distance of more than three hundred miles. It waters New-Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, and at length passes into Long-Island Sound.
I am now in Vermont.[1] This is a noble state, and may well be termed the peculiar sister of New-Hampshire. The same mountainous and fertile {14} country; the same moral and physical energies characterize them both. Should their liberties ever be assailed, they will sympathetically unite their efforts, and triumph or fall together. In both of these states I met with Revolutionary men, and they were still the champions of liberty. The tranquil charms of rural avocations had preserved the purity and peace of their bosoms; whilst the grandeur of their mountains, and the rudeness of their storms had continually reminded them of the blasts of tyranny, and of the unconquerable spirit of freedom.
In both of these states I experienced unlimited hospitality and kindness. Money could not have purchased so rich a boon. Amidst their lofty hills, covered with deep snows and assailed by piercing winds, I found the humble cottager; and in the benevolence of his aspect, and the hospitality of his board, I seemed to hear the chorus in Gustavus Vasa:—[2]
"Stranger, cease through storms to roam;
Welcome to the cotter's home;
Though no courtly pomp be here,
Yet, my welcome is sincere."
- ↑ From Brattleborough to Albany, Evans followed a much travelled route. As early as 1774, a road had been made from Albany to Bennington, thence directly east for forty miles to Brattleborough. A line of stages was established in 1814, which made the trip between the two places in one day. It was considered the easiest and safest route to Boston.—Ed.
- ↑ A play written by Henry Brooke (1706-83), containing reflections on the Prime Minister (Robert Walpole). It was not allowed to be put on the stage in 1739, but later was printed by the author, the Prince of Wales subscribing for four hundred copies. Dr. Johnson vindicated it and scored the government for attempting its suppression.—Ed.
