The Middlebury people's press. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1841-1843, 1843-11-01
RECEPTION OF COL. JOHNSON
AT THE STATE HOUSE,

AT the hour designated by the resolution
of the Genetal Assembly, both Houses adj
Journod their sessions, and the Governor
and Executive officers, the members of both
Houses, the senator's of this state in Con-
gress, and the committee of arrangements
on behalf of tina citizens of Montpelier, as
sembled at the Representatives hall, Gov
Ma:tocks in the chair. The galleries and
! Hobbies were crowded with ladies and gen.
tlemen. Col. Johnson, attended by the
committee of invitation, entered, and was
introduced by Mr. Cuts to the Governor,
who thus addressed him.
Col. JouNsoN:-Sir, in behalf of the
Legislature of Vermont, and in the name
of the entire population of this honest lit
tie State, l bid you welcome to this their
capitol.
Sir, you are Statesman and Soldier.
At the Thames YOU led charge with a
dashing gallantry, that has never, never
/ been surpassed. You have fought and
/ bled, aye bled in freedoms cause. You
are brave and generous to proverb;-can
there be any higher praisel There can;
you indicated the honor Of your fellow
soldier, and your General, when some who
knew him not, essayed to tarnish the mill
tary fame of that hero, now alas! no more
Magnanimous man. again say welcome,
thrice welcome here amid the descendants
of the Green Mountain Boys.
Please to pardon, sir, the conciseness of
this address, for | am an old man of few
words, but sincere.
With these words, the Governor grasped
the hand of Col ]. amid loud cheers, when
Col. johnson replied.
He said he found himself surrounded by
the representatives of a gallant and patri-
otto state, and welcomed in the name of
that state by its highest officer, in whom he
was happy to recognize an old acquaintance
and personal friend. 1t was, he said, one
of the happiest moments of his life, thus to
find native of Kentucky warmly welcom-
ed by all parties to Vermont. He witness
ed the magnanimity of Vermonters on this
occasion, and trusted he knew how to APP
preciate it. He came not for political or
sinister purposes, but as on pilgrimage to
the father land, to see the memorials of their
glory, to visit the fields on which our fore
fathers offered up their lives, and to hear
from their graves the exhortation to their
children to stand shoulder to shoulder in
the defence of the principles Of liberty, and
in the support of the Constitution. He
was more than grati6ed in his visit to the
land of Allen and Stark; he found its peo-
pie more than he expected: Vermont was
fully equal to old Kentuck. The allusion
of the Governor, to the Green Mountain
Boys, suggested the points of resemblance
between Vermont and Kentucky in their
early struggles, their gallant and patriotic
conduct, and their final admission to the
Union in the same year. For himself he
wondered what he had done to merit such
respect; and felt humbled that he had done
so little in forty years of public service. In
what he had done, he trusted had acted
with fidelity to all the great principles of
the constitution, if not with ability; and he
cheerfully appealed to the testimony ofrep /
resentatives of Vermont, now present with
whom he had been happy to act, and to
whose fidelity he testified, (alluding to
Judge Prentiss and Senator Phelps) The
appreciation shown him, he said, would in
spire him to continue in the same path and
finish his conrse as he had begun it. This
appreciation, he was aware, was for services
unconnected with party, and was freely
rendered by all parties; and this was happy
proof, that while the people might disagree
in matters of policy, and thus parties
would exist, they were yet at heart one
people, brotherhood, bound together by a
love of liberty, and reverence for
the constitution and prosperity of the
country. In conclusion, he thanked the
Governor, the legislature and the commit
tees, and thanked all, who had rendered such
respect. His reception would be the last ;
event he should remember, and would re-
ieve the pangs of his dying day.
This is substantially Col. Us reply-not
4 report of it; which reply was received
With hearty cheers. :
At the request of Mr.. Harrington, Col.
gave an account of the battle OF
he Thames, in which he did full justice TO
zen. Harrison, which was well received,
md at its conclusion the assembly broke =
Up, apparently in excellent humor with the :
Colonel, the Governor, and all parties. 4
10 Vt. Watckmdr