Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1866-11-15
The Sources of New England Civil
ization.
Il Discourse deiipaed before tie Hcrmoat his.
toyicat Society," Oct 10, 1866,

~ nav y hAhhiNs OhAfLtsTOWNs MASS
CouSraIEs may be sliced up into distinct territories
by the couquerors sword, is the fashion in Europe
hut, they cannot be thus constituted into naonses
Like the pine or the oak. true nationality isa growth
thing not to be mado by the re- djustment OF The
political balances the change OF territorial land
marks, but by slow process VI development, make
itself Plant the piue-oone and the upon the
sunny slope OF some Of your green hills nov 90
gorgeous In their glory, can you make the cone
produce the oak, or the acorn the pine2 Can you
substitute the murmurug needles Of the onr for the
shapely and classic foliage Of the othcrl No more
can You change nation into the other; eau
you, out Of given materials manufacture hnmogene-
Gus nation ;anation with history, with Institutions
with an ideal consistent with itself, and reproducing
the national characteristics, generation after
generation. No less than the oak and the pine, such
product, such intellectual, social and political
power, s ia growth. And il il groWth not merely
from the germ Of the original seed; It is growth
which has drawn 10 ITSELF and fed upon, the elements
/ Of the soil 10 which it has been imbedied a growth
which has topped itself out into thousand lungs to
breathe 10 the atmosphere Of heaven around il, which
has hted up thousand open hands to catch the
sunlight and the rain from heaven above IL, and
which, shooting downward has hardened, and
strengthened and eutreuohet itself against thousand
beating tempests IN the earth beneath It,
Humboldt says that the current produced by the
passage Of the waters Of the Ornoco between the
South American continent aud the island Of Trinidad
is so powerful, that ships with all their
spread and with a westerly bretz in their favor can
presence OF this mighty movement Of waters convinced
Columbus that he approached continent since only
"A
spread over this country, as are American institutions,
! no thoughtful mind can doubt the shaping aud CON
] trolling influence in them, OF NEW ENGLAND CIvILz
ATGIN wherever and Just in proportion this cviiza-
ton has been permitted 10 make itself felt IL is my
present purpose, 70 indicate OF the sources OF
this civilizations Tor % only the mountain ranges aud
table lands AID plains OF continent sufficient to
I produce the Orinoco, back OF this all peryadiug,
! ubiquitous New England Civilization there must be
something worthy OF our study.
] The first source Of New England Civilization ia
I manfestiy New England history. There are those
who regar' historical studies and pursuits With con-
tempt With them, thing that is past, is done with
/ What care they, when or by whom country was
discovered, settled cleared and civilized, provided
these things have been accomplished sometime, and by
some onel But, the truth is, the history OF nation
must always exert sovereign influence over It's
destiny. nsme locality an event Of the past .
may do more toward determining the character and
tendency Of the present. than all the most ambitious
and priuocly spirits Of generation. SAYS Vnet
50 Eminent men do one work, and their memory does
another; ofeu indeed, the work ct their memery Is
the most durable and best" Il is the province Of
history to embalm and transmit this memory that il
may have Nn opportunity to do its legitimate work
Il IL il true that the very deeds of the founders Of
States are, In themselves, immortal; have a direct
work to do, TO the end OF time. But, the iu1u
euce of msny public act Is in itself, temporary,
while the influence Of It's memory never can be
/ estimated The discovery Of America, by Columbus
was an event, The uiuerce OF which never will
TO be tilt That single resuue mAn, whose faith WAS
the substance Of things hoped Tor, and the evidence
Of things not seen, put his hs nd the helm of the
worlds progress that II will never lose the impulse
impaired Bat, iu Of subiimity and tender interest
as is the history Of this event, It dues not live as
vital force in the memory Of men, as many lesser
one few discoveries, a few scientific men, may be
inspired 10y 10; lew more may be comiorted in their
dscouugemeuts. The deed, snd not the memory,
does the greater work The achievement, the opening
Of this vast continent TO the enterprise and oivizl ion
Of the old world, the linking OF the old world and
the new in intero urse, In commerce, IN nstiouaues
ia history, and lately almost la space, CELEBRATING the
very oceau that be crossed this is what Columbus
accomplished He found % place, too, for the Great
Republic OF the future. This was his work.
