USA > Vermont > The history of Vermont; with descriptions, physical and topographical > Part 10
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Two or three individuals, disaffected with the ecclesi- astical society in a town on the Connecticut, who had taken down their house of worship and built another in a
different place, sued for damages. They caused the
writ to be served on one of the deacons, as he was going with his brethren to dedicate the new house ; and on the other, as he was leaving it at the close of the services. This was their way of commencing opera- tions, and maintaining the rights of minorities. This business was decided on the ground by a reference ; in which was spent a leisurely winter's week of some concern to the parties, and of curiosity and entertain- ment of the spectators from that and the neighboring towns. It was a time for searching for old records, and the bringing to light important documents of the long past, which might else have gone to the irrecoverable. The place of deposit was required whenever slips of yellow smoky manuscripts were produced ; and messen- gers sent back to the garret of a first settler, whence they brought an old bee-hive, and emptied its various contents before the court, and the eager eyes of the assembly. But a certain record could not be found after the utmost scrutiny ; and one too, which proved the hinge of the whole case, another proof of the neglect of giving beginnings a fixed habitation.
But one of the counsel for the defence, somewhat deaf, venerable in a green November of life, with a full round eye, and of undiminished keenness, walking up
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and down the hall, seemed little noticing what was going forward. He was observed however, occasionally turning over the leaves of another ancient Book of records, and one not duly and often enough relied on as authority in such cases. It was evident to a close observer, that some scheme was on foot in his mind. So it came out. For in his defence, making out the prosecution, an insidious and vexatious case, he opened the Bible, for illustration and authority. He cited the guileful and malicious invitation of Sanballat and Tobiah to Nehemiah to meet them in the 'plain of Ono,' and hold parlance with them ; commenting with great force and propriety on that interesting portion of sacred history. Making it an apt and striking illustration of the case before the public, the effect was powerful. He showed clearly that it was an attempt like that of old, to impede and obstruct the work of the Lord. But when he named the two leading prosecutors, and said that this, -
is Sanballat ; and this is Tobiah, the effect was irresistable ; thus affixing to their names a cognomen, a memorial of the transaction as easily washed out as the spots of the leopard.
In the early days of this state, the sign of the Green Mountain Tavern, at Bennington was significant, and characteristic of the times. It was a catamount's skin stuffed, and sitting upon the sign-post, twenty feet from the ground with large teeth grinning towards New York ! To keep company for two hours with this representation, a gentleman of Arlington was compelled, being raised in an arm chair, suspended by a rope.
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This was the sentence of the committee of safety, before whom he had been brought, charged with favoring New York, and persuading the people to resist the laws of Vermont. This sentence was executed, to the no small amusement of a large concourse of people, and was undoubtedly corrective in its influence.
In their ordinary intercouse, as well as in their civil and religious transactions, they often manifest this spirit of independence. Stopping not to inquire ' what others will say,' as to the manner and wherefore of doing their own business, they do it to suit themselves chiefly, taking care, as they ought, to do it rightly and from right motives. Keeping clear of trespassing on the rights of others, they claim to themselves exemption from being called to an account why their fancy and taste may happen to run in this or that particular direction. When called upon to give an account of themselves in such circumstances, as they sometimes are by those who exalt themselves into the chair of universal inspection, they take the liberty of doing it, if at all, in a way suiting their own humor.
