Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1845-01-17

"--'1It
this dav, when tne hearts OF all her children are
turned to that magnetic rock, am here to invite
you to visit your prirneval homo. Let us, then,
on this her natal dav, renew our homage to our
venerable mother, kndle anew the fires of our
patriotism. BY recurring 10 the memories Of her
youth, and animate and refresh our spirits by
reverenlly listening TO the counsels OF her ma
turer aye.
The home to which invite you is not our
material birth place, nor shall aim to touch
your sympathIes, by pc'urlng to your fancy the
scenes of your childhood, the a, the mountain,
the plain. or the river, which lrowned or smiled
on tn G mansions OF your fathers, or the cottages
of your widowed mothers, by reminding you Of
the elm that bent over your cradle, and the
pines that sighed by the graves of your kindred
or by describing our agush climate, with its al
formations Of chill and fever, when the fervd
heat of brief and ti'lul summer serves but to
make more sensible The cold OF a long and rigor-
rous winter. Neither viii dwell on the instu-
tons of our native land the dstric, free school,
the humble church and It's simple Worship the 81.
lence nl the unbroken Stbblrh, the free cleo
ton, the equal rights and equal level Of all her
people !; for these, even more than the local
features, the soil and the climate, the hill and
the valley, the sreamlet and the ocean, charac-
terize the material being of New England but
it is Ia the fundamental principles ON which
these institutions rest, and the inbred trains of
character which mark us as people, that shall
call your attention, and, so far as the brief hour
to which am limited by the propr cites of the
occas on, will permit, ! shall dnvelOpc hose
principles and and refer these charar'er sic
traits to the external Influences which have M
planted or strengthened them.
But may well invite 10 accompany us on ia
THANKSGIVING visit, not the descendants of the
ples, and especially those brothers of the same
blood, twin scions of the ancient Gothic stock
with whom you are now domciIiated, and whose
ancestors, after having themselves noby fought
and triumphed in the same glorious struggle
against the crown and the mIlre, received and
cheered with kindly sympathes your eXled
forefathers, as they rested on their way, TO gath
er strength for the long aud hazardous pilgrim
age that lay before them
Nor do address myself alone to the Chris
tan philosopher, who knows that the integrity
of his religion depends upon the cardinal doc
trine of the Puritan faith, the recognition OF bnl
the authority and the suiicienoy of the revealed
and unsophstcated word of God to the states
man, who is able to perceive the IndssoubIe
connexon between his country's veal and he
adherence to those principles of civil and ecce
sastIca polty which New Testament Chris
tianiiy sanctions to the merchant prince, who
is conscious that he owes to Puritan impulse,
those en,erprslng energies of which his well
earned gains ure the just and appropriate re
ward, TO him who boasts a nobler genealogl
than that of Howard, because he bears a nam,
that is subscribed to the covenant sealed in The
Mayfowers cabin, but also to the humble AM
hopeful YOUTH who, having been bred in pcnur'
and ignorance, can hope to be emancipate,
from those shackles, only by the favor of sucl
institutions as our ancestors have founded, am
who chershes that decent bride, which impel
him to rely on his own energies, to despise tn
vanity of birth, and to thank God that the cur
rent Of his veins Is tainted by no drop Of roya
or of noble blood.
IN discussing the only subject appropriate t
the occasion, il is not my aim To pamper or eX
cite feeling of sectional or dsdanful pride i
the descendants Of those to whom the cause c
civil and religious liberty is 50 deeply indebted
but to awaken in you conviction that your vii
tues and your liberties can be maintained invic
late only by steady adherence to the ground
upon which they are founded, and in these day
of evil omen, when the principles Of your fal
ers are every where spoken against, and tn
fierce strfes Of contendng factions, and the IN;