DEATH.--CIVILIZATION IN ALLEN'S TIME.--ESTIMATES OF ALLEN.--RELIGIOUS
FEELING IN VERMONT.--MONUMENTS.
In 1787 Allen moved to Burlington, where, for the last two years
of his life, he devoted himself to farming. Through a partial
failure of the crops in 1789, Allen found himself short of hay in
the winter. Col. Ebenezer Allen, who lived in South Hero, an island
near Burlington, offered to supply Ethan what he needed if he would
come for it. Accordingly, with a team and man, Ethan crossed the
ice on the 10th of February. Col. Ebenezer Allen had invited some
neighbors, who were old friends and acquaintances, to meet his guest,
and the afternoon and evening were spent in telling stories. Ethan
was persuaded to stay over night and the next morning started for
home with his load of hay. During the journey his negro spoke to him
several times but received no reply. On reaching home he discovered
that his master was unconscious. He was carried into his house and
died from apoplexy in a few hours.
To estimate properly Allen's force of character and large mind, we
should appreciate the crude civilization of the early pioneer days of
Vermont, when self-culture could only be procured by great qualities.
The population was about five thousand, chiefly on the east side
of the mountains. The bulk of the people lived in log houses with
earthen floors, and with windows made of oiled paper, isinglass, raw
hides, or sometimes 6 x 8 panes of glass. Smaller log houses were
used to protect domestic animals from wolves and bears, as well as
from the inclemency of the weather. It was the life of the frontier
in the wilderness, when the struggle for bare sustenance left little
time for the acquirement of knowledge, much less of accomplishments.
Allen is not the best representative man of his time, but his
experience was so startling, his character so piquant, that a sketch
of him better photographs Vermont before her admission to the Union
than that of any other man. As a statesman he was infinitely inferior
to Chipman or Bradley; as a soldier, Seth Warner, although six
years younger, was his superior; Ira Allen was more capable and more
accomplished; Governor Chittenden was more discreet in the management
of state affairs. As a captive, absent from the state from 1775 to
1778, Allen had nothing to do with the adoption of the constitution
or the first organization of our state government; as a member
of the legislature he won no reputation. He lacked the scholarly
culture and polished suavity of the highest type of gentleman; he
was sometimes horribly profane. He delighted in battling with the
religious orthodoxy of New England; he wrote a book to disprove the
authenticity of the Bible; yet he was energetic in his expressions
of veneration for the being and perfection of the Deity, and a firm
believer in the immortality of the soul. Thoroughly familiar with the
history and law of the New York controversy, his telling exposure
of the subtle casuistry of the more learned New York lawyers;
his thorough sympathy with the settlers in all their trials and
amusements; his geniality, sociability, and aptness in story-telling;
his detestation of all dishonesty and meanness; his burning zeal
for American freedom; his adroit success, his bitter sufferings,
even his one unlucky rashness in attacking Montreal when deserted
by the very man who had induced him to undertake it; his numerous
writings--all combine to make him the most popular of our state
characters.
Washington's masterly knowledge of human nature gives value to
his brief portrait of Allen. Immediately on being released from
captivity, Allen visited Washington at Valley Forge. Washington wrote
to Congress in regard to Allen.
His fortitude and firmness seem to have placed him out of the
reach of misfortune. There is an original something about him
that commands admiration, and his long captivity and sufferings
have only served to increase, if possible, his enthusiastic zeal.
He appears very desirous of rendering his services to the states
and of being employed, and at the same time he does not discover
any ambition for high rank.
Senator Edmunds says of Allen: "Ethan Allen was a man of gifts rather
than acquirements, although he was not by any means deficient in that
knowledge obtained from reading and from intercourse with men. But it
was the natural force of his character that made him eminent among
the worthiest who founded the republic, and pre-eminent among those
who founded the state of Vermont."
Col. John A. Graham, who knew Allen well the last two or three years
of his life, published a book in England a few years after Allen's
death and therein says: "Ethan Allen was a man of extraordinary
character. He possessed great talents but was deficient in education.