This turn of mind may sometimes lead to the indul- gence in amusement and stratagems, which assume a serious aspect. But it is with good temper, and not through a spirit of mischief making for the sake of it. As early as 1780, several individuals of a party, survey- ing land in Brookline, Windham county, took it into their heads to mimic the Indian war-whoop. Their effort was so successful, that the good people of Athens, a neighboring town, hearing it, and supposing it real,
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gave the alarm, the Indians are coming ! and it set the whole county in an uproar. To increase the alarm and apprehension, the farmers in Newfane unconsciously contributed, by setting fire the same day to heaps of brush and bushes, the time being favorable, as a storm appeared to be gathering. The flames from these, loom- ing up in the darkness of the night, carried clear convic- tion to the inhabitants of the neighboring towns, of houses and barns burning. They fled from all directions towards Brattleboro and fort Dummer. A severe snow storm coming on, increased the difficulties of flight. Orders were immediately sent by Col. Sergeant, of Brattleboro for the militia of the neighboring towns to assemble forthwith, as the Indians were laying waste the country. The troops marched with alacrity towards the lurid lights, but found in the deserted towns nothing but snow to impede their progress. The cause of the alarm being soon known, they returned to their quarters without the loss of a man. The fugitives, with a sig- nificant look at each other, prepared to return to their homes, each in his own way, ruminating with mixed emotions on the war sport of their own kindred, and ' the great effect from' so ' small a cause flowing.'
It was the custom, before the temperance reformation, for the taverners and merchants, to treat with strong drink, those, who with teams, plows and shovels, vol- unteered to open the roads after a severe, drifting snow storm. Collisions, as was natural from the influence of ardent spirits, sometimes took place. An athletic, sinewy - rm smith, for assaulting rather heavily one of his com-
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panions at the inn after a bout through the snow drifts, was arraigned before a justice of the peace. He made his own defence, appearing before the court, in his uniform light infantry coat; either through a whim of his own, or because he had no other; and drawing in close order the rows of bullet buttons, he began by asking leave of the justice to speak ; and a chew of tobacco. Being accommodated by him in both, and taking the leaf and holding it up, and looking at it, ' this,' he said, ' is what you call cow-yard.' Then hiding a bulky portion of it in the spare room of his mouth, he began his plea. "May it please the court, this man," (naming the plaintiff) " in the sport of pitching one another into the snow-banks, as we were breaking roads, got mad ; and not only insulted me, but knocked me down with a sled stake. Recovering myself, and regain- ing the tavern, I thought but little of it at first. But as I began to get warm, I thought more and more of it ; and the more I thought of it, the madder I grew. Keeping my eye upon him, and availing myself of a good chance, I let drive at him, and knocked him down with my fist ; and, may it please your honor, I think it was no more than justice to him." But the justice, guid- ed by his oath, fined him a dollar or two. In arrest of judgment, the defendant dislodging his borrowed quid into the fire, said, " I appeal to the court of heaven."
The freemen's meeting in September, and the town meetings in March, are days of great interest, and some- times of high excitement to. Vermonters. On these
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occasions of choosing their state and town officers, the freemen are mostly together in their respective towns, and this originality of character is exhibited in a variety of ways. The feelings of freedom and independence spontaneously burst forth on these occasions, in ebulitions more commonly of wit and merriment, than of wrath and indignation. Party spirit indeed sometimes rises so high, as to produce bitter altercations on the spot, drawing most of the voters in a town to the sides, partaking in a measure of the spirit of the leaders. But more com- monly the apparent wrath and fury are confined princi- pally to the expectants of office and their immediate connexions and abettors. The great body of each party are not so absorbed in the contest as to interrupt their sociability and good humor, and love of glee and fun. The character of Vermont freemen you may see undis- guised at these meetings. In free remark on the candi- dates for office ; on the past management of the public concerns ; and on the presiding officer; and the ' speech-making' of the aspirants to popular favor often affords matter of amusement and cause of self-denial to the uninterested bystanders ; so original and sudden and unexpected their turns and flights of humor and imagi- nation.
These assemblies are more orderly and tranquil since the prevalence of the temperance reformation ; but give not less evidence, or fewer specimens of this original way of doing things, and of commenting on what others say and do. Indeed they now afford matter for enter-
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tainment and instruction without so much annoyance of profaneness, and idle, driveling talk ; without so much dross intermixed with the original, sterling ore.
