A descendant of the
Sparhawks, one of whom married Pepperell's daughter, is now keeper of a
fort in the vicinity,--a poor man. Lieutenant Baker tells me that he has
recently discovered a barrel full of the old family papers.
The house in Portsmouth now owned and occupied by the Rev. Mr. Burroughs
was formerly the mansion of Governor Langdon. It contains noble and
spacious rooms. The Doctor's library is a fine apartment, extending, I
think, the whole breadth of the house, forty or fifty feet, with
elaborate cornices, a carved fireplace, and other antiquated
magnificences. It was, I suppose, the reception-room, and occasionally
the dining-hall. The opposite parlor is likewise large, and finished in
excellent style, the mantelpiece being really a fine architectural
specimen.... Doctor Burroughs is a scholar, rejoicing in the possession
of an old, illuminated missal, which he showed us, adorned with
brilliant miniatures and other pictures by some monkish hand. It was
given him by a commodore in the navy, who picked it up in Italy, without
knowing what it was, nor could the learned professors of at least one
college inform him, until he finally offered it to Dr. Burroughs, on
condition that he should tell him what it was.
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