176 



VERMONT. 



the same as in Maine and Massachusetts. The annual revenue of the State from laxes and the 

 product of funded stock is about 50,000 dollars. The representatives to Congress are 5 

 All residents who pay taxes are voters. 



14. History. New Hampshire was discovered by Captain Smith in 1614. The original 

 patent was granted to John Mason and Ferdinando Gorges, in 1622 ; in tliis patent, the coun- 

 try was named Laconia. The first settlements were made at Dover and Portsmouth, in 1623. 

 In 1641, all the settlements by a voluntary act submitted to Massachusetts, and were compre- 

 hended in the county of Norfolk, which extended from the Merrimack to the Piscalaqua. In 

 1679, a new government was established, and New Hampshire was made a royal province by 

 commission from Charles the Second. The first General Assembly met at Portsmouth in 

 March, in 1680. The union with Massachusetts was renewed in 1689, but a separati-on took 

 place in 1692. From 1699 to 1702 it was connected with Massachusetts and New York, and 

 from 1702 to 1741, with Massachusetts alone, after which it remained a separate government. 

 This State suffered much from the early Indian wars ; one of the incidents of which may be 

 related here, as illustrative of the vindictive and ferocious character of the savages. 



In 1675, Major Waldron, by a stratagem, made prisoners of about 200 Indians, who had 

 menaced the settlements with hostilities ; 7 or 8 of these who were known to have committed 

 some atrocities, were immediately hanged, and the rest sold into slavery. The Indians of the 

 neighborhood were exasperated by this proceeding, and swore implacable revenge against Wal- 

 dron. In 1689, after a lapse of 13 years, tliey found means to accomplish a scheme of ven- 

 geance. Waldron then dwelt at Dover, and the inhabitants of the town, unsuspicious of any 

 hostility, were utterly off their guard, and allowed the savages to sleep within their garrison, so 

 far were they deceived by their artful dissimulation. On the evening of the 27th of June, 

 they assembled in the neighborhood of the town, and sent their squaws to apply for lodging at 

 each house marked for destruction ; these were admitted without suspicion. 



In the dead of the night, the doors were thrown open at a concerted signal, and the Indians 

 rushed from their ambush upon the defenceless inmates. Waldron, though 80 years old, made a 

 gallant defence ; he seized his sword and drove back those who broke into his chamber, but when 

 returning for his weapons, was overpowered by numbers and struck down with a hatchet. The 

 Indians dragged him into liis hall, seated him in an elbow-chair upon a long table, and insulting- 

 ly asked him, " Who shall judge Indians now ? " Each one then with his knife cut gashes 

 across his breast, saying " I cross out my account." When, weakened with the loss of blood, 

 he was about to sink, his own sword was held under him, upon which he fell and died. 



CHAPTER VII. VERMONT. 



- PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



1. Boundaries and Extent. Vermont is bounded north by Lower Canaua, east by Connec- 

 ticut river, which separates it from New Hampshire, south by Massachusetts, and west by 

 New York, from which it is separated mostly by Lake Champlain. It lies between 42^^ 44' 

 and 45'^ north lat., 71° 33' and 73° 26' west long., being 157 miles in length, from north to 

 south, and 90 miles in breadth at the northern extremity, and 40 at the southern. It contains 

 10,000 square miles. No part of the State is nearer the ocean than 70 miles. 



2. Mountains. The Green JMountains occiipy the centre of the State throughout its whole 

 length. This range begins in the State of Connecticut at West Rock, near New Haven, and 

 extends north into Vermont. Tracing the course of these mountains from the southern limit of 

 this State, we find them stretching northerly to the 44th parallel of latitude. At this point 

 they divide into two branches ; one of them called the Height of Land, continuing in a north 

 easterly course, forms the northern boundary of New Hampshire and Maine. The western 

 range runs to the north, and terminates near the extremity of the State, in a succession of 

 small hills. The highest summits of the Green Mountains belong to the western range, although 

 the northeastern branch forms the ridge separating the tributary streams of the Connecticut 

 from those of Lake Champlain, and some of these latter pass through the western range. The 

 streams which arise on the west of the mountains in the southern part of the State, flow into 

 the Hudson. From the southern limit of Vermont, to the point where the mountains are 

 divided into two branches, the range is lofty and unbroken by the passage of any large stream ; 

 in these parts the communication between the districts, on the opposite sides, is difficult. The 



