The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-03-18
Letter From the Hon. M. Clarke to Hiel
Holllster, in Granville Sentinel,


PoULTNEY, VT, Feb. 2, 1S92.-HOn.
Hiel HoliSter, Venerable and Dear Friend
Old men live in the past" was the trite
expression which occurred to me while
reading your favor of the 27th inst. /
read it several times, and to my family,
also at their request accept thanks.
Looking backward l remember no one
of your age possessing equal mental and
physical powers, and do not discover in
your letter any departure from your
accustomed method, either in precision or
clearness. Such equipoise is seldom
seen among men SO far past the meridian
of life. l congratulate you upon such
wonderful exemption from the infimities
of age; no contemporary can probably be
found enjoying similar blessings.
l am unwell to-day but will attempt to
answer briefly the topics Dy you suggest
ed, as you request reply.
1t is kind in Hon. Geo. w. Hartman to
remember us to invite us to view of
the Bennington monument. That me-
mortal is an honor to our state, and to the
men who projected and built il. / hope
you will respond by personal attend
ance. cannot. "Old men are afraid of
that which is high and fears shall be in
their way" The thread attenuated is
easily broken.
You speak of your trip of 1000 miles
through eighteen States in seven months,
and kissing ladies mot numbered).
Why should you not receive the com
pound name of Patriarch Traveller?
Your age and paternity entitled you to
the first half, and your mileage for ten
kha 60 -,
the wilderness, or Capt. Cooks circuit
of the earth and should entitle you to
the other half. If however kissing be in
sisted upon, as prerogative, or per-
quisite, or necessity, of traveller, our
parallel will fail. We find no record
within requiring it. Would you arraign
Gen. Sherman for originating new Gus
tomP If so, why did you initiate him?
1t does not appear from your letter that
either party made protest.
Mr. Hartman l notice advises you not
to repeat your Advantageous trips
and says you are too old for such joints
in reply to which you assert your COM
petancy to travel equal to any period of
your life, and have mapped an excursion
for the present year-that travelling has
become almost second nature. Has
travel become your hobby? If so, quo
JaUlOn from Lawrence Stearn may cause
a second thought: "When mans hobby
horse grows head strong, farewell cool
reason and fair-discretiOn."
WEDNESDAY, MORNING, February g.
resume-being compelled last evening
by WEAKNESS to stop.
Facts stated by you have been cause
of reflection. | repeat, in abridgement,
''as many contemporaries have succumb
ed in the last 10 months as in the ten gears
preceding-you are the oldest native in
Pawlet-the oldest resident of the place
where you live and the only known sur
viving son of a soldier of the RevOlu-
ton" These statistics, coupled with
the estimate Of life survival from eighty
to ninety years as one in one LUHdrcd and
Hirty-Hree, exhibit ''thc inevitable" in
planest cOlors. You have named Messrs,
Bardcu and Harrington and yourself as
probably the only surviving members of
the legislature of fifty years ago. Har-
rington may be numbered with those of
the last ten months. He died on the 18th
of January lasta Burlington, Iowa. My
service in that body antedates yours by
ten years, having been elected a member
at the age of twenty-nine in the year
1892. For those yet living and weak
with the burden of long extended years,