Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1855-09-01
POETRY.
ExTRAor IRON "LIBERrY.o y

EXTRACT FROM CELEBRITY"
A POEM-DEuyEnED by Hon. Cns. TuuR-
nEn, At rus COMMENCEMENT At uNIoS COLLEGE
We copy from the Schenectady Reflector the fol-
lowing extract which will sufficiently recommend
itself;
"The poet Of the evening Hon. Charles Thur
Der, by a singular, hut wholly undcsgnod, coinci-
dcnce, had chosen the same subject as the orator,
and, by a line Of argument graty dissimilar, ar
rived at precisely the same conclusion. His theme
was "Liberty," and in the treatment Of it he dealt
n series Of trcnchant blows az the shams Of the
time, which told with effect upon an audience
which had already sat through the address Of Prof
Marine. The lateness Of the hour induced the
reader to omit large portion of the poem, which
he did with less rcgrct-as he informed the audi
ence-from the fact that in the part omitted he has
taken the same ground as the previous speaker
viz that in a Spiritual Freedom consists the only
true Liberty.
In the course Of the poem, our savish submis-
sion to the "flith of our fathers" whatever that
faith might be- was satriricaly and forcibly exhib
tied Being n Baptist HIMSELF the speaker takes
liberty with that sect, upon which he would not
otherwise have ventured
A cognatc vein Of tints peculiar shines,
And marks the faith Of patronymic lines;
From sire to son the same peculiar hue,
OF Faith and Race fills that ancestral pew.
A touch of Calvin, like electric Shocks
Thrills all the lines from old parental stocks.
Armnan flashes, like ssy-rockets, shine,
And scintate all down the heightened line.
The lneal Pedo, at Loves altar WARNS,
And boots the Faith, in ccrcmonious forms
The stuly Baptist to the letter leans,
And knows exactly what Baptidzo means;
The faith of both comes down from sire to son,
Without Greek root or Latin lexicon;
The polished Arian, waxing very warm,
Politely asks his hearers to reform;
The courtly Churchman knows Of no Diyincs
But such as come through apostolic lines;
The Swedenborgian prOrcs that truth must be
An uent-ellux-trinno-unityi
The Uniyersalist begs our fallen race
Tug hard for hclven-for there's no other place:
The Quaker, spurning all sectarian whims,
Sticks TO bad grammer and enormous brms;
The graceful Shaker on his conscience feels
Religion purest on the nimblest heels,
And if mankind would just adopt his rules,
'rwould clear the earth Of sinners and of fools;
The dupes of Miller preach the cid idce
That time must stop in eighteen forty three,
And Mormon saints implore their pious sons
If they are able-fo be Soiomoas,
The table-tipper peers, as though glass,
And tells the future, when 'ts come opass;
And proves the spirits still on VISIONS track
Because, forsooth, they re rappihg nonsenseback
Good Papal logic comes so pat 10 read,
Pat needs no Bible, only just the creed.
No reasoning out what not reasoned in;
And like Faith, neeled, both in this and that,
Removing mountains and nyeIting Pat.
While the poor skeptic, so surprising wise,
Finds that the Bible is q pack of lies,
Then out of chaos gets some struggling lays,
And thinks he's now in Truths meridian blaze
AS the dull ostrich, when the arder fails,
Delights to banquet upon rusty uails.
In Politics, too, our belief is Inherited with III,
paternal acres. The legeneracy Of these poliiica
days, and especially Of modern rulers, receive
honorable mention -
In oldcn times the "greatest and the best
Swayed Freedoms sceptre o'er our happy West.
But where's the man who ventures 70 ayow,
The best and wisest always WELD IT now
Though God forbid your humble servant should
Say modern rulers are not ''great and good"
And God forbid, with fiat mightier far,
That your poor rhymer should assert they are
David once dis now as true as then
"God takes no pleasure in the legs Of men,"
But now each party for its eheftain begs,
To find the one who has the longest legs,
And length Of leg, like longitude is got,
BY incest oyphering and acuest thought.
The local influence that the chief can WELD,
The amount of forces muster to the field,
The anteoedents scattered DER the past,
The love and hatred in the way amassed,
These, weighed and balanced, are so many pegs
To stretch or shorten his polite legs.
SO much a matter of course is the fact es
teemed that, in politics, the son will step into tn
paternal shoes, that where the exception occurs,
is attributed to an affection of independence NOR
slayish than the course it seeks to avoid
The old Wing knows, when done with earth
affairs,
He'll leave his riches to some good Wing heirs
His nearest neighbor, and with whom he chats,
Turns out batch Of good sound Democrats;
And the Free Soiler, when he woos and weds,
Expects a crop of little woolly heads;
And "San" himself that slyest of all rogues,
Means to leave none to chatter foreign brogue,
And Southern Hotspurs breed full many squil
With mouth, like Cacus, brmming full of fire.
Another salient feuture of our political systei
is hit off in these capital lines:
As soon as Patrick reaches Gotham's strand
He grows native of Columbia's land,
He knows the party with the truest souls,
By watching Michael going TO the polls;
He knows the doctrines - for they're Murphy
And shows his reasons in his bony fist; Dis
And martyr-like, clings to his party views,
Unless forbid by some Archbishop Hughes,
Except said Hughes, as now the matter looks,
Is really swamped in one of Gothams Brooks
1t was matter Of regret that necessity con
PEELED the curtailment of the spirited and humoi
Gus poem of Mr. Thurber, but his consideration f
the audience in so doing, was as creditable to Il