[CHAPTER XVIII.]
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."