Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1867-09-26

over me, and i believe generally merlted
and enjoyed their confidence and good
will. Very seldom was word OF re-
proach or dissatisfaction addressed to
me by any one of them. Though
worked diligently, l found much time
for reading, and might have had more,
had every leisure hour been improved.
/ had been generously loaned books
from the Minot house while in West
haven found good ones abundant and
accessible in Poultney, where ! first
made the acquaintance OF public IL
brary. | have never since found at once
books and opportunity TO enjoy them SO
ample as while there; ! do not think l
ever before or since read TO SO much
profit. They say that apprenticeship is
distasteful to and out Of fashion with
the boys Of our day If so, regret it for
their sakes To the youth who asks,
Glow SHALL obtain an education 2"
would answer, Learn trade Of a good
master" I hold firmly that most boys
may thus better acquire the knowledge
they need than by spending four years
in college
Twas kindly allowed to visit my
Il, theirs family in their new western
hone twice during my apprenticeship,
having furlough Of month in either
instance, ! made either journey by way
of the Erie canal, on those line-boats
whose "cent and a half mile, mite
and half an hour" so many yet re-
member. Railroads, Sc vet, were not
the days passed slowly yet smoothly OH
those gliding arks, being enlivened by
various sedentary games but the nights
were tedious beyond any sleeping.csr
experience, At daybreak, you were
routed out Of your shabby, shelf.like
berth, and driven on deck to swallow
fog while the cabin was cleared OF its
beds and made ready for breakfast. |
say nothing as to "the good old times"
but, If any one seeks to recall the good
old line-boats, l object. And the
wretched little tubs that then did duty
| for. steamboats, on Lake Erie were
scarcely less conducive to the increase
and diffusion Of human misery. l have
suffered in them to the extent Of mortal
endurance; I have left one at Dunkirk
and walked twenty miles to Westfeld in
stead Of keeping on by boat at q trifing
charge, simply because flesh and blood
could bear the torture no longer. |
trust have due respect for "the good
old ways" we often hear Of; yet feel
that this earthly life has been practically
heightened and sweetened by the inven-
tion and construction Of railroads.
Among the incidents of my sojourn in
Poultney that made the most impression
on my mind, is fugitive slave.Chase.
| New York had protested TO abolish
Slavery years before, but had ordained
that certain born slaves should remain
such until twenty-eight years old and
the year Of jubilee for certain Of these
had not yet come. A young negro, who
must have been uninStructed in the
sacredness Of constitutional guarantees,
the rights Of property, &C., &c, &c,
feloniously distracted himself from his
master in neighboring New York
towf, and conveyed the Chattel personal
to our village; where he was at work
when said master, with due process and
following, came over to reclaim and
recover the goods. | never saw so large
a muster Of men and boys so suddenly
on our village green as his advent in
cited and the result was g speedy dis
appearance Of the Chattel, and the return
of his master disconsolate and niger
less, to the place whence he came.
Everything on our side was iapr0mpta
and instructive and nobody suggested
that envy or hate Of "the South" or OF
New York, or Of the master, had i'm
PEELED the rescue. Our people hated in
justice and oppression, and acted as i.
| they couldn't help it.
Another fresh recollection OF those
| far off days concerns our Poultney cele-
bration Of the fftieth anniversary OF
American Independence. I know we
| still celebrate the Fourth Of July; but
:, if does seem to me that the glory has
, departed. In those times, we had always
r from twenty to fifty Revolutionary
) soldiers on the platform-Veterans OF &c
/ to 80 years, in whom the recurrence Of
l the nations anniversary seemed to re.
I kindle " the light Of other days" The
! semi.centennial celebration brought out
. these in full forCe-the gatherings were
; unusually large and the services i'm.
Y pressive; since few Of those present, and
q none Of the veterans, could nationally
/. hope to see its repetition. The Declare
n ton Of Independence sounded far less
= antediiuvian than it now does the
y quarrel of the colonists with King
d George if not recent, was yet real; anC
the old soldiers forgot for q day theil
d rheumatism, their decrepitude, and theil
:. poverty, and were proud OF their by
n gone hardships and their abiding scars
i doubt that Poultney has since been sc
l. thrilled with patriotic emotion as on The
v 4th Of July, 1926 and when we learned
j. a few days later, that John Adams anC
J. Thomas Jefferson, the author and the
: great champion Of the Declaration, haC
; both died on that day, and that thu
e messengers bearing South and NORTH
!, respectively the tidings Of their deceas'
IF had met in Philadelphia under th'
e shadow Of that Hall in which our In
It dependence was declared, it seemed tina
e a Divine attestation had solemnly hal
d lowed and sanctifed the great anniver
d sary by the impressive minstration o