The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1921-01-20
VERMONT IS An EDUCA-
TIONAL ENVIRONMENT


S4fAAf.4 saeliAtfs AfaN nc sen
board region A. the vericst anarchy
and disorder When Timothy Dwight.
<1-Prcsiaent q Yale College. Travelled
IN northern Sc~ England 81 various
time from 1875 70 1910, be noted the
radical and unconventional ideas o.
large portions q the inhabitants and
characterized the Yermonters as
Arabian troops" lovers Of disorder"
Thsir tendency % 90 into politics he
especially deprecated His Judgment
Of the inhabitants Of the new region
doubtless represents fairly the opinion
Of the more cultured communities
mention Il, not because ! think his
Judgment correct. but TO illustrate the
new force which was coming into
American life. He thought the people
Of Vermont restless, bold. ambitious.
cunning. laxative, skilled in land job
bing The noise Of the men In the
taverns talking politics until late at
night disturbed his rest, and he liz his
candle 10 record in his note book that
first settlers are usually those who
have met with difficulties at home"
This is President Dwight's idea Of
the men who, as he confessos, had
already struggled onward from New
England TO Louisiana, l. e, the Missis-
sippi valley. II is the conservative
Fasteners idea Of the Western
pioneer, whom we can now more just
ly estimate from the results Of his
labor, the winning Of the continent for
the national home.
Undoubtedly, from his point Of
view, President Dwight was a fair and
impartial observer. But MS seaboard
man he could not understand nor por-
tray alphabetically the new style Of
manhood which the American wilder
ness was creating, just as later the
East could not understand Abraham
Lincoln. Nothing shows this more
clearly than his Characterization Of
Ethan Allen. DR. Dwight describes
him as a man Of confined education,
naturally naughty, restless, and enter
prising In his conversation voluble,
blunt. coarse, and profane; in his pre-
tensions 10 knowledge, daring; and in
his assertions, bold and peremptory
The confidence which he seemed TO
possess in himself naturally inspired
confidence in others, still less inform
ed; and they really believed that he
WHO asserted 50 positively must be
sure that his assertions were true.
With these advantages, and thcCe
only, he early obtruded himself upon
the public as an opposer, and ridiculer,
Of Christianity; and gloried in the
character Of IN Inhdel A little circle
of loose persons will always gather
about a man Of this description. Allen
was surrounded by herd Of such men,
both parties being equally pleased; he,
20 be listened 20 as their oracle; and
they 10 learn that virtuous character
was no better than a vicious one, and
that God would punish vice neither
here nor hereafter. BY his own COM
panions he was heard with attention
and credit; and at times triumphed
over modest antagonists by peremp- |
toriness and effrontery, by rudeness
and ribaldry." And this was all that
President Dwight could find to say Of
the father Of freedom Of Vermont, the
man who, whatever his limitations,
saved the very life Of our brave little
Commonwealth. II was the seaboard
man again who remarked. In the per-
son Of Benedict Arnold, that Allen was
"a proper man TO lead his own wild
people, but entirely unacquainted with
military service"
The Hudson and Champlain valleys,
the ses-level highway from the At
lantie to the St Lawrence, seems TO
form a natural unity Of all American
territory TO the east and to include
Vermont with New England. Yer
monters are blood relatives Of Massa-
ehusetts, Connecticut, and New Hamp-
shire, and filial homage binds us to
their fellowship. A thousand ties, in
culture and thought, in religion and
education. in commerce and industry,
unite Us with the parent States, and
ve glory in our New England herit-
age and proudly claim our part in
New England eminence and worth.
Nevertheless Vermont is not duly
appreciated nor rightly understood un-
I'll she is accorded her place as the
last-born child Of New England and
the first bold emigrant to the West.
IL was the West in Vermont which A,
President Dwight failed TO appreciate.
Our people were too rough for him
and there was too much Of the frontier
about them But il WIS the wild
people q Ethan Allen who repre-
scented The New America. the America {
which was 20 become the American i