The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1857-03-14
Boston Correspo ndence.
BosTON, March'lO.

]
known without the customary pre6x n l..
. name, from the many striking peculari,;.s
in his character. Two years ago last ,nn
mer he spent week or two at that rom,n,;
place of resort in your neighborhood. WI.
loughby Lake. and much of his time wac 4.
voted to the care of the two bears kent .ho
tor the entertainment of visiters. The >.
suit OF his observations was communicated ..
the regular meeting Of the society of Na,u,,,
History in this city, and BY some mistake tho
report gave the name of the place as lake
Winipec," body of water somewhere :,
the vicinity of The Northwest TERRITORY. tn
keep the history of the event in prop.r
shape, your correspondent takes the liberty
of making the necessary correction, on the
ground that the philosopher was one of the
lions of the day. This gentleman gave a
lecture in Mercantile Hall a few Sabbath
evenings since. upon the subject of Temper
ance, and it is no more than Just to saw, that
more truthful and vivid picture, it has not
been my lot to see presented, for many a
day. lie spoke Of the Maine Law, and san,
that he was afraid they would not be able to
cut down the tree of intemperance with such
an axe, vet he hated the tree so bad that he
would not find fault with the instrument tc
be used in its destruction. His sermon upor
the character of Franklin, soon after the
celebration, though an able production. anc
Astounding in good hits, showed a great wan,
offairness, both in reference to his statements
and his deductions. Fer instance. he claim.
ed him disciple of liberal christianity
as dill also the Rev. NJ Alger. who preached
upon the same subject while the :. Friends"
have some reasons to consider him a stand
ing monument" in favor of their peculiar
doctrines-if costume means any thing. He
also failed TO take any notice of the retrar-
ton so frankly and honestly made bv the
philosopher, of certain free thinking notion,
which he had imbibed in his early days. and
which he repudiated before commencins
business for himself He enumerates several
criminal or indis"reei acts.-snch as his treat
ment of Miss Rea1-afferwards his wife. in
neglecflng to write her during his absence in
England characterizins them a. first
second, and third great errors Of his life.
and sums M by remarking in substance. that
his own conduct in these particulars. foseth-
er with that Of MANY of bis associates. who
had adopted these principles. had convinced
HIM that his system was very unsafe rule
OF action. and he accordingly renowned il.
1t was hardly fair to ignore so important a
trait in the character of 50 prominent an in
dIvidual. and the delineation was so one.sided
as to lead some to suppose that he was endeav-
orins to make his hero ont very much such
parsonage as himself lie stated also. what
was new to many. that Franklin had MANY
and bitter enemies-mos;lv in Massachusetts,
and Pennsylvania. NV own acquaintance
with the history of this distinguished man. vas
derived from copy Of his i,f.- =. ---;s.on iy
h'm'elf' and presented me when a boy at
school in your county. with valuable certif.
ic,te. by the late Geo. B. Shaw. Esq of Bur.
lington, and few books of biography have
ever afforded me great pleasure.
The Grafton Of the Hon. Edward Everett
upon the character of Washington at the
Music Hall. last week. is beyond all praise,
both in matter and manner. and mus. IL
heard in order to be duly appreciated. You
will have noticed that the avails of this lee
ture alone amounted to SI263.s7-makinc in
all about Sl4,o0 received from its delivery
eighteen t'mes-appropriated to the purchase
OF the Mount Vernon estate The cause is
a noble one. and conld not have an ADLER ad-
vocate. though some persons were inclined to
censure him for not taking the lead in the
demonstration in behalf of Sumner at the
time of the assault. lie came out, however.
and it NAV be no more than fair
that men of his age and standing should 10
some extent occupy somewhat conservative
grounds in reference to the exciting questions
OF the day, and though as one Senator re-
marked to another upon the passage of some
compromise measure" nothing is settled
which is not right" vet the position assum-
ed ny such men afford a safe platform for fu-
ture dehherative action. This principle nav
be illustrated by case in point 4 respecta-
Bile body of men in Manchester, n. H., re.
against having a distinguished
gentleman invited TO lecture there, because
ne improved such opportunities to disseminate
MS peculiar views. They were perhaps lust
y overruled, and yet they had right to the
indulgence and expression of their opinions
n matter which they considered of vital
Importance to the welfare of society The
iberality claimed by some of these bold in
.ovators is often times Of character more
pecious than just-frequently being actually
'ased upon the idea that they have nothing
lose. and every thing to gain BY having
he established barriers or land marks de-
troyed. The practical working of the the
ry is like this-a very disinterested person
avs claim to your neighbours farm. and is
''llinS TO refer the matter to a third party,
rustins that the result NAV be .spitting
he difference and giving him one halt of it,
to the usual course of arbitration.