Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1861-04-26
Caatrbmau & State 5uurnal.
WHAT'S OUR GOVERNMENT WORTH
MONTPELIER, APRIL 20, 1851.

oN our alheFs' might perhaps DC rcckoheu'
How many dollars and cents they gave and
loaned TO the State and borrowed for IL, in
order to build the massive structure Of popu-
lar sovereignty and freedom, and cement this
Union, might possibly be computed. Blu;
they also gave for it what has no material
equivalent And if one wishes to have oven
faint idea Of what this government cost, let
him 90 to Lexington and Concord, to Breeds
Hill and Saratoga, to Brooklyn, Bennington
and Yorktown, TO Cowpons and Eutaw
Springs, and to all those places famed in A
merican History, whore the blood Of our ia
theirs flowed like water as the price which
was paid not simply for our liberty, but
chiefly for our Lap. for our Goyeramont-
They counted nothing dear unto them if only
they might rear a political fabric unlike and
more glorious than all others.
Within this temple Of freedom, purchased
with money, when money was the price, and
with blood when blood was the price, our
fathers enthroned Liberty and Law, and Sc
cured for US a citizenship which combines for
us the privileges Of authority with the attri-
butes Of subsection and obedience. No other
Government can be so strong, because it rep
reseuts the CiH of the people none so free,
because it enlists their hearts. Its cost was
inestimablc, but its value infinitely exceeds
the cost What are the treasures paid for j.,
the suferings and hardships and lives given
TO it, compared with what il has been worth
to our fathers as possession and to their
children as heritage. Valley Forge. Bun
ker's Hill, Brandywine and Germantown,
were all small price for so strong, so free,
so glorious institutions rs those under which
we have lived.
But its worth has been augmenting every
day. In all material advantages and spen-
doris it has been gaining with an unparalleled
speed. 1t has ovorspread a continent with its
blessings 1t has filed the world with its
fame. On all seas and in all countries its
"star spaDgled banner" has commanded re-
spect, persuaded admiration, and been the
beacon of struggling nations 1t has waved
in the fore front of the advancing movement
Of the worlds inhabitants in their tidal pro-
gress toward popular freedom, purified and
strengthened by submission to law. It's mem
cries are knit into the hallowod past. Its
bonds hold together the living and the dead |
1t connects us with Washington our national /
father, and with all those noble names of he
roes, statesmen, warriors and patriots, which /
are inscribed in luminous letters on the scroll
of our country's history. 1t is associated
with all that we have known and loved and
honored. 1t has impressed its value upon all
our interests and estates, upon our domestic |
security and happiness, upon our science and |
art and literature, upon the graves of our an
cestors, and upon the hopes with which we
anticipate the generations of the future. 1t
has wound itself around our hearts, our
homes, our persons, our affairs, and all that |
we cherish and prize, by thousand cords of
sympathy and affection. 1t is more to us than
houses or lands or commerce more than
father or mother or wife or children; more
than life itself, for in its preservation and per-
manence, these all have protection and secu
rity and continue to be blessings beyond price.
1t is more to us than any other earthly good,
UtCdu6I III us tiuOIdCt anu care All otuti
earthly good resides. 1t is the best heritage
we can leave to our children, for it is the only
power that will secure to them and guard for
them any other inheritance we may leave. It's
continued and permanent existence is the only
guarantee of the wealth, the happiness the
earthly welfare of the myriads who shall de-
rive from as their being, their names and their
mortal destiny 1t is the citadel Of every
hope, every joy and honor, of all virtue and
all love.
And now what is it worth If foreign
foe should ask this question with sword in
in hand we should give no less answer
than our blood. And is it worth less when
the hands Of those it has fostered, aim their
blows at its very heart and life, Is it worth
less when those who have fought and won
nown under its flag, clamor for Its overthrow
and exult in its anticipated destruction ?
VIII we give less to secure 1t from treason
than from foreign ambition? No to us it is
wealth, security, protection-To us it is hon
or, freside. religion-To us and to the I'M
born generations who come after us, it is
Liberty and Law. 1t is the fortress Of our
safety. 1t is the temple of our freedom, Of
our obedience and praise, of our reverence
and love, where we have worshpped, and
where the coming ages will worship unless
God has forsaken us Confding in his
strength, we tell the armed traitors who con-
spire its overthrow, and who have lifted their
sacrelgious hands against its honor and its
flag, that we--though it be worth nothing to
them-wili give for it and to it, all and more
than our fathers gave; that we will defend
it to the last that there is no treasure in our
Golfers and no blood in our hearts, that we
will not give for that which is priceless, and
we will thus purchase and transmit it to our
children. as their best heritage.
In this contest let not Vermont be behind
her sister States. Vermont owes a great
debt TO the Union, and let her meet the first
instalment in men and money, with a unani-