The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1863-01-05

EwfVF.E EFF1 E|ENEH FWAF ny
some communications combating the positions
taken, apparently editorially, in that paper. Two
Of these articles, We think, appeared, accc mpa-
MED by responses from the gentleman who occa
sionelly welded the editorial pen for our contem-
porary. G.. was introduced by Mr.. Walton as a
statesman who had been long in public life. the
compeer of the younger Adams; and if we right
" guess, he was prominent in the Halls of Cen
gress years ago, when the great struggle for The
right Of petition wcs g~allaply fought and won BY
the giants Of those days. lie is still in public
life, though not in Congress, and his name, if We
were at liberty to give 1t, would be our abundant
excuse for yielding SO much Of our space to the
communication, which is accompanied BY the fol-
lowing note: L.ss
TO the Editor ofthe Green Mountain freeman:
Of SIR IL send you the enclosed communication
1t constituted a part of the correspondence be-
tween myself and the associate Editer Of WaionS
Daily Journal, and was sent to that paper for IN
sertion about the middle OF October, but not APP
pearing, ! wish yeu to insert it.
Very respectfully, G.
My DEAR WALTON The " Common Plat.
form - suggested by your associate Editor merely
proposed that the people should consent to the
% preparation Of all those revolving crimes which,
when aggregated and compounded, constitute
a ~slavery.' l understood that be was a man Of
'unusua ability, a graduate Of one of our learned
institutions, and was deeply versed in the casuis-
try and logic Of that popular college.
sas l felt that such doctrines wers at war with the
essential principles OF our government. and of
1 Chri stianity, and | was, therefore, not unwilling TO
expose them to your readers. In nay first nstice
of his platform, / stated the character Of slavery,
which he proposed 10 preserve. and then referred
to the primal truths OIL which our government was
based, in order 10 show that the very object for
n which it was established was the destruction of
slavery and oppression, so far as its constitute nal
powers extended that TO preserve that i%usttu-
b, ton would constitute an ope1throw OF the govern
ment, and u war upon Christianity. | was careful
to state that life, liberty and happiness are "g1ts
of God " constituting the rights of men, for the
protection of which governments are instituted.
was explicit on tkis point frorH the fact that l
verify believed that these truths CONNER ded
themselves to every patriotic and every christian
heart; and l hoped that your Editor would have
fastened to avow his devotion to them. But 10
my surprise he replied that they were " old anti
slavery Doctrines" and, eharacterizng them as
s. fallacious," refused to admit or deny their truth,
and made no attempt to extricate himself from
the position in which his proposition had placed
him. Yet he showed an anxiety to attribute to
myself errors which l never entertained, and to
Mr.. Adams opinions which he had ever discarded.
had intended no discussion of men. | felt that
he and | were OF little importance while princi-
plss, eternal and Interchangeable were worthy Of
paplic attention.
10 refuts his imputations upon Mr.. Adams and
myself, by showing them unfouaded, appeared
to me very much like " killing flies with a bod
kin " when | expected to encounter severe logic.
His evasions created a desire in my mind to
Hunmask +" him. Twas anxious to learn the ele-
ments of bis intellect, TO bring out the internal
emotions Of his mind, to the public view. His
proposition TO preserve slavery bore such perfect
analogy to that which, on a certain occasion, was
made to the Savior, that they seemed to have come
from the same author. To deny that our lives
and liberties are derived from the Creator, has
long been considered infdelity to God and man.
kind and, in my rejoinder, | called his attention
to these facts hoping to provoke him to an exon
GRAFTON of himself. / stated, and ! now again SOL