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212 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part II. 



CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. 



FEMALE SEX. 



of New England, and were almost wholly 

 of Eng-Iisl) or Scotch descent. At tiie 

 time the settlement was commenced, this 

 whole tract of country was covered by an 

 immense unbroken forest, inhabited only 

 by wild beasts, and traversed by merciless 

 Indians, some of whom had their lodges 

 upon the upper parts of Connecticut river 

 and on the shores and islands of lake 

 Champlain. It could not, therefore, be 

 expected that any but the most bold and 

 enterprising, would venture to expose 

 themselves to the dangers and hardshi])s 

 of establishing themselves here; and as 

 these were, for the most part, men of small 

 fortunes and large families, the labor re- 

 quired in subduing the forests, cultivating 

 the soil and providing tlie means of sub- 

 sistence, left them little leisure for the 

 improvement of their minds, or the re- 

 finement of their manners. Hence, as 

 might be expected, their characters par- 

 took mucli of the boldness and rougiiness 

 of the mountain and fon^st scenery, in the 

 midst of which they resided. Being com- 

 pelled, on account of their exposed situa- 

 tion, to face dangers of various kinds, and 

 being accustomed to remove obstacles and 

 surmount ditlicnlties by their personal ex- 

 ertions, tliey soon accpiired unlimited con- 

 fidence in their own abilities, and imbibed 

 the loftiest notions of liberty and indepen- 

 dence. These traits of tlieir general char- 

 acter were fully displayed during those 

 vexatious and perplexing controversies 

 in which they were, for twenty seven 

 years, constantly involved, and they have 

 at all subsequent periods, marked their 

 ])roceedings in the council and in the field. 

 Though the fathers of Vermont were 

 not liberally educated, most of them had 

 shared in the benefits of that excellent 

 system of common school education for 

 which New England has always been dis- 

 tinguished; and though not learned, few 

 of them were wholly illiterate. Nearly 

 all of them were able to read and to write 

 a fair hand, and were sufliciently ac- 

 quainted with the common rules of arith- 

 metic to become correct accountants. Few 

 of them were versed in the rules of gram- 

 mar, but they all had sufficient knowledge 

 of their mother tongue to be able to make 

 their incaning understood, and many there 

 were among them, who could wield with 

 effect, either the quill, or the sword, or the 

 axe, as circumstances required. The wri- 

 tings of these men,— their first attempts at 

 legislation, and various other memorials, 

 which have been handed down to us, af- 

 ford conclusive proof of the possession of 

 intellect and talent of a high order. But 

 they Vv-ere like the marble from the qunr- 

 ry, roughly hewn, which exhibits the 



strength and value of the material, but in 

 which the delicate veins and colors and 

 shades have not been brought out and ex- 

 hibited in all their pleasing variety by the 

 skill of the polisher. 



Among the inhabitants of this state, an 

 equality in point of rank and property and 

 a sense of mutual dependence, have very 

 generally prevailed, which have been 

 highly favorable to the exercise of the so- 

 cial virtues and the friendly feelings of 

 the heart. The Vermonters have hither- 

 to been distinguished for their kindness 

 among themselves — for their attention and 

 liospitality to strangers, and for their be- 

 nevolence to the sufl'ering and needy, both 

 at home and abroad ; and it is to be la- 

 mented, and, we fear, without being rem- 

 edied, that the growing inequalities and 

 distinctions of rank and property, are be- 

 ginning to throw a chill over those gush- 

 ing feelings of philanthropy, which warm- 

 ed the hearts, animated the countenances 

 and blended the sympathies of the earlier 

 inhabitants of our land. 



The female sex in Vermont may be 

 recommended as patterns of industry and 

 economy. They are nearly all habituated 

 to household labors from their childhood, 

 and they in general pride themselves much 

 on account of tlieir neatness and the man- 

 agement of their domestic affairs. They 

 are accustomed to regard the family as the 

 sphere which they are more particularly 

 designed to occupy, and here they usually 

 appear to the oest advantage. In common 

 with the other sex, they are all permitted 

 to share in the benefits of common school 

 instruction, but, till recently, very few 

 have had an opportunity to extend tlieir 

 education to the polite accomplishments; 

 and it is pleasing to observe, that parents 

 now are not generally disposed to indulge 

 their daughters in the pursuit of the orna- 

 mental, to the neglect of the, solid and 

 more useful branches of learning. 



It is undoubtedly the duty of all parents, 

 in training up and educating their daugh- 

 ters, to make it the primary object to fit 

 them, not to ohine and gain admiration at 

 the opera, the assembly, or at public spec- 

 tacles, but for the proper discharge of their 

 duties as daughters and wives and moth- 

 ers ; which alone can make them trulv 

 useful and happy. It is not the outward 

 adorning of dress and plaiting the hair, 

 nor even the mere cultivation of taste and 

 intellect and refinementof manners, how- 

 ever proper and desirable these may be, 

 which makes woman what she should be; 

 but it is the training of them up in the 

 knowledge and practice of their domestic 

 and relative — their moral and religious 

 duties. 



