Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1843-03-29

TO the question:
Why has the Telegraph been delayed for
i tUo weeAs past
| l now proceed to give answer. l will
begin where the movement first reached me-
At DanvilIe about 90 miles from Brandon,
on the morning of the 10Th instant, between
eight and nine O'Clock, being myself at the
house of my friends, the Rabbits, where |
had staid during the night preceding, my
friend, Amos Clement, who kept my horse,
and whose house has generally been my
home, came TO me and said-s'I have news
for you this morning" .And what is il,
BROTHER Clement2" was my reply. 1.-TWO
men," he answered, have taken your horse
and sleigh from my barn, and gone to the
tavern with them" After few words Of
conversation with the friends, and learning
| from brother Clement in the mean time that
the individuals who had taken the property
and duly authorized to seize and confs-
cate, went off 10 find them, and to inquire
for the origin of these to say the least unex-
| pected proceedings. An early inquiry with
me, of course, was, TO know whether the
Telegraph Office had been seized on and
closed. For knew that TO do this must
be the object of the movement. believe
that brother Clement had ascertained from
| them the fact that il had been done, and
communicated to me the information. The
"sheriff's Deputy" who had been employed
in the work, on my finding him al the lav-
ern, betrayed, in his appearance, conviction
of being engaged in a shameful and out
rageous business. He knew | deserved
better treatment as man and as neigh
Dor. He told me specious story, and pro-
fessed to have no disposition to keep the
Telegraph Office closed unnecessarily. From
all that was told me by him and the indi-
Vldual accompanying him, and from what l
knew of the disposition of friends at home,
was encouraged TO hatier myself that the
Telegraph might start again in my absence,
and | Be allowed to 60 through my adEer
tised tour and fulfil my engagements. So
| wrote letter home to my wife, was sob
ject to the powers that be-" so far as their
robbing me OF my conveyance was con-
cerned, threw myself upon the generosity
of kind friends, and passed on. Of the
benevolence and humanity which came 10
my relief and bore me on my way, free of
expense, for more than hundred miles, TO
my home, through mountain SHOWS large
part of the distance, will speak more par
tIcuiarly IN another place and connection.
shall now proceed to the exposure Of
this Piratical crusade against the Telegraph.
Names will not becalled at present, because
It is difficult arriving at the precise facts in
some parts Of the case, on account of the
contrarietes and contradictions among the
actors themselves. One says-"it was mol
l." Another says-"it was mol l." One
says-"he said" SO and so. And another
says-"htey said" so and so. None are
wishing or willing TO bear the responsibility
OF setting the thing on foot. All now see
| the work done 10 have been most cowardIy.
unneighborly, unmanly, cut-throat transac-
tion, on the part of the thieves and robbers
who insigated it. The fact that they now
eschew responsibility proves their self-con
vlction of guilt The facts and circum-
stances will show that the collection of
honest debts was not the motive at the
foundation of the proceedings -but the de-
strucIion Of the Telegraph. To those who
were moved and set on by others, attach
no more blame than belongs TO them for
not standing on their own foundation and
acting for themselves. ! leave them to JUS
tlfy or condemn themselves. will not be
their accusers. Nor will undertake to say
! who or how many were so set on. Nv
! accusations fall upon those who acted the
same part In maoring this legal violence
that klndred characters act in moving IL
| legal violence - otherwise called mobbiog.
The disposition is the same. The object
the same. The means for attaining il the
same. In nature and effect. The difference
IS only in name and extent. And no thanks
| 10 the movers of this violence for even this
difference. They are only restrained by
the sentiment of the community in which
they live. Those who will use brute force
against the freedom Of the press under the
form OF written law, will just as soon use
brute force against the freedom of the press
10ithout the form of written law, if the
community will bear them out in it. Those
who will instigale the destruction of half or
'wo-ihirds the value of printing establish