Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1858-09-10

shipped and revered. AT every Jewish we'd
ding, the bride spills on the floor the wine
that is handed to her, to denote that Isracls
glory has departed, and its spiritual pre-emi-
hence passed away, and then the groom
breaks the goblet in twain, to show that the
temporal dominion is also in ruins, and the
sceptrc lost from the hand of Judah. q, IL
the time ever comes when our own dear coun-
try shall experience II like desolation, when
the sad bride of mournful groom shall need
to dash at her feet the glittering emblem OF
its destruction. it will be when we have for
saken the fires upon the affairs and wasted
the wealth of our glorious heritage in fratrl-
cidul strife o, we sons of patriot Christian
fathers hope and labor for better things
than this. The pilgrim spirit has not fled
| at walks in moons broad light,
| 1t watches the bed ofthe glorious dead
With the holy stars by night;
| II watches the bed of the brave who have bled,
| And shall guard the ice-bound shore
Till the waves of the Bay where the Nny-howcr
| lay
Shall foam and freeze no more"
And this leads me to the last lesson that |
can now mention. taught here to-day our
own responsibility as an integral part of the
nation. | have told You that this battle we
commemorate has more than a local interest
So have we who celebrate 1t more than
local connection. We are more than citizens
OF Bennington. or even than freemen OF Yer
mont We belong to America and to the
world. Tomorrow, the by-ways will be
strewed with faded garlands, flung carclcssly
forth from the ended pageant. When the
gala-day is over, the artisan will go back to
his toll, and the merchant to his counter
again The carnival streets will be sober
once more, and tho roadways will rattle with
the same dusty vehicles of labor. The world
will move ON as before but will its mis-
sion be ended Will society have
served its purpose when these trained bands
have put off their uniforms, the martial
music becomes silent, and you and | are
again quiet in our homes Oh, no /; then
begins the everyday pageant-the real
march of life. And what presses on my
mind now is the thought that every nations
is an instrument as well as an almoner.
What America shall be among the nation,
| depends upon what Americans seek to make
it to be.-God's providence has not done
with us vet. The sight which one of the old
Hebrew prophets saw on the banks of the
River. the vision of wheels within wheels, of
fire inioldcd in fire, of living creatures so
many headed and marvc4ously jewcled mys-
terious in their movements as in their make ;
going hther and thither in utter confusion
to eyes of sense but in harmony perfect to the
clear eyes of inspiration, this vision is the
fit similtude of God working in this mighty
nation to accomplish his own purpose Of
good. BE assured lie waits for you and me
to join Him in all the activities Of personal,
social and political life.
Young men who hear me-tO you | turn
with my exhortation. My brothers in this
generation, where stand we to-day ? | haye
-. :. q Il
intense sympathy with YOU in all that is
drawing higher and higher to you since
began. Hunters tell us that Il hazel twig
borne in the hand through the forest, will
bend toward the ground under which there
is spring. its own instinct of curiosity makes
it eager to reach the moisture. And when
take this little thought in my hands to-day
our relations as American citizens to Goo
and to good-and bear it over this grea
throng from one to another, ! seem to think
that by-and-by it will bend down IL little ,ant
| shall know that in some earnest, aspiring
Green MountainBoy, it will stir up the bidder
current Of man Is life to bid it welcome. With
this hope-oh how tenderly chcrished-havt
| come before you now. have loved my
native town, and gloried in its honor. Long
have | wished for some occasion, perhap s less
public than this, to bring my humble and
affectionute tribute of respect. and lay it al
the feet of those who love, as do. the home
where we were born Robert Burns wrote
in this place, and on this day, than thi,
little verse:
"a wish have, mind its power,
wish that to my latest hour
Will agitate my breast:
That | for poor old Scotlands sake,
Some useful plan or book could make,
Or sing a song at least"
And now, if to-day, by my delineatons OF
our fathers virtues and deeds all too feeble
and inadequate as they have been-or if by
the words of truthful sympathy and earnest
cxhortation, have kindled single soul to a
more patriotic life, then my end will have
been gained. My brothers, there is nothing
that an American young man cannot do, il
he wills it. The wide world is open, 1t is as
flour fathers in the years gone 10y had spent
their energies in forming and launching this
great Leviathan of State, Here now the huge
vessel lies in the channel but the great deer
is not yet traversed. The clamor is now fol
a crew. sinewy band Of trained men, who
may trim the sails and stand at the helm, as
| the ship goes to and lrJ on its errands OF love
treighted with mercy and laden with blessing:
, that can make the waste places to smile with
, verdure, and the desolate lands joyous with
praise. in this work we now 60 forth to-
gethcr. 1t may be we shall meet, on the sea
Of eternity, the old friends and the new to-
9ether. Perhaps shall be permitted to take
your h""'i. and we shall speak Of to-day and
II should happen to hear you say, you
,, went iorth from thiS grovc,-this one OF
goa =. nrst temples =, better patriot and
: II manicr man, then shall be gladdcned in
heart for | shall know tho n,tio son., s...e
: for old Bennington sake was welcomed fol
the loyo 1t horc in it for the fathers who have
gone.