Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1858-06-18
ne would distinguish and divide
"a hair twixt South and Southwest side;
"0n ether which he would dispute,
"Confute, change hands, and still confutc :!

rattling, super positive neighbor, the Times,
expects to have its readers of one day ever
remember what it said the day before or if
it does, whether just at present it supposes
they will credit its numerous changes of
position on the burial place, remains, bones and
monument question, to its marvellous dalec-
teal ability (going far beyond Hudibras-
who for aught that appears could not change
sides successfully but once,) or to good
natured desire on its part to amuse them by
it, somersets. Keeling heels over head MIN
bly,, especially when it is done backwards as
well as forcards, furnishes great amusement
to the boys, always. The showmen in an
exhibition of that sort, generally intend to
have their last feat real aunner,-wc sup
pose because it will be a good advertisement
for the next show. The Times, we conclude,
must have acted on the same principle.
The Times first was fierce for erecting the
monument on the Battery, on the score that
the Cemetery at Winooski was not Aliens
burial place then it asserted that nobody
had questioned the fact of Aliens burial
there then with rather notifying confess
sion of its ignorance on the subject, backed
square out on the monument question, and
left one to infer that it had never favored any
other place for it than the cemetery; then
it returned, apparently, to its doubts as to
the burial place, then considered the whole
thing settled by the report of Judge Penniman,
and now thinks it all as unsettled as ever.
OnTuesday afternoon, a few minutes before
our daily paper went to press, we accidentally
met convcrsing together the Editor of the
Times and L. II. Pcnniman Esq, the first
salute to our ears being from the Editor afore-
said and to this effect, that the question was
all ended about Ethan Allen remains, as his
bones had been found at the old place, as Mr.
P. had Just informed him. We had heard
nothing of the matter, and Mr.. p. briefly
recounted the facts as told to him by Mr.
Morse and the other workmen. We put the
brief notice of the matter in our paper, which
our readers saw, and the nert morning in the
Times appeared the following -
eETHE REMAINS OF ETHAN ALLEN roUSD.-0ur
friend, Judge Pennman, informs us that in making
further excavations preparatory to the foundation
work Of the Ethan Allen Monument, yesterday
morning, remnants of the coffin that contained the
remains of the old hero, together with portion OF
the skeleton including ahand and the skull, (both
in much decayed condition,) were discovered by
the workmen The Judge states that the excava-
ton two feet below that made on the
md hot tbosa oins 70, 4
directly beneath the spot where the tombstone
stood This information would to put an
end to the speculations that have been widely in
duged, from Montreal to Cincinnati, and inter.
mediate points" on the question of "the burial
place"
The statement of the Times, seemed to us
and it seems so now, altogether proper. II
is a little fuller than our own, but almost
in the same words, so far as all essentials are
concerned, and there is no disagreement
between them-nor between either state
mcnt and tho facts of tho 40 rs any sensible
reader would understand them to be from
either of them, or from the statement made
IN the communication of the Legislativ,
Committee published in the Times of THU
morning, and copied by in another place
Wednesday morning we visited the ground
and from the statements of Mr.. Morse who
was present when the elimination. such al
it was, was made, we gathered few addi
tional particulars which we published tina
tAday.
Thursday morning, time having come for
the Times to make another somerset, it quo
ted our hasty item Of Tuesday, snccred a
the Free Press /" style Of settling the who'll
question as to the burial place and identity
of the remains of Ethan Allen said i
| (thc Free Press) was blessed with facult,
or reaching positive conclusions from uncer-
tain premises to which we the Times maxi
no pretension, and more of the same sort
1t made n halfway statement Of the fact
and said, " from this most unconsequentia
statement (not verified by any one assuming
to know about it) it is Dramatically asserted
that the bones of Allen are found :" w
don't suppose either Mr.. Penniman or Mr.
Morse, Mr. Harrington or Mr.. Pomeroy viii
feel excessively complimented by that remark
but they must consider it to be only thu
Times playful manner.
We assume always, that our readers ar
possessed of a fair measure of discernment anc
common sense, and that they will understand
our language according to the natural anc
fair conditions under which it is used. The,
would therefore understand us to say, in eff
| hal h.,
where naturally bones would be found b,
those looking for the bones of Ethan Allen
and that, in the want of any evidence to tn,
contrary, taking all things into account tn,
presumption was that those found were
part of what once was the body of Allen
We give the Times the credit of expecting its
readers to get the same substantial meaning
from its own item on the same subject, anC
we presume they did.
The Times following talk about its being
" due to the popular feeling" &c, that tn,
"bones " should be uNMIsTAKABLY IDENTIFIED
not for to-day, nor for a few-but for al
time and for all the world" seems to III
simply absurd. No such Identification coulC
be made from parts of skeleton, nor ever
from whole one, unless there were very re-
markable dsiormities, which none could deny
to agree with undlsputed ones of the living
person Even if an entire skeleton had beer
exhumed, not varying an inch from being
exactly under the old tombstone, an inyeter-
ate doubter might say What of all that !
you have found a skeleton in the ground, to
be sure; but what more common than skele
tons in an old yard? how do you know
Allen was buried exactly there? or if he was