In selecting their officers and public functionaries, they take their own way ; choosing them from all classes and occupations. In other words, as they own no privileged orders, by their free constitution ; so they would dis- franchise no class on account of his calling or profession, provided it be a lawful and useful one. This is more than can be said of every state in the union ; for in some of them, clergymen are constitutionally excluded from all civil officrs ; that so, they are by law ineligible, and thus disfranchised. This is done merely on account of their employment; and is directly in the face of the national constitution. However proper in practice ; and how little soever objection there might be to public senti- ment excluding them; it is wrong and oppressive in principle.
Thus the constitution of Vermont makes no such distinction ; but opens the door of office to all classes, and excludes not him even whose office it is to place highest the freedom of the truth ; and the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Not only this, Vermonters have been in the habit of carrying out in practice this prin- ciple ; and clergymen have often been members of the general assembly. In several instances, baptist clergy- men, (a respectable and extensive denomination of christians, the baptists are in this state,) have been chosen to the highest office, that of governor. The same freedom of remark, by which their performances in
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the pulpit were scrutinized by some of their wayward, eccentric hearers, has pursued them when exalted to the chair of state. Of one it is said, who in the ministra- tions of the sanctuary, being much assisted at times, and impressed, was in the habit at the close of his sermon, to request his favorite tune "Mear" to be sung : on the delivery of his first speech as governor, at Montpelier, a wag in the gallery, in accordance as he supposed with his excellency's feelings, exclaimed, " sing Mear."
As a warning against the waywardness sometimes of this spirit of independence and originality ; and its dangers when not restrained within proper bounds, a few particulars in the life of one Vermonter will be here given .- He lived in a town on the Connecticut, was a man of strong mind, but destitute of mental culture ; and under the agitating influence of master passions, of which he was assisted to gain the ascendency before he died. But he took his own way in living and dying.
In the walls of his cellar (for avarice was one of the passions of his soul), he was in the habit of secreting considerable sums of money, in gold and silver. Once he hired men to take down a part of his cellar wall ; · and stood by them while they did it, to be sure of seeing when they might fall upon the treasure, which he knew he had deposited there, but had forgotten the exact spot. Sums of money in different places were found after his death, which he secreted, and as is sup- posed, forgot himself where he had placed them.
To mortify and perplex his family, (for licentiousness was another of his strong passions), seemed to be an
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object near his heart ; and he manifested great ingenuity in devising the means to do it. He would sometimes rise from his bed in the night, and roll himself in the mud, and covering himself with dirt, in that state return to his couch. Instead of washing himself in pure water, like other people, he would for a considerable period in succession, wash himself in fish brine.
Every body in the vicinity knew well his unlawful and cruel treatment of his family ; and his unwarranta- ble deportment. But no one seemed willing to incur his displeasure by resisting his wayward and cruel course. Nobody appeared to come forward, and, by bringing him to justice, hazard the lash of his tongue, and his means of hurting his foes. The selectmen of the town once waited on him, with the .design of taking measures to restrain his cruel conduct, and ' bind him over to good behavior.' But after spending most of the day in distant and various conversation, separated doing nothing, except it might be that one of them borrowing money of him, and the others, signing their names with his as security.
This was his state when the temperance reformation commenced ; for the love of strong drink was an addi- tional passion, to which he was a victim. The watch- . word of total abstinence seemed to arouse him, and inspire him with faint hopes of life, like the shouts of victory in the ears of the prostrate and dying soldier, surrounded by heaps of dead and wounded companions. He at length adopted it. But he was like the weather- beaten mariner, and the righted hull over which the sea had often made a clear breach. The return of
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serenity left him leisure to look back on what he had escaped ; the storms and whirlwinds ; the shoals and quicksands, through and near which he had run his course. Unlike the man awaked by a sudden clap of thunder from a profound reverie, the stillness after the tempest, seemed to open his eyes to the dangers over which he had been walking blindfold. The point of safety, after the indulgence of strong passions, was to him that of sinking down exhausted. Nature sometimes gives way and death follows, when the occasion for mak- ing arduous struggles under the pressure of warring elements, or the pursuit of venomous serpents, is removed.
