Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1843-06-23

or lower Classic RAISE them to sell respect
to make them competent to act a part in the
great right aud great duty, of selfGovern-
ment; and this she has proved may be done {
by education and the diffusion Of knowledge.
She holds out an example, thousand times l
more enchanting, than ever was presented
before, to those nine-tenths OF the human
race who are born without hereditary for
tune or hereditary rank.
America has furnished to the world the
character of Washington ! And if our Amer
lean institutions have done nothing else,
that alone would have entitled them TO the
respect Of mankind.
Washington! "First in war, first in peace,
and FIRST in the hearts OF his countrymen !"
Washington is all our own The enthusi-
astic veneraton and regard in which the peo-
pie Of the U. States hold him, prove them
to be worthy of such countryman while /
his reputation abroad reflects the highest
honor on this country aud its institutions.
| would cheerfully put the question to-day
to the intelligence of Europe aud the world
what character of the century, upon the 1
whole, stands out in the relief of history,
most pure, most respectable, most sublime
and doubt not, that by suffrage approach !
ing to unanmity, the answer would be
Washington
This structure, by its uprighiness its So
lidity, its durability, is no unfit emblem of
his character. His public virtues and pub
lie principles were as firm as the earth on
which it stands; his personal motives, as
pure as the serene heaven in which its sum-
nit is lost. But, indeed, though fit, it is
I 81. oJoonc.o klon, fTnmori,cr ,vh ,Ln,a
the column which our hands have buiIdcd,
behold, not by the inhabitants of single
city or single State-ascends the colossal
grandeur of his character, and his life. In
all the constituents of one--in all the acts of
the oiher--in all its titles TO immortal love,
admiration and renown-it is an American
production. 1t is the embodiment aud vim
dication ofour transatlantic liberty. Born
upon our soil-of parents also born upon il
never for a moment having had a sight Of
the old word-insiructed according to the
modes of his time, only in the spare, plain,
but wholesome elementary knowledge which
our Institutions provide for the children Of
the people growing up beneath and Pene-
traed by the genuine influences of Ameri-
can society-growing up amidst our expan-
ding, but not luxurious, civilization-parta-
king in our great destiny of labor, our long
contest with unreclaimed nature and unciv-
iIized man-our agony Of glory, the war of
Iindependence-our great victory of peace,
the formation of the Union and the estab-
lishment Of the Constitution-he is all-al
our OWL That crowded aud glorious life
"Where muttudes of virtues passed along,
Each pressing foremost in the mighty throng
COntPndluO % he IN uU
For greater multitudes that were to come -
That life was the life Of an American citi-
zen.
/ claim him for America. In all the per-
lis, in every darkened moment of the State,
in the midst of the reproaches of enemies
and the misgiving of lriends-I turn to that
transcendant name for courage, and for con-
ISOLATION. To him who denies, or doubts
whether our fervid liberty can be combined
with law, with order, with the security OF
/ property, with the pursuits and advance
ment of happiness-to him who denies that
our Institutions are capable of producing ex-
altation of soul and the passion of true glory
Ito him who denies that we have contribu-
ted any thing to the stock of great lessons
. and great examples-to all these reply by
pointing to Washington!
And now, friends and fellow-ctizens, il
is time to bring this discourse to close.
We have INDUCED in gratifying recolec.
tlons OF the past, in the prosperity and pleas
ures of the present, and in high hopes of the
/. future. But let us remember that we have
duties and obligations to perform, CORES
pondlng TO the blessings which we enjoy
, Let us remember the trust, the sacred trust
attaching to the rich inheritance which W,
have received from our fathers Let us fee
! our personal responsibility, to the full extern
of our power and influence, for the preser
,. walton of our institutions of civil and reli
), gious liberty. And let us remember that j
: is only religion, and morals, and knowledge
that can make men respectable and happ,
:, under any form of government. Let us hole
fast the great truth that communities are re
, sponsible, as well as Individuals that NJ
y government is respectable which is not Just
> that without unspotted purity Of public faith
;, without sacred public principle, fidelity all,
- honor-no mere forms of government, NJ
4 machinery Of laws, can give dignity to polii
:, ical society. In our day and generation lie
= us seek to raise and improve the moral sen
. tnent, so that we may look, not for a de
Dr graded, but for an elevated and improved FL
= ture. And when we, and our children, sha
- all have been consigned to the house aE
=, pointed for all living, may love of country
. aud pride of country-glow with equal lel
Is vor among those to whom our names an
~ our blood shall have descended And then
5. when honored and decrepid age shall lea
a against the base of this monument an
ID troops of ingenious youth shall be gathere
. round it, and when the one shall speak to tn
- other of lis objects the nurnoses of its cor