Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1874-02-07
Read before the Gui'ahaH LyoeuD,, February, 1871

A very warm and learned debate,
Came OF as has been told of late,
In which the parties were not men,
But q Goose Quill and Metallic Pen.
The goose quill fee ing that his power,
Was getting less and less each hour,
Arose and thus began to say,
In rather a complaining way,
That he had he q Il bouudlesS sway,
And in the great empire of letters,
Had known no rival. seen no betters,
Till recently some shrewd mechanic,
Impelled by influence Satanic,
Had wrought out pens from steel OF gold,
And then to make them sell had told
That 'twould be for the public veal,
To write with pens of gold or steel,
And thus metallic pens were used.
And the time-honOred quill refused.
lie said that he had often heard.
The goose called an lgnohlc bird,
But he cOnld never yet believe,
a story told but to deceive.
No bird that ever wore q feather.
Indeed all birds combined together,
Could boast of having done for man,
Such wealth of good as the goose can,
For geese are kept to furnish beds.
Where all til" world may lay their heads,
The countTymau, the man in town,
Repose upon bed Of down;
Nor is this bird of humble name
A stranger on the rolls of fame,
For when old Brennus with his Gaul's,
First undertook TO scale the walls
OF infant Rome, the sacred geese,
In JunO'S Temple did not cease,
To sound by night their loud alarms,
And call the Romans to their arms,
And thus tit Eternal city save,
From ruin and an early grave.
AVID more whate'er the pen has done,
To this same bird is glory won.
The greatest men whose names now I'll
The historic page, and ever will,
Did not disdain the goose's quill,
But used If to instrnct mankind,
And make them more and more refined =
To chase tie clouds of night away,
And substitute bright er day.
Old Cadmus, the renowned Ph9necian.
Who first taught letters to the Greecian,
Did use a quill thel @ is no doubt.
Right from guOse's wing plucked outs
The sacred writer's by command,
OF the Most High, took quill in hand,
And wrote the word that shall withstand
The wreck of matter and the crush
OF worlds when they shall rush
Together and dissolve in fire
TIL e'en times empire shall expire.
Thus spoke the goose quill while took
HIS words and wrote them in Il book.
This argument so el0queRt,
The steel pen met with compliment,
And Ike Il gentleman admitted
The goose Qui!ls' fame. though dscomft'
He might be, and 81 perseded,
And cast aside because not needed,
Yet his would be fame that rhyme
And prose, would to the latest time,
Deliver down and keep he quill,
lu mans remembrance ever still,
And though his great and just fenown,
Through generations might pass down,
Yet, this the question altered not,
The real argument is what
Suits the most writers. and is best
Here, then the question he would rest.
Metallic pens he said were young,
Yet into general use had sprung.
And out of use had driven the quill,
Though he had struggled with a VIII,
To hold his place and keep it still.
Facts suchas these should be well wcigh''
Whenever the decisions made.
And here the question must remain.
Until the gOose-quill speaks again.
L. G.
*The Metallic pen here sets Np a prepoSter0u
aim to anti uify Of use Goose quilts uefe frs
Sed for acriting in the It'll century.