Thus having reached the shore after such a shipwreck, he was unable to walk or stand. Gathering himself up once for all, he rose from his bed in the stillness of night, and went to his barn; and, on a ladder, mounted to what is called the great-beam, and with a nail-hammer beat out his own brains, and fell upon a scaffold ; and from that to the floor. In this situation he was found with blood and brains upon the floor; and the hammer by his side with hair, and gore and brains sticking to it ; · with marks also upon the scaffold, where he struck in falling from the beam. Living a few days, he employed them, in relating and expressing contrition for what he had done ; and, cherishing a hope of reconciliation with God and man, ' his last end was peace.'
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CHAPTER X.
Characteristics of Vermonters closed .- Some deductions from the foregoing .- Too often subservient to selfish office-seekers .- Discouraged sometimes under difficulties .- Want of perseve- rance in carrying to the end promising beginnings .- Family rivalries .- Their consequences .- Winter employments and recreations .- Friendly annual visiting .- Social intercourse.
IN closing the characteristics of Vermonters, it should be added, that the foregoing remarks are to be under- stood, not only in a general sense, but with some coun- tervailing deductions.
The industrious farmers and mechanics are sometimes too easily rendered subservient to the designs and arti- fices of demagogues and office-seekers. They are the stamina of a commonwealth ; and have the power to appoint the makers of the laws, and the administrators of justice ; and doing it understandingly, conscientiously, and without bias, the result would generally be safe and salutary. But instead of being always guided by the light of experience, and the dictates of plain, common sense, they too often follow the counsels of the cunning and ambitious and aspiring. Dazzled by the fascina- tions of brilliant parts ; and the professions of disinter-
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ested concern for their welfare, they are often made the dupes of flattering words, " swallowing without pause or choice, the total grist, unsifted, husks and all."
Too easily discouraged, they often give up the direc- tion of affairs to those who make the greatest bluster, and the show of unyielding and everlasting opposition ; and for the sake of peace, often a false one, permit things to go on in a wayward course, contrary to their own convictions. The ample means to arrest wrong measures, and remedy evils and cripple the arm of the oppressor, they are sometimes deterred from using, through fear of making difficulty and stirring up oppo- sition. Even in this state of bold, energetic, indepen- dent actors, in times which tried men's souls ; some are found of timid, Lilliputian spirits, who, in emergencies, so afraid of doing wrong, have not the courage to do right.
A wide contrast between beginnings and results, is also sometimes here witnessed. Objects of public utility and importance find approving hearts among the Ver- monters. With such union and cordiality do they enter upon the pursuits of praise-worthy undertakings, that the most favorable results are anticipated. But zeal and ardor in some instances grow cold; and the pursuit is suspended or followed up languidly. Promising be- ginnings are too often left unfinished, and for the want of perseverance and a patient continuance in well doing, desirable objects lost, or much delayed. The work of preparation and planning is to be repeated, or antici- pated good relinquished. New enterprises and ways of
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securing important ends are set on foot and pursued ; and the old ones left to find new abettors, or to fall midway, like too many works of human device and wisdom.
The harmony of society is also sometimes broken by secret, local feuds, which foment for a time, and then break out into lingering, incurable ulcers. These are so managed now and then, as to attract kindred matter from various parts ; and thus affect more or less, the entire social body. They have arisen from time immemorial wounds inflicted ; and kept alive by unskillful treatment ; and rendered rancorous by the hasty prescriptions of quacks ; in other words, from insults and wrongs real or fancied, received, and more or less aggravated by the Highland chieftains, to whose care they have fallen. Unlike the border wars of England and Scotland, of Walter Scott, they are internal strifes between leaders of rival families. Each has his circle of kindred, engaging cordially in his interests ; and each attaching to his party all whom persuasion can win or power compel. This system of clan-warfare has led to separate, oppos- ing encampments, so to speak, in the same town ; from which the arrows of bitter words and other missiles have been interchanged, sometimes to the annoyance and at others the amusement of the passengers and spectators. But war it has been, if not to the hilt ; yes to the hands ; if not open, yet secret, persevering and unyielding ; a war of carnal weapons; and if not of death ; yet some- times of bloody deeds, and lasting scars. It has been
-
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a war, as in most cases of actual warfare, of alternate victory and defeat on either side ; a war, if not period- ical, yet more obstinate at some particular seasons ; and affording many memorials of past achievements and dis- comfitures ; and much matter for conversation to survi- vors and posterity ; and presenting many a battle field for retrospection and caution. In a word, petty divisions and strifes have too often lessened the enjoyments of social intercourse; and rendered those residing in the same vicinity, comparative strangers to one another. But these jars to the harmony of the social system are, it is believed, becoming less and less felt ; and time will by degrees wear out the impressions made by them.