II There were others who came TO this continent a
century and half later, eXles for conscience sake
from their native land, who founded this Republic, tor
which he had provided place shall not be under
stood as speaking dspafagiueB OF the work OF
Columbus when / say, that IN grandeur OF moral
results, this work greater than his The little
ship from Delft llayeu outSeiGhei the Spanish fleet
irem Palus lt Was given to him TO open new world,
of whose vastuess, WhOte beauty, whose richness Of
structure and imperial future, he had little
conception. 1t was permitted 10 them To determine
the Institutions, social civil ami POLITICAL which sh uld
preponderate in this world, to- establish that type
Of civilization. which should impress itself upon all
future generations II Columbus discovered a new
word, II be opened up pathway through the waters
to its unknown shores, IL he drew towards il the
thoughts and the enterprise Of the older nations of
the earth; it was theirs, to enter into successful
competition with the various types Of civilization that
appeared here, and 20 triumph them all; IL was
theirs, SO far as institutions are concerned
new world, the model OF which they brought in
the cabin Of the MAY flower. ss adventures car
~ ready made dwellings, 70 California
They live ia their deed but they live also ia their
memory The wake of their little vessel, winged by
faith will always be pathway Of light the eyes Df
the future II still stands anchored, spectral ship
in Plymouth hsfbor. Tho pen OF the historian and
the poet and the tongue OF the eloquent have never
ceased, and will never 10 do them honor. md
perpetuate their memory. That memory will live and
do it's work 10 the end OF time moral atmosphere
goes forth from II, that every man born ia New
England must breathe. He may rot like the Pilgrims;
he may invdlOusly intimate, that they had an eye TO
the cod fisheries Of the new world "A we'll as to its
uyUhf tff
drawn p0,terori trum tne ohstac .erstics Of some
OF their children But still, he vii see that In their
chsrsct and work which he will be COMPELLED TO
honor, which will impress itself upon hiG spirit
and inspire hio life He cannot stand upon that Rock
once irodden by Carver and Brewster and St4ndsh
fresh from the BAPTISM OF n winter sea, without
thanking God for such ancestors aud praying thst he
may not prove unworthy OF them, unfajthful to
what they committed 90 the keeping Of their children.
Add 30 Of the events OF the revolution Can a
citizen Of New England escape the influence OF such
names and places as Lexington aud Concord, as
Bennington aud Saratoga Can we walk among the
ruins OF Iconderoga, which, for her unnatural sister,
the heroism Of Vermonlers wrested from the grasp
OF the tue, without recalling that stalwart figure now
lmmortahzet ia stone al the entrance Of your own
capitol, OF him, who stood with upfted sword,
AZ the gate OF that fortress, and demanded its sur
render in the name OF the Great Jehovah aud the
Continental Congress; two powers then Joined to-
gether, not now to be put ssunder Can he stand
Vi on the remnants Of the old entertainment where
Warren fell and not his noble daring his longing
lingering look, nc the field that was osti All! these
memories are the most precious heir looms that New
] EnglandeTs have Let suitable monuments mark
such halloWed spots Let the sculptor the painter
reproduce these historic persOnages these attitudes
these deeds that die. Let the annals OF the
past be gathered up aud treasured for our children
~ the best security OF the future New England
Civilization will thus continue to be the outgrowth of
New England history And, We see the same
features and characteristics repeating themselves here
aud lheren the development Of individual families, so
our Warfens aud our Aliens will re-sppear in our
Wlnthrups and our Ssnnards to the end Of time
The second source Of New England Civilization
the rare original elements in il, New England Civz-
land soil; only in New England latitude II the
seeds Of THIS civilization had been planted in the rich
loan OF Virginia, instead OF the barren sands of Ply.
mouth; II they had found more genial latitude sad
more generous nurtIre escaping the long winters and
EASTERN storms the sterile aud rocky hills OF New Eng
land the result wonld have been far different We talk
ABOUT overcoming the ineloites OF climate of subdu-
ing nature 10 produotiyenesB as though the direct VIC
tory we're the great achievement; though TO make
TWO blades Of grass grow where grew before, TO
double the bushels OF wheat potatoes that
an acre produces, to invent mower a reaper which
snail do the work of lfdozen men, 10 convert a
neglected waterfall into a mill cite to make 1t give
Impulse 10 thousand dashng shuttles or ten thOus
anu Whirrng spndes, were the grand result of our
ehoFts There Is moral victory grander than this.
Tue hobles result II The development Of cert in quail
tues IN the victor We triumph the soil the eli
matt, the natural disadvantages which we encounter.
But, these ineiioites call them, put to tuition
slso. We develop the possibilities OF Nature. We
n