206 WORKMEN AND HEROES " Thereupon," said Allen, " he closed the conversation and turned from me with an air of dislike, saying I was a bigot." An exchange of prisoners at length freed him from a situation so full of per- sonal hardship and mental anguish, and he hastened home to his family, from whom he so long and cruelly had been separated. His only son had died in the meantime, and his wife and daughters, not ex- pecting his arrival, were not at Bennington in time to receive him. But his neighbors and friends flocked in from miles around to give him greeting, and al- though it was the Sabbath, a day strictly observed in those parts, the enthusiasm of the joyful occasion could neither be postponed nor suppressed, and its expres- sion found vent in the firing of cannon and happy huzzas. The " Hampshire Grants " in his absence had become the full-fledged " State of Vermont," knocking for admission at the doors of the Continental Congress. Ethan Allen at once was appointed General of the Vermont State Militia, and although he did not again join the American army, his natural gifts of diplo- macy were of inestimable service to the country, and the number of men he could summon at a moment's notice to his command, served to hold in check any attempted raids of the enemy through Canada. He lived eight years after the declaration of peace, dying at the age of fifty-one, in Burlington, where he was engaged in farming. A little incident never before in print was recently related to the writer of this sketch by a lady to whom it was told in childhood by an old man who, as a lad, lived on Ethan Allen's farm. It was in illustration of the simplicity of the celebrated hero's private life. The farm hands all sat at the table with the family, much to the amusement or astonishment of his frequent guests, who sometimes were wealthy and distin- guished and quite unaccustomed to such practical exhibitions of democracy. One of these had the poor taste to expostulate with the general, and remarked, " I should think your men would prefer to eat by themselves." General Allen feigned to misunderstand the meaning of this, and after a mo- ment's reflection replied, " Thank you very much for calling my attention to it. I see that what has been hearty enough for my family may not have been for my hard-working help. I will take more notice hereafter to see that they are better served." " It was little use," says my informant, " to try to dictate to Ethan Allen." l/l/H