These things to the contrary ; and what state of society is perfect in this world ! The habits of this people in their domestic intercourse are interesting ; and instances of them will be remembered with pleasure, by all who have been familiar with them. They have not yet forgotten the friendly and warm attachment created by common difficulties, and evils encountered in a new and wilderness country ; and left as they were to estab- lish their own independence in the face of formidable opposition.
As winter closes in upon them, as is the case generally in December, they kill their pork and beef for the year. Part of it, especially the latter, they put in snow, placing it in a cool part of their dwellings, to keep it to use fresh as occasion may require. In this state it will keep in good order through the changes of the winter till spring.
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In the course of the winter, in earnest the farmers procure fuel for the year ; thrash out their grain and dis- pose of their surplus produce. The fruits of the dairy are also disposed of, and the heavy articles of family consumption procured for the season. As they used to say, it was laying in stores for the year. One costly item in this bill of expense is omitted since the glorious era of temperance. The balance after this ; and paying off hired help, the bills of merchants, physicians and the salary of the minister, is laid aside for the calls of the unknown future, the purposes of education and improve- ments on their premises.
They are now prepared for the whistling winds and drifting snows of February. They can enjoy the pleasures of a comfortable fireside, employing their time in select reading and conversation, unconscious of the desolations abroad, (' Iliemo informis.')
As the 'heart of winter breaks ; ' and the sunny, last days of February come, the neighbors, in the circuit of three or four miles, begin to make and pay each other the friendly, annual visit. Families, husband, wife and little ones, in sleighs or on sleds, meet several other families at an appointed place, and spend the afternoon and evening in social converse. The flow of friendship and good humor, enlivens the eye and cheers the heart. Freedom of speech is indulged ; the recent events if interested are reviewed ; and remarks made in frankness without the fear of treachery. The innocent joke goes round, and the brow of care, and the wrinkles of anxiety
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are smoothed. Then comes the hospitable repast ; the grafted apples ; specimens of the beef preserved in snow ; the choice uncostly viands ; and the evening closing in harmony and sober hilarity.
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CHAPTER XI.
Changes in the executive department, from 1797 to 1842 .- Changes in parties .- Governors .- Their characters .- Incidents under their administrations .- English and French party .- How origi- nated .- Difficulties with France and the general government .- 1816, cold summer .- A railer at Providence .- Free-masonry becomes a political question .- Excitement .- No choice of governor by the people .- Many trials in the House .- Anti- . masonry in politics succeeds .- Arrival in Vermont of the Mar- quis de La Fayette .- Proceedings at Windsor .- Some character of him .- From 1842 looking back, and reflections on the list of chief magistrates .- The variety in their characters, pursuits, and religious belief .- The abolition of capital punishment.
IN giving the history of Vermont from the period of its being received into the union, to this time, 1842, the object will be to give briefly the changes in the executive and judicial departments ; the most important measures adopted by the government ; the increase of population ; the progress made in towns and villages ; and with con- veniences and refinements of society. This part o work will be attempted in a general succinct manner, both that the patience of the reader may be relieved, and because some of the topics have been incidentally illustrated in giving the character of the inhabitants. The military transactions also, it is intended, are to be
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