In all his dealings he possessed the strictest sense of honor,
integrity, and uprightness."
The Hon. Daniel P. Thompson attributes to him "wisdom, aptitude to
command, ability to inspire respect and confidence, a high sense of
honor, generosity, and kindness."
Jared Sparks calls him "brave, generous, consistent, true to his
friends, true to his country, seeking at all times to promote the
best interests of mankind."
Governor Hiland Hall says: "He acquired much information by reading
and observation. His knowledge of the political situation of the
state and country was general and accurate. As a writer, he was
ready, clear, and forcible. His style attracted and fixed attention
and inspired confidence in his sincerity and justice."
John Jay speaks of his writings as having "wit, quaintness, and
impudence."
In financial skill Ethan was inferior to his brother Ira; as a
soldier he lacked the cool judgment of Seth Warner; in administrative
ability he had neither the tact nor success of Governor Chittenden;
as a statesman he was destitute of the learning and ability of
Chipman and Bradley; but as a patriot and friend he was true as a
star. No money, no office, could bribe; no insults, no suffering,
tame him. As a boon companion he was rollicking and popular. Many are
the stories told of his hearty good-will toward all. One instance
will show his power to attach the common people to him: Finding a
woman in Tinmouth dreading to have a painful tooth drawn, in order to
encourage her he sat down and had one of his perfectly sound teeth
extracted.
In religion, like Horace Greeley, Allen had reverence for the Deity
but none for the Bible. In this he was not alone, for Vermont, in
the later eighteenth century, presented a curious mixture of the
strictest adherence to the letter of the religious law and absolute
free-thinking.
The Universalists in 1785 held their first American convention in
Massachusetts. When this doctrine was first introduced into Vermont,
John Norton, the Westminster tavern-keeper, said to Ethan Allen:
"That religion will suit you, will it not, General Allen?"
Allen, who knew Norton to be a secret tory, replied in utter scorn:
"No! no! for there must be a hell in the other world for the
punishment of tories."
President Dwight said: "Many of the influential early Vermonters
were professed infidels or Universalists, or persons of equally
loose principles and morals." Judge Robert R. Livingston wrote Dr.
Franklin: "The bulk of Vermonters are New England Presbyterian
whigs." Daniel Chipman says: "Great numbers of the early settlers
were of the set of New-lights or Separates, who fled from persecution
in the New England States and found religious liberty here."
Before Allen took Ticonderoga, Vermont had eleven Congregational
and four Baptist churches. For a quarter of a century (1783-1807)
towns and parishes could assess taxes for churches and ministers.
At the very threshold of Vermont's existence the laws had a
Puritanic severity. "High-handed blasphemy" was punished with death;
while fines or the stocks were the rewards of profane swearing,
drunkenness, unseasonable night-walking, disturbing Sabbath worship,
travelling Sunday, gaming, horse-racing, confirmed tavern-haunting,
mischievous lying, and even meeting in company Saturday or Sunday
evenings except in religious meetings. "No person shall drive a team
or droves of any kind, or travel on the Lord's day (except it be on
business that concerns the present war, or by some adversity they are
belated and forced to lodge in the woods, wilderness, or highways the
night before)," then only to next shelter. The wife of the Rev. Sam.
Williams was arrested in New Hampshire for travelling on Sunday. No
Jew, Roman Catholic, atheist, or deist could take the oath required
of a member of the legislature; for that oath professed belief
in the Deity, the divine inspiration of both Testaments, and the
Protestant religion. The Rev. Samuel Peters, LL.D., sometimes called
Bishop Peters, tells us the Munchausen story that he baptized into
the Church of England 1,200 adults and children amid the forests of
Vermont. In 1790 Vermont was enough of a diocese to hold a convention
of eight parishes and two rectors.
Bennington was the early nucleus of Vermont colonization. Samuel
Robinson, of that town, had land to sell both in Bennington and the
adjoining town of Shaftsbury. It is said he entertained over night
the new immigrants; if Baptists, he sold them land in Shaftsbury; if
Congregationalists, he sold them land in Bennington.
