Note 6, Page 67.

“Such blest achievements, gaining ground at length,
Ev’n after you have done with earthly things,
Shall be like sounds of praise, re-echoed far,
And to posterity your virtues tell!”

Looking back upon the history of the past, in so far as it regards that of the colony; and taking into consideration the hard beginnings of many a worthy old colonist, and how they faced hardship and privations with spirits of bravery; and having through arduous perseverance and toil got, as it were, through the hardest of the struggle, and coming out, so to speak, to the prospect of a time of rest and enjoyment; then, at that time, having become broken down in health, and sinking at length beneath the effects of their hard exertions into a premature tomb—premature indeed, seeing they have come far short of long cherished expectations! Such is in itself a theme for reflection which surely cannot but excite the deepest sympathy and commisseration for their lot, and make one feel that such a one’s memory, above all others who have had an easier lot, ought to be held in the highest yet most solemn estimation! True it may be, that many cannot see any merit in such thoughts, and may but lightly regard such victims of sterling industry, and look on their fates as a mere passing event: yet such an estimation is, however, most unworthy in its nature, speaking nothing in favor of those who entertain it. The labours they have undergone, and the works they have left, shew how willing they were to do their duty to the utmost, not only as agents in preparing the way for the rising generation, but also in striving to raise their adopted country from its degraded savage condition, so as to make the wilderness rejoice, and make the gloomy desert become like a garden of delights, even although they were unable to gain the ultimate designs—designs impressed upon their minds by the remembrance of scenes they had left, coupled by a desire to make the gloomy wastes around them to appear as a counterpart of those they held in memory dear! But seeing disappointment was theirs, and having a strong affection for the scene of their labours, how feelingly have they requested that, after they have ceased to be, their remains should be deposited in the grounds they have called their own, and upon which their strength has been spent, at the same time hoping, as they have made a last appeal, that those who remain, would for their sakes, take possession and retain the inheritance, keeping it as an heirdom to future posterity. Although such wishes in many respects have ill been performed, yet there their works remain, as a starting point for the next possessor, who for a trifle owns the estate and sees his advantage in a light to which the dispossessed were blind. How sad to think such industry and toils have been held at something of discount by those whom they were destined to benefit, yet that subtracts nothing from their value, while the parting from them declares the small esteem, and that to their own reproach, in which they have held the life of a worthy man! But you who are now the possessors of such estates, disturb not the ashes of the dead, but rather let their resting place remain, securing it as sacred to the memory of such a one, and the deeds of industry they have left, as the best memorials of their worth, as heroic early colonists!