intimacy for some time. Her name was Idelette de Bures; she was the widow of an exiled anabaptist of Liege, John Storder, whom, together with his wife, he had brought back to the Reformed faith. Whether in making this final selection he acted solely upon the advice of Martin Bucer, or whether he had a secret attachment for her, can not be known. She seems to have been without fortune or beauty, some years his senior, and the mother of several children by her former husband. He speaks of his marriage in terms far enough from rapture, but with a calm, sedate satisfaction. When the honeymoon was scarcely passed, he writes, in answer to a letter of congratulation, "When your letter was first brought to me I was so ill I could scarcely lift a finger. Since that time to the present such has been my state of doubt and hesitation, that it was impossible for me to write any thing. It seemed, indeed, as though it had been so ordered in order that our wedlock might not be overjoyous, that we might not exceed all bounds, and that the Lord thus moderated our joy by thwarting it." Deputies from some of the Swiss Churches attended the ceremony, which was celebrated without pomp at Strasbourg, in September, 1540, Calvin being at that time thirty-one years of age. The marriage thus entered upon without any rapturous emotion or romantic attachment on either side, seems to have been a very happy one. Calvin's self-contained, undemonstrative, logical temperament prevented his ever giving any strong expression to his feelings. And, indeed, his absorption in and devotion to his great work prevented his indulgence in the amenities of social life. But the occasional references to her in his letters, and the very frequent allusion to her in those of his correspondents, show her to have been a true and faithful wife, and attest the high place she held in the esteem and affection of all. We are indebted for the following passage to that interesting volume, not long since issued from the English press, "The Ladies of the Reformation :" to acquire these much-coveted objects of attraction. She relieved the wants of the poor, visited the chamber of the sick and of the bereaved, and ministered consolation to the dying. Numerous strangers, especially from France, but also from the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain, came to Geneva, either in quest of a shelter from persecution or to enjoy the pleasure of visiting Calvin, or of sitting under his ministry. This afforded him and Idelette an opportunity of exercising toward these Christian brethren the virtues of compassion and hospitality, which they did with such active zeal that by some they were even blamed for being more careful of these strangers than of the native population of Geneva." One bitter grief they were called to experience during the brief period of their married life-the death of their children. Three were born to them, who all died in infancy. How Calvin bore the loss may be gathered from the following allusion to the death of his first-born. It is from a letter in reply to his friend Viret, who had written to express condolence and sympathy. "Greet all the brethren and your wife, to whom mine returns thanks for much friendly and pious con amanuensis, and it would be very difficult for her even to dictate a letter. The Lord has certainly inflicted upon us a severe and bitter wound, by the death of our infant son. But he is himself a father, and knows what is needful for his children.” The bitterness of these repeated and trying bereavements was aggravated by the fact that Catholic controversialists insulted him on account of them, exulting and triumphing over them as manifestations of Divine vengeance against him. "In the high opinion Calvin had formed of Idelette's Christian virtues he was not disappointed. In her affectionate care of his health and comfort she was all that he could desire. His intense devotion to study, and his almost incredible labors as a minister of Geneva, and as the acknowledged facile princeps of Protestantism in its more radical form, which caused him an amount of correspondence sufficient to have filled the hands of any ordinary man, greatly impaired his health, and made him frequently subject to deep mental depression. It was then that Idelette, by her tender ministry, nursed his disor-solation. She could reply only by means of an dered and debilitated frame, and by her cheerful, soothing words revived his dejected spirits. In her he found a heart beating in sympathy with him under all the difficulties he encountered in the discharge of his duties as a minister of the | word. Her counsel to him always was to be true to God at whatever cost; and that he might not be tempted, from a regard to her ease and comfort, to shrink from the conscientious performance of his duty, she assured him of her readiness to share with him whatever perils might befall him in faithfully serving God. Many of his expressions in his correspondence evince that the union between him and her was of a high and noble character. It was no trifling thing for him who praised so few, who never spoke unprofitably, and who weighed so well the words which he used, to say of his wife, that she was a remarkable woman- Singularis exempli fæmina.' After her earthly career had closed, in lamenting her loss, he said of her, 'I am separated from the best of companions, who, if any thing harder could have happened to me, would willingly have been my companion, not only in exile and in want, but also in death. While she lived she was a true help to me in the duties of my office. I have never experienced any hinderances from her, even the smallest.' Like Calvin, unambitious of worldly dignities, wealth, or grandeur, she was more solicitous unostentatiously to do good to others than To the grief occasioned by these repeated losses there was now added the distressing and protracted illness of his wife. For the last few years of her life she seems to have been a confirmed invalid, and Calvin's allusions to her illness in his letters are sufficient to disprove the charge so often brought against him of being without natural affection. At last, only nine years after her. marriage, she was taken from him by death, and he was left a lonely, childless man. For the description of her death-bed we are indebted to the same volume which supplied us with the description of her character. The writer says: "Her death was peaceful and happy. A few days before the closing scene, when all the brethren in Geneva were assembled with Calvin, they engaged together in prayer with her. After this, one of their number, Abel, exhorted her, in the name of the rest, to faith and patience. During his address, she indicated by a few words-for |