Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1846-06-18

here Suffice it to say that nom MS cItui' W L h7
grave, he was guilty OF no act Whlch Llgut lno'G n
hare tn the world all the events Of his lite. In those
transactions by which he will be best known to those
who shall come after him mean his agency IN the
immediate deverance of his enslaved countrymen
from bondage with all the train of subsequent events
closing with his leath-he will in the light OF truth,
stand acquitted of crime, whether the trial he had be-
fore the bar of an honest public sentiment or the more
awful tribunal Of justice. :,
One who deems it an honor to have been reckoned
among his personal friends, may be permitted to pay
pa ssing tribute to his many gifts and virtues MI
rorrey was no common man. Possessed OF natural
y vigorous mind he had cultivated its powers ny Gas
steal and general literature and expanded tS Capacl-
ties by great variety of valuable knowledge AS
public sneaker, he was ready, clear forcibe-as
debater acute elastic, strong-as a writer, perspcu-
GUS racy viuorousas preacher, sincere, solemn, In
strlctive. His most prominent chardctenscs-those
which so endeared him to his friends, that they hearth
" forgave all his fautswere benevolence generosl-
ty, enthusiasm frmness energy He did not hastily
make up his mind but once arrived at conclusions,
the man never existed who was more prompt to take
the position which conscience dictated or more brave
and determined maintaining it, regardless OF per-
sonal consequences. Had he devoted himself to the
art or rather, the crime of war; all WHO knew hun well
will accede to the opinion, that he would have distin-
guished himself as a military leader Of uncommon
skill and courage But happy for the world his tastes
no less than his convictions of duty led him to do bat
tie with cruelty and wrong in the more quiet, but, alas
in his case, not less perous fields of Christian Re-
forn-whither he carried those rare.Quaties Of mind,
which, had they been displayed in the camp would
have covered his name with the vulgar usre Of
the successful soldier
ltls not surprising that such man was among the
early few who offered up their all on the altar Of the
slaves redemption, He had not been long enrolled in
small, hand hpforp his mind seemed
Ter fully and almost literally into the apostolic njunc
ton, Remember them that are in bonds as bound with
them" The wrongs of the slave possessed the inner
chambers of his soul, and became incorporated with
his moral being. To labor for their emancipation; to
devise aud execute plans for their deverance, was
not to him mere cold duty it was passion For
many years, his services IN this cause we're arduous
and constant; involving the sacrifice of ease station,
reputation-the yielding up of tme property, health,
and finally life ITSELF for the rescue of millions of poor
obscure, despised men, who, had they ever known Of
his tolls in their behalf could have repaid him only
with their grateful tears. For them he lost his pro-
tessona standng-for them he ate the bread Of pen
ury-1or them he endured fatigue and encountered
per--for them he suffered contumely Imprisonment
and lingering torture-f1r them he met cruel death,
in strange land, nosome prison. far from home,
wife, Children friends,
But it is laid TO his charge that he was misguiged
and rash, and that his untimey fate tho natural
result of his own imprudence.
Sir, if the world had never witnessed any impru-
dence it had never seen any change. Prudent mem
II use the term in its common accppltion rudey ha2-
ard anything in unpopular enterprises. Prudent men
rarely the seed whose crop to be reaped By pos
terty. Snail mjnOrtes are always imprudcnt when
they attack vices and institutions strongly entenchcd
and fortified by the preudices and affections of al
overwhelming public opinion. And yet, to the daring
mprudence Of small bands OF "olicous meddlers," is
the world indebted for every cherished reform in
the science Of morals and government Those who
build the tonbs of the prophets are the descendants
of their nurderers When a mountain is thrown into
the sea- the waves recoil and foau and then rush or
the intruder and again recoI, and then rush again
and again recede, TILL having spent their strength ant
rag, they settle around and kiss its base, and the
smooth and quiet bosom reflects back the image o
the mighty object which creates the commotlon. So
strong, rash man SEXES a great reormatory princi
ple and hurs it into the wide weltering of sur
rounding error It is repudiatcd denounced, combat
ted -ostracsed by the state and communicated b,
the church-but it settles down upon its firm basis
wlthstands all assaults, till, by its intrinsic eXcelenc
and power it subdues opposition, and its enemies be
come its worshipers and do it homage. Such reform
and retorners are to the moral and political world
like the lghtnings and the empests of the physca
universe, which purify nature and prevent its element
from Stagnating in corruption. Sir, the men, the bar
mention Of whose Names now sends lresher gloy
through the hearts of philanthropy and religion wer
by their contemporaries, branded rash and impru
dent As it was then, so is it now and 30 will it b
till the end Of time
But, il Torey was imprudent IN the adoption an
prosecution Of those enterprises which cost him HI
life, it was because he possessed in large degre
some of the nobest attributes of the human SOUL
His pity moved him to investigate the woes of til
slaves-his enthusiasm carried him past the ordinary
avenues to their dsenthralment, into paths con
genial to his warm and impusve heart-the fertt
of his invention devised plans for their deverance-
his generosity despsed the personal sacrifices whic
their execution demanded-his indomitable courag
was equal to the hazards of the enterprise He fe
a victim to his noble daring, because he was in &C
vance of his coaborers in this protracted conflict
He died martyr, because he saw slavery as it vii
be viewed by those, who, in coming years, shall rea
the history Of this great struggle in the light of vlco
ry. Acting upon what his penetrating eye saw a
realities, he did what the mass denounce as wicket
what the majority of the more rejecting call rash
while his deeds are but imperfectly appreciated b
the most sanguine Of his co-workers in the Anti-Si
very enterprise.
1t is a melancholy reflection, that our decease
friend not only revlied by the vulgar and wcke
while enduring than the horrors of the lnquis
ton, but despised and ected of menf from whor
on account of their stations and protested dignity
character he had right to expect if not cordial a
az iCoSt uCCCil iCSuu' lhO9C lu7r
to look down with contempt upon the labors and cha
acter of Torrey, But it would largely detract fro
their self graduation to know that their affected CO.
tempt for him and his deeds, sprang not from any re
superiority of mind or heart or occupation but aro
simply and alone from their desttuton of that nobi
and elevation of soul which could make them capab
of approaching one so much their superior in all tn
constitutes real greatness. By this class of men,
well as by more ndugent portions of his countryme
his reputation for years to will be like that of
reformers who have been far in advance of their az
as to seem dwars to their contemporaries. As Of
born out of time, he will be regarded as an intruder
forbidden ground. But, we need no voice echoil
back from futurity to tell u.s. that while the contemp
rarles of the reformer may blacken the fame kill Il
body of the man whom they cannot appreciate, pc
terity is faithful to its trust i'll garnshing his Sc
ulchre
But sir, from Aboitonists- who have fathor
cd the wrongs of the slave-those who have taken Il
dimensions of this huge system of crime and blood
the living devotion and appalling death of our broth
have right to demand at least the cheap tribute
6a1 oboE,ov, / t,oro hn H..