Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1874-07-01

Nols Mlllcf coulu uplu1t lut NIuAU ul II HiVH
with superior wrath A writer in his own
beautiful valley Of the Wnoosk suggests the
influence that inspired his soul
Beareth the meuntain.breoze a spelli
Aye, tyrants long have known IL we'll
The home of li0fer-that Of Tell,
The land of l0ch aud glen,
Bear witness that from cliff and crag,
streams first and last tho freeman Dag,
And mountains nurture men.
When, in 1921, the Greeks declared their in
dependence, and took up arms against the
Sultan Of Turkey, Miller was a student in the
University Of Vermont, and, in common with
all Americans, sympathized with the Hellenic
cause and when, in 1923, the news came ol
the fall Of the brave leader Of the Suliotes, in
the midnight attack upon the Turkish camp al
Karpinisi, and Fitz Greene lIalleek electrified
the country with his Marco Bozzaris," 81
familiar to all for fifty years, the soul Of Millei
was fred.
Al midnight, In his guarded tent
The Turk was dreaming of the hour
When Greece, her knee in supplance bent,
should tremble at bic power.
4 cry came over the sea for food and clothing
for Greek mothers aud children The public
response was prompt and generous ships wer'
laden, and Miller was selected as one to accom-
pany Dr. Samuel Howe TO Greece, in charge %
the supplies. Dr. Howe, then q young sur
geon Of Boston, Of most chiyalrous spirit ant
marked abilities after accomplishing his specia
mission, not only rendered important service
to the Greek army professionally, but Tough
personally against lbrahim Pasha Of Egypt au'
the armies Of the Sultan, and had the honor o
being prisoner Of war in Turkish iortres
in the Island Of Crete
Miller, having successfully fulfilled his mis-
sion, and rendered other noble service to free
dom, left Missolonghi in Western Greece
which had been his depot and headquarters
and visited Athens stood upon Mars Hill
where Pericles, Demosthenes, and Paul, ha
spoken mighty words in olden time converse
with the lady immortalized as Maid G
Athens - visited the pass of ThermopylG, an
the historic battlefield where
The mountains look on Marathon,
Marathon on the sea.
Such visits were less common then than now
Lord Byron, who had finished the wandering
Of" Childe Harold, - and had drawn the swor
for
The isles Of Greece, the isles Of Greece,
Where burning sappho loved aud sung
had died at Alissolongh in 1924, and Mile
became possessed Of many souvenirs Of the nc
bic poet and among them bis sword.
While at Athens, Madame Miltiades becam
known to him She belonged to one Of tn
historic families, and her husband, who ha
been an officer in the patriot army, and ha
fallen with Bozzaris in the early part Of tn
war was conceded to have been lineal De
scendant Of the renowned Miltsdes Of Mara
thon Being thus widowed, her children fatl
erless, and the family fortunes ruined by tn
spoliatons Of the Turks and the calamities {
war, she consented TO the adoption by Col. Mi
Ter and another American gentleman, Of he
two handsome, dark-eyed boys, Of the respe
tive ages Of about FIVE and seven years.
II may seem little surprising that nan
and blood should be tsaoed and acknowledgC
in family for more than twenty three hun
dred years but the roots Of the ancestral trC
run deeper into the soil Of history in Ather
and Rome than in our new country. Thel
they are traced through the whole period
authentic history, and lost only in the mythic
regions of untold time. Florence has still Il
name and blood of Vesquceii, and not mar
years since the ancient house was represent,
here in the person Of Madame Vespuica, wi
came to visit the land named for her ancesto
Amercus, nearly four hundred years ago. II
Duchess D'Abrantes, Madame Junot, the wi
Of Napoleon's great officer, was Comnene
whose family records united her house with Il
Byzantine Emperor Of that name, and his mo
celebrated relative the historian, Anna Con
nena, contemporary with the first Crusade.
Col Miller brought home the two boy
adopting the younger, Luke-the older ol
eventually going to his new home in Ne
York. The brothers were both well cared io
and educated for business-the older becomin
in time, merchant in New York, and h
other a banker In Western State. Son
time after his return from Greece, Miller ma
ried lady Of fortune, and devoted his rath
brief life to the law, at the Montpelier Ba
and to the cares of large estate, Had
lived he would have been prominent in
State and in tie political affairs Of the eountr
as events were shaped some years after
death but, while he lived, his opinions a
feelings were too far in advance of his time
be adopted by either Of the two great polite
parties then existing.
remember, when n lad, to have been o
day with the little Greek boy in Col. Mile
library, where he was showing some gent
men the souvenirs Of his Greek mission, amo
them the sword of Byron, and some Gre
5 manuscripts, ancient and modern. While t
gentlemen were examining the documents, I
little boy took up the sword, and, drawing
from the scabbard, brandished il over me. II
the strength Of his little arm not being equal
b the weight Of the weapon, it descended in da
gerous proximity to my head, which alarm
the Colonel, and. he arose and gently took
, from his hand, saying " My son, 1t is writ
! that he who taketh the sword shall perish
the sword" My extreme youth, and the frig
consequent upon the dangerous proceedlr
o did not permit Of any sentiment arising fr'
the thought that the sword OF Byron had be
waved over my head by one who bore the nan
and in whose veins courscd the blood of Mil
ades of Marathon.
A few days after the burning of Chicago,
writer received from a lady, near Col. Mile
d old home, letter reciting some incidents
that terrible calamity, with the following C
clusion "Mrs. X, whom you may rememl
as the daughter of Col. Miller, saved from
elegant residence only box of plate, the sha
she threw over her head, and the sword
Byron +" Not a bad outfit for lady co
PEELED to fly in her night-dress. am glad ,
saved the sword that Greece may need bei'
I. this age goes by.
O. 81 was In Athens on bright day close,
N And heard the wall that round her temples r0s
N 'Ryros Is dsad,'- worshipped, the deploredl
seemed TO hear the falling Of sword,
pnan closing on broken chord,
And England's Tyre slept with its fallen lord"