What visible tokens have we of Vermont's pride in this hero, to whom
she is so much indebted for her existence as a state?
The earliest statue of Ethan Allen was by Benjamin Harris Kinney, a
native of Sunderland. It was modelled in Burlington and exhibited
there in 1852. The Rev. Zadoc Thompson said of it: "All who have long
and carefully examined his statue will admit that the artist, Mr.
Kinney, our respected townsman, has embodied and presented to the eye
the ideal in a most masterly manner." The Hon. David Read says: "The
statue was examined by several aged people who had personally known
Allen, and all pronounce it an excellent likeness of him." Henry de
Puy has an engraving of this statue in his book about Allen in 1853.
This statue has never been purchased from Mr. Kinney, and it is still
in his possession.
The two statues of Allen made for the state are the work of Larkin
G. Mead, a native of Chesterfield, N. H., reared and educated in
Brattleboro. One of them, at the entrance of the state-house in
Montpelier, is of Rutland marble. The other one, in the Capitol at
Washington, is of Italian marble.
The fourth statue was unveiled at Burlington, the 4th of July, 1873.
It was made at Carrara, Italy, after a design by Peter Stephenson, of
Boston. It is 8 ft. 4 in. high, stands on a granite shaft 42 ft. in
height, in Green Mountain Cemetery, on the banks of the Winooski.
"_Siste viator! Heroa calcas!_"
FOOTNOTE:
[1] This letter, like others, is given verbatim, despite
some evident errors of phraseology.
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success of this admirable work--a dictionary of dates, a
dictionary of events (with a special gazetteer for the places
mentioned), and a concise biographical dictionary, all in one,
and all in the highest degree trustworthy. Mr. Heilprin's
revision is as thorough as his original work. Any one can test it
by running over the list of persons deceased since this manual
first appeared. Corrections, too, have been made, as we can
testify in one instance at least."--_New York Evening Post._
"One of the most complete, compact, and valuable works of
reference yet produced."--_Troy Daily Times._
"Unequaled in its field."--_Boston Courier._
"A small library in itself."--_Chicago Dial._
"An invaluable book of reference, useful alike to the student and
the general reader. The arrangement could scarcely be better or
more convenient."--_New York Herald._
"The conspectus of the world's history presented in the first
part of the book is as full as the wisest terseness could put
within the space."--_Philadelphia American._
"We miss hardly anything that we should consider desirable,
and we have not been able to detect a single mistake or
misprint."--_New York Nation._
"So far as we have tested the accuracy of the present work we
have found it without flaw."--_Christian Union._
"The conspicuous merits of the work are condensation and
accuracy. These points alone should suffice to give the
'Historical Reference-Book' a place in every public and private
library."--_Boston Beacon._
"The method of the tabulation is admirable for ready
reference."--_New York Home Journal._
"This cyclopædia of condensed knowledge is a work that will
speedily become a necessity to the general reader, as well as to
the student."--_Detroit Free Press._
"For clearness, correctness, and the readiness with which the
reader can find the Information of which he is in search, the
volume is far in advance of any work of its kind with which we
are acquainted."--_Boston Saturday Evening Gazette._
"The latest dates have been given. _The geographical notes
which accompany the historical incidents are a novel addition,
and exceedingly helpful._ The size also commends it, making it
convenient for constant reference, while the three divisions and
careful elimination of minor and uninteresting incidents make
it much easier to find dates and events about which accuracy is
necessary. Sir William Hamilton avers that too retentive a memory
tends to hinder the development of the judgment by presenting too
much for decision. A work like this is thus better than memory.
It is a 'mental larder' which needs no care, and whose contents
are ever available."--_New York University Quarterly._
New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=.
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example,
imputedly; predestinated; mimicing; enkindled; turkies; land-jobbers,
land jobbers.
Pg 9, '"History of "Vermont,' replaced by '"History of Vermont",'.
Pg 19, 'origial' replaced by 'original'.
Pg 133, 'thy' replaced by 'they'.
Pg 140, 'aleak' replaced by 'a leak'.