The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1854-03-01

OF this meeting, and that 800 copies of
the same be published in the form of Il
circular. WIN BIGELOW. Gin.
PEREZ HAYWOOD, Jr., Secy pro tenn.
Fellow Citizens of Vermont:
The Executive Committee of the
Bennington Battle Monument Associa-
ton have thought best to address YOU
respecting the object they have under.
taken to accomplish At their meeting
at Rutland, on the 18th instant it was
decided to solicit contributions from CIV
cry man in the State, and to receive
from no person a larger sum than ten
dollars 1t was thought that selfrcs-
pect would appeal with sufficient force
to every citizen Of the State. to raise the
requisite sum to secure the appropria-
ton made by the Legs 'ature. Aud
when we TOOL; at the state with two hun
dred aud forty towns and more than for
ty-tivo thousand men exercising the
right Of elective franchise, We copnot
but believe that a much larger sum
than seven thousand dollars will be re-
allied Looking at the fact that if Eve
individuals in each of the two hundred
towns should contribute fifty dollars. it
would amount to ten thousand dollars :
leaving forty-four thousand freemen
whose contributions will be solicited can
we fail to raise at least fifteen thousand
dollars The committee are confident
that the citizens Of the State DO not
wish this monument erected by few
wealthy individuals, but that every man
when he looks upon it, or speaks Of it to
his children, shall be able to say, IL
helped to build it with my own free
contribution" The 81 Of May next has
been appointed for Il meeting of the As
ISOLATION. to learn the result of our pro
posed effort The committee hope to
sec at least one thousand corporate
members at that meeting, and to lay
before them such designs for a monn-
ment as they may have obtained We
trust that the result, as there represent
ed, will authorize the Association to 90
forward aud lay the corner stone by the
10th Of August next, as the Act of in
corporation requires. Then the sons of
Vermont, at home or abroad. whether in
the cities of our own or other countries.
in the great valley of the West, or in
the land of gold upon the Pacific, may
be solicited to send an offering of patri-
otlsm, a pledge Of lasting generation for
those noble men who bore so important
a part in the revolutionary struggle. and
by whose wisdom and frmuess. Vermont
became a sovereign State The COM
mitteo cannot believe that a monument
costing less than twenty thousand dol
lars, with the most prudent outlay of
money, would satisfy the wishes Of the
patriotic sons Of this Commonwealth
Fellow citizens, let us look a moment
at the Importance of the Battle of Ben,
nington. in the achievement of our Ma
tional Independencc.-llis Excellency,
the Governor Of New York las recent
~ said, at the dedication of the monu-
ment erected to the memory of the cap
tors of Major Andre, that the surrender
of Gen. Burgoync, was the means of the
Colonies effecting a treaty with France
and if it had not been made, we should
not have gained our Indcpend Let
us inquire how much the battle of Ben.
nington contributed to The surrender of
Burgoyno ? \ large detachment of his
army vanquished. one thousand of his
men killed, wounded and taken prison
ers his force further weakened by de-
sertion of Tories and Indians. the re-
mainder Of his detachment escaping by
flight, returning to tell that those whom
they had been taught to call "rebel
dogs came to the fight with upburnsh-
ed arms, slouchod hats, and without
shoes; but they came with fearless
hearts, with a steady aim, and that their
fire was death. As night was gathering
over the field of blood, our victorious
soldiers returning from pursuing the
flying foe, gathered around the brave
Stark and Warner, and sent to Heaven
the shout Of yictory,-which was the
first note Of rejoicing heard in the nor
thern department of the American army
for more than twelve months. 1t was a
voice of cheer to the American heart
and gave strength to her arms in the
hour of conflict Who will say that
the Battle of Bennington was of less
consequence in the great issue, than the
Battle of Bunker IIill} Add to this,
that many Of those bravo men were the
same that, for more than twenty years,
had defended. with their lives. the New
Hampshire Grants and think of the
days and nights of peril through which
they passed, before Vermont felt the
first pulsation Of organic life. VIII not,
then, voice come from all Vermont
from all her whether at home
or abroad-Lct tie Monument rise
let the names of those noble men be
written whore the memorial shall be as
imperishabl as the lofty mountains which
ever remain the landmarks of the home