The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1847-02-25
From the N. Y. Express.
Life of Ethan Allen.

Hiram Powers, native of Woodstock, Vt
one of the most gifted sculptors now living,
and whose statues Of EUe and the Greek ,SiaUe
have extorted encomium from the most fas-
tidious transatlantic critics, has frequently
avewed a desire to execute statue of Ethan
Allen, with the view of having it placed in
the Capitol of his native State. Although the
person and character of that remarkable man,
were somewhat peculiar, yet niche in the
State House atlMontpelier could not be more
appropriately occupied than with statue of
such hero and patriot finished ,preSectem al
unguem, by the most celebrated sculptor in
the world.
Until recently, the Yermonters have be-
trayed little or no disposition to embellish the
Capitol of the State with works of art COM
memorative of the heroic deeds and stern yir-
tues of some of their distinguished men. At
this present writing but two works Of art a.
dorm the capitol; one a marble bust of the
late Judge Elijah Paine, by Brown,an Amer
lean, presented to the State by Ex-Governor
Charles Paine, of Mortified, VT, gentle
man of rare taste, great public spirit and gen
crosby, and the other faithful full-lcngth
likeness OF the Hon2Charles K Williams, of
Rutland late Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court of the State of Vermont, by B. T. Ma
son, an artist Of great promise. This paint
ing now adorns the senate chamber, and was
presented to the State by the Rutland County
Bar. This is a small but good beginning and
I trust that the time is not very remote when
the soul of Hiram Powers will be gladdened
with an order from the State Of Vermont, to
execute in his best STYLE statue of General
Ethan Allen, in which he can embody, in a
living and never dying form, his idea of the
and oh of4 hof
firm patriot, and eccentric writer.
That there has been no statue erected to
the memory of Ethan Allen, is not, perhaps,
so astonishing as the fact that his biography
remains unpublished. That there has been
as yet no complete history Of the Life and
Services of Gen. Allen may well excite the
surprise of every person who has read of the
midnight sortie and the matutinal capture Of
the fortress of Ticonderoga. His adventures
while iE the hands Of the British at Pcndiu is
Castle, and at Halifax and New-York city,
subsequently to his unsuccessful efort,in CON
cert with Col. Brown, to reduce Montreal,
might be made as interesting as any modern
romance, And the secret history of the con-
troVersy between N. Y and the New Hamp.
shire Grants, in which he bore conspicuous
part, although partially treated of by the late
Col. Stone,in his Life of Brant,' and by Rev.
Zadock Thompson in his History Of Vermont,
and alluded to by the Hon. Daniel Chapman,
in his Life of Nathaniel Chapman, has never
yet been fully written by any author A de-
tailed account of the various battles in which
he was engaged can only be had by referring
- works of ponderous weight. His literary
gcharacter, too, in my opinion, is not properly
appreciated by the world, because his pam
phlets and Oracle of Reason are out of
print These publications show the gallant
soldier to be daring in his pretensions to
to knowledge, and bold and peremptory in
his assertions In proof of this latter remark
I need not adduce any other testimony than
the title page of what is commonly called
tAllen's Bible transcribe this title pace
from copy which Allen himself owned and
preserved, as he says, in plain and distinct
hand writing on ihe fly leaf For the Au-
thor's own use, correction and Improvement
1T reads thus: Reason the only oracle of
man. or a c0n1penduouS system of Natural Re-
ligion. Alternately adorned with combinations
Of doctrines incompatible to it Deduced from
the most exalted ideas which we are able to
form OF the divine and human characters and
from the universe in general. By Ethan AL !
len, Esq; Bennington, State of Vermont
Printed by Haswell & Russell, M. Dec. |
LXXXIV.' ] copy this, because, if am in
formed Alright, it was the first formal publica-
ton openly directed against the Christian re-
Igion which was issued in tho United States.