Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1855-07-14

those violent and sanguinary incidents that
usually mark the progress Of civil ar,-and
the gradual deyelopement out Of tho chaos Of
the struggle, Of well balanced systems of re-
publican government and federal union these
all must be allowed 10 set mark Of solitary
dignity and elevation upon our American Rev
olutiou They make it perhaps the only in
stance in history of the severance of a mighty
empire, equally to the advantage Of The new
State and the parent country the solitary case
Of rising republic not built upon the caami-
tous ruins OF earlier organizations.
You will readily perceive, my friends, that
the thovough treatment Of this subject in all its
parts would occupy much more time than can
he reasonably devoted to public address and
that 10 attempting to embrace them all in the
remarks venture 10 offer you, | must wholly
omit some important topics aud pass lightly
over others.
1t is impossible fully to comprehend the i'm
portanee of the work which was accomplished
in the colonization of America, without regard
ing ii as a part Of the great plan Of Providence
in disposing the time and circumstances Of the
discovery Of our continent hidden as il was
till the end Of the fifteenth century from the
rest Of the world. This thought was brought
50 forcibly to my mind few years since by
circumstance personal 10 myself, that think
you will pardon me for alludiug to it, though
in itself Of a trifing domestic character, In
the year 1871, ] occupied with my family the
Villa Careggi near Florence, mansion once,
as lis name imports, (Cdsa rcgia,) a princely
residence, belonging to tho Grand Duke Of
Tuscany, but Of late years private property and
occasionally leased 10 travellers. Half fortress,
half palace, it was built by CosMo DE MEDicl
in lii4, nine years before the capture Of Con.
s,antinople by the Ottomans in 1853. BY that
appalling event barbaruus race (Which had
issued frum the depths Of Asia some centuries
before, and had engrafted the Mahomean inn
posture on the primitive stock Of Tatiaran
paganism,) had stotmed the last stronghold Of
the ancient civilization, the metropolis of the
Greek Empire, and established the religion Of
the Koran at the heart Of the old world. Had
no great event occurred to renovate the civili-
zation of tho West, it is not easy to imagine
what might have been at this day the condition
of Chrisiendom. Even as it was, the Sultan
was for two centuries forward the strongest
illltdiN lOWtl III iuc NOIlu-tnt SCbuIEC
the terror of the Mediterranean, and the mas
ter Of some Of the finest provinces Of Eastern
Europe.
Bat the first gem Of revival sprung from the
ruins Of the old civilization. A host Of learn
ed and ingenious men, Christian scholars,--lcd
from the edge Of the Turkish scmeiar and
took refuge in Italy. They were received with
hospitality there and especially by the mer-
emy was established in the arcades of the Villa
Canegi "a great intellectual restoration took
place in Italy and spread rapidly to the West
or Europe where precisely at the same time
the art Of printing, (aiter slowly struggling
through successive stages of improvement in
the cities of the Netherlands and the Rhine, }
bursting upon the world in a state Of perfection
not surpassed at the present day. The stores
of learning and thought accumulated by the
mind of antiquity were thrown open 10 the
world The modern bar and Senate were not
yet created, philosophy stammered 10 the jar
gon of the schools but Cicero, and Demoihen-
es, and Plato slept forth from the dusty alcoves
of monkish libraries. The pulpit Of ST. Chry-
soston was hushed, but Moses and the proph-
cts, the Eyangeisls and the Apostles rose, if
l. may venture 10 say 30, as i'ou' u'e ue'n'-
Inc hrs' pook ever printed WIN ua'e aP-
peared IN lloo, Uusl iour centuries ago inis
year) ana IN iioS' h'ne years O"ly amer 'ne
horan began 10 he read al Oohslahlnopie' 'he
hioie went ior'h on ,he wings oi ,he press 10
the four quarters oil the world Mahome' inc
second had struck down ,he 'as' Ohris'ian en-
peror Do, rauS'' ana och@ner' ana uuiten
oerg' me o'iasouis printers aimou oeauiie'
olo" at Mahome, me hIs'' nus code OF oaroa'
rihm' ana all 'he h"s's 0, po'i'cai ana spiri,u'
al darkness throughout 'he world Inc walls
OF byzan'lum spou'ns torrents OF unquencha'
bic iiame had crumoied out 'he mind oi the
world rallied 10 the new eonoat under 'ne NV
ing artillery o. 'he press ana came Oh 'ic'ori'
Gus. eonrict more important 10 humanity
was never waged on ear'h. Ana from thai
day to this, The civilized world oil Europe ane
America Is Indebted Tor ihai superiority which
no second night oi ignorance can darken' nc
new lncursion oil vandalism can overthrow, ''
an enlightened, conscientious independent press
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