Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1892-09-15

walk TO meet the night that soon
Shall shape and shadow overflow.
cannot fecl that thou art far
since near ut hand the angels are;
Ana when the sunset gates unbar,
Shall not sec thee waiting stand,
And white against the evening star
The welcome of thy Reckoning hand.
SHOW lound.
The story of Mr. Writers life is n very
brief and very simple one. lie was born in
the beautiful NIerTimac valley. live miles out
from the market town of lIavcrlil. Mass
Dec. :, 1907. At his primatve homestead all
things were elementary and of the pluinc-t
east Both his parents We're Quakers. and his
ancestors on both sides had belonged 10 the So
ciety of Friends for many generations John
Whittier, the father Of the poet, is described
by citizens of Hafcrhill rs having been a
rongh. but upright, kind-heartcd farmer.
His ncighbors give him the nickname Quaker
NhYCA"r." He seems to have been IA sturdy
decided person and deeply sous.
Apropos of his boyhOod, we are told that
Whittier, even when little lad. was always
writing verses instead of doing Sums on his
slate in school The reading material that
came into his fathers house consisted of the
almanac and the weekly village newspaper,
with perhaps score Of books and pamphlets,
among them Lindlcy Murray's "Rcaler" and
tllwood's "Davdes, or the Life of David
King of Israel" There was
Nothing to Learn Of the Outer World
except from tho eccentric and often pic
turcsquc stroller, who in those days pcddlcd
sang or ti'ldled from village to village Yet
the boys poetic fancy unl native sense of
rJ,- "tP''II'I! were NO, inert Ilc listened
$3.50 ~ VIZ IG''i 'r''ulohS ana
nus a genuine loIk-Iore recounted by his
thonght in nr,lc,s o., ,i'o s"'. ~ p"' MS
Of his carly literary aspirations and tbo
events which moulded hi, tLourbts and
guided his pen in after wears. no Lrttcr 49,
rouut can be given than the story. tnIj -, him,
self some years ago:
"When was i years old NV first scbool
master. Joshua Coma tho able, eccentric liz
tOrian of Nsybrry brought ,yith him tn o,,r
house a volume of Burns poems. from which
he read, greatly to Iuy dciLht. LEGGED lin,
to leave the book with me, and set myself nj
DnCc to the task of mastering tl4p GLOSSARY, Of
the Scotch dialect at il, cic.c. This wa. 9j3it
the first poetry had ever road-vi;h the cy-
ccpton Of tloC OF the Bih., of which had
been a close stlidcut-and il had lasting in
fucncy upon me. | began 10 make ri,ymc,
myself, and to imagine storicsaud adventures
In fact,
Lived n Sort of ur,I yiro
,,d =. - .i, -, e
'nrlI 90 ~, ~, i"i' as Ntli rs IN inc
49,, I',,'.', -. ',I'' '''''' 'l''
nv, T,,i,I ~ ' ,'t'''. ''"'' l"''hhouS''
Gn11 70 500 I'm ~ w., ~ '"e corn
m,.,,i ,,,. f.i ~ 'N',~'' I','' ''''.
r7i.,'. i's'I' ~ ''4 NV ~ ~ NON i'"h't
,,.ar,. ,,,..i, HIM. ''. w. procure u
,I; t ''.' ''i' ""'T '''''h WHO
~ W. W. o'i ne 'i IA 'H'u our ms small IN
"' i,,a nt'tS ',A 7-io'I anu III me
-, ~ 't ~. ~ l.I '''o's'i " ill" 10 earn a
So s"'i' '''' ~ curry Iit through term or
~, 80 .'t Ii"' ,II'H a'""'IlN' Inc
NoN' "'''''l venture" upon
another ENpedi"nt for Raising Money,
And kept a district school in the adjoining
loWn OF A".n,bury, thereby enabling me to
aayc another academy term.
My idi her always had a weekly nCWSpnpcr
and wLon Young Garrison started his FREQ
Pres Mt NcWburyport, he took it in place of
III" iiaverhlll Gazette. My sister, who was two
years older tIan myself, sent one of my plcti-
cal attempts to H." editor. Some weeks after
back and threw the r,nrr nnt frn',, ia
bags. Nv uncle and wore ,nnrI1i,',, tr,,..
took up the shoot. and was SURPRISED and
D,r;ioycl TO see Iy lines in fhr .pnrt,s
rorucr.' ! stood gazing at them in y.1rd,r
~" any uncle had TO call Inc several times to
~ r %''N p,'oIe c@uid recover my eff.
r,.a no .,'A' "i.,'r -P'hl IN boston, writing
n!' " 7p1i' turning III tAr Sprmg, While |
a. a. H",HH on ''lt IartH' was surprised by an
.'i w. ,'l'' 'i lie iI"rNorG Re
pro,'.ino Wv, ,,i u. we Ial'"l. "'"rte u.
'r"''.' W. H''N I'llo''d 10 Kentucky.
!iC' '.-i. nm some oI my school compost
,'"+'' "I,,' ne "r' reC'I''t lavoi1bly.
,'--''2 =" i'No 5n' ian p" Oh uolhH
I .'''" ~ -, "a ".' '' ,''''' WIN my taste,
o,,I "a, I'M. nv ,n'',''N Tor the fIar',
,,.R.,, ,,...- =, ,l,,e. l....,... d. - ''''
~" w. ''-i'G "'I'' ol lh' 7l.khe." OF nY
l'H'r VINO usu soon amer then took
,"afir % tho farm ana |oi kcl hard to make
pom ''t' me- AMI aided 10y my mothers
pl'' ..''f l'ii5 ana economy, in some
Il. azure succeeded.
;As " mc,Ahtr OF the Society of Friends,
Aad been educated lor.gar1 slavery - a great
pnd dangerous evil, and my sympothies were
stroh%Iy eAll'tcd for the oppressed slaves by
my intimate acquaintance with William
Lloyd Garrison. When the latter started hi,
paper III Vermont in i@!', wrote him a letter
commenting MS views upon slavery intern
pcrancc and var, and assuring him that he
wa N'''''l'" u "o H'c''I 'ilIuss' IN 1915 was
Z dalcga+o 10 tho Oft no +ionel arti-sIo,.,ory