Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-07-11

] NtEStlI lOnDr Ol ' erlUbDltIH 70 tlit lutUltll
| Of ETHAN ALLEN.
Through all historic times, emigration
has moved westward in an almost unbrokel
wave. Since it washed the foot of Calvar,
/ it has borne upon its crest the faith an,
| symbol of the Cross. and seems destined t,
kee. it there until the worldwide circui
1 is c. lpleted From time to time, wild tor
rents of savage humanity have poured int
it from the northward. only to lose them
selves in imparting freshness and vlgor Il
the resistleSs stream. But the emigration
which planted our commonwealth seems
to have been wholly exceptional. 1t is moi
10 be accounted for upon the ordinary prin.
ciples of human action. The wave wa.
sweeping over the continent, carrying be-
fore it into their graves, tribes, nations and
peoples. All the west, with Its broad sayan
mas and genial seas0ns-rlch IN pasturagC
and abounding in indigenous products, wa,
open to settlement. Here, there were nc
such inducements. Here were no rivers to
become highways of trade, upon whose
banks were to rise the commercial rivals OF
| Tyre and Nenice-nO rich mines Of gold
and silver to tempt cupldity, NJ nations
to conquer, no wealth or fame TO acquire
! This land was an uninhabited wilderness,
( with hard climate and an unvielding soil
J IL NAAf hbhth NuUuut tAT AAAN7t 'A tAt-- WIN
/ him subsistence until his first harvest
/ and before that could bG planted his own
/ hands must clear away the growth of q
/ thousand years.
know the common tradition-that our
! ancestors We're soldiers attracted here by
/ what they had seen of the country in their
/ Indian campaigns. But what attractions
/ could have met soldiers eye as he tracked
/ his willy enemy through these pathlee-
| woods Dense forests. masses of fallen
/ timber, rocky hillsides. and torrents foam
! ing through ohStructed courses, were vi-i-
/ bic everywhere. Strange eattractions these
/ And Yet there were inducements to cmigrg-
! ton hlther, more powerful than the pre-
! ci0us stones of Ophir or tne wealth of the
/ Sierras. to the best enterprise of young
/ New England. Here was at least an un
! occupied country, remote from all iactitious
sources OF government OF power. where q
/ Republic might be founded upon princi-
/ pies OF natural right and Justice, of civil
/ and religious liberty. They came hithcr.
/ II these were not the Inducements To their
/ coming, It was simply proyidential.
| We are accu>tomedto 20 look upon the carly
settlers Of Vermont aS rude.uupoiiSheim men.
and therein We do them some injustice.
/ They possessed few of the cnccs OF culti-
'ftNN.t N4tf az a. "a f tall'A tN.AtA iilffAli~
/ primary education as We understand the
term, were very limited. But on this west
! orn continent there was no better class Of
men. They were the most onterpri-ng OF
the young citizens ol the older New Eng
/ land colonie>-n0ue Others would have
/ breasted the danger, and borne the hard
ships ol pioneer life on this remote from
tier. W here teachers were not. they taught
I themselves. They could read and write
and one thing all of them could do. better
than most of us who have bad modern ai-
/ yantage>-fhcy c1UH think The process of
~eli-education IN those days produced some
remarkable anomalies. They were wretch
ed srammarians- some, who elald construct
bridge upon mathematical. or lay out d
/ Tort on seometrlc principle could NOS wr.sc
compound sentence correctly o. -ly, their
I lives. Others. who had never maStcrc! the
/ primary rules IN arithmetic wrote very
good trcati-1s upon constitutional law.
/ Their orthography was very poor, hut they
/ were well informed in history and the cur
rent events of the day, and there were few
among them who had not q we.l-Elnrlei
/ political faith for which they could give l1-i-
/ cal reasons.
With these early immi grants came
Ethan Allen. Born in Litclte.d, of pa-
rents who held the faith OF the established
church, the eldest of large family ot child
rcn, be was the one selected l0r cJ.lc.iate
education. He bad already commenced bis
/ preparatory stCdies when the death of bis
father in poor circumstance. constrained
/ linn % abandon IT, pursuit az the end of hi-
eighteenth year. At that early aye. De
/ displayed an aptitude for p0.emic~. e-qe-
cially of political kind or. a- an ac-
quaintauce expressed it. '' DEE was o good
arguer. lie had read such books of bi--
I tory as were within his reach. with am al i-
/ dity which many a New England bov even
/ thirty years ago, could comprehend. These
! were more numerous than Is commonly -lp-
posed. for we have his own authority for
| the statement that BE had " acquainted
/ himself with the history af mankind. ami
[ that" his sincere passion for liberty had
/ led him % read the history of nations who
/ hai yielded mp their liberties 10 tyrauts
/ with philosophical horror" His c1mpul
/ -0ry abandonment of academic. hopes was %
/ bitter disappointment and this il was
| winch led him for several subsequent years.
I tn follow the life of q hunter. His history
/ during these years, is lost-we only know
] that be passed the latter portion Of them
+ upon the New Hampshire grants. where he
/ first came into public notice. in the year
I769.
OCCASIONS MAKE human nece->itl'~
4 create the materials Tor their own supply
/ Events We're now tr2nsplrlns which we're
loN' .uiteI 10 prins Ethan Allen into the
i'Ie7 ground me settlers had D'uShl tneir
Iane, Oh ihe OroWn-thro"sh one oi ITS
a4ent-' VINO was ln con>tructNe possession,
Wlth the llmltS OF hlS claim declared 10,
ana aeg uiesced m by all the world. Ihe
maps 9i thep period, published under the eve
/ "i tne briti>n Oouri,and circulated through
an the colonies, extended New Hampshire
10 Lake OhanlPlal Never douptlnS tue
authority 81 TINS agent To give them per
iect liue' lhey had pald lor these lands, in
hard earned mlney-had entered upon
theih-le4iel the forests, planted their crops
anu eS'apiiSned their homes. Another agent
/ OF the -lme Royal master. denied the right
/ OF the hrSt and asserted his owu. The set
/ tiers regarded this conflict of claim. not a-
/ they afterwards found it, as involving the
/ right OF civil government, bat as q mere
| question OF colonial Jurisdiction and left
/ the agents to fight it out among themselves.
/ They were not much disturbed. even when
/ they learned That the Royal Council had de-
gloe't ''o eia..i III la'oF Oh New iorS''eein-
I.7 Vi H'uc consequence whether tht
Vo, gi,'II .,s'u HIS ''le court al portsmouth
But their Awakening wa, sudden and
thorough, when they learned that the Colo
nial ouicialsoi New ork Ignored thcirright-
and had begun to partition their home
steads among their partners and parasites
q. Imagine the Indignation winch thrilled
| their souls, when informed that they must
buy these homes over again from the specu-
lators OF another colony and be governed
not by officers of their own election, but by
the appolntees OF the court ring in dis
tant capital Submission was never again
thought OF; resistance was as natural as the
breath they drew; Bat they were few in
number and widely scattered, and without
organization. Their great want was lead
cr. bold, energetic, fearless, IN full sym
pathy with them, completely imbgod with
the Justice OF their cause. Without such q
leader, they must surrender at discretion
With him they might secure-at all event,
they could fight Tor their-homes and fire
sides. Where should they lind him? Tn,
call went forth, ana Ethan Allen leaped {,