The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1866-04-25

pcCttlOn VI TcWuIu VI pluCO VI PONSi
ever shook the truthfulness of Solomon
Foot.
" Among innumerahle false, unmoved,
Unshaken, nsueduced, unterrfed,
His loyalty he kept his love, his zcal
Nor number nor example with him wrought
To swerve from truth or change his constant
mind,
Though single"
Senator Foot was patriotic man.
lie loved his land because it was his own,
And scorncd to give aught other reason
why"
He cherished the principles of the
Declaration of Independence. He be-
leved that all men were created free and
equal; and yet suborlinated his acts and
theories to the Constitution of the land.
Constitutional liberty was his watchword,
and when by force of law all men became
absolutely free he was the earnest and
fearless advocate of those measures de-
signed to protect the freedman in all his
civil rights.
But. sir, when the first gun was fired
at Fort Sumter, and the cry "To arms !"
tains of his native State, then the noble
ness, the patriotism, the generosity of
Solomon Foot shone forth like star.
Calmly and serenely he met the issue, and
everywhere infused into the people his
own heroic and enthusiastic nature. And
when at times during the progress of the
rebellion the clouds seemed to lower about
us. his faith in God and liberty never
faItered. He trusted in the right. He
met and performed every obligation of
duty without fear and without reproach.
The highest and proudest ecomium which
a public man can ever receive is justly
his. Popular at home beyond descrip-
ton; elevated by the people to almost
every Office within their gift beloved,
honored, and trusted, he always and
everywhere proved himself an honest man
the nOblest work of God
lie loved his native State. To him
there was no air so pure as that which
swept about her mountains no water 81
sweet as that which bubbled from her
crystal springs; no grass SO green as that
which clothed her valleys; and he now
lies beneath the shadow of her hills, where
the wind sings his requiem and the solemn
old pines stand as sentinels over his dust
During the long and bloody rebellion,
when suffering and death entered almost
every household, no wounded soldier, no
weeping sister, no heart broken wife or
mother ever called upon Senator Foot in
|
Their suffering was his suffering. In
sunshine and in rain, in sickness and in
health, by tender and sympathizing coun-
sci, and by active and efficient effort, he
laborcd for their relief; and we may
truthtully say for him, "Whcn the eye
saw inc then it blessed me. When the
car heard me il gave witness TO me, for
delivered the poor that cried, the father
less. and him who had none to help him.
The blessing of him that was ready to
perish came upon me, and caused the
widows heart to sing for Joy"
Mr.. Speaker, it is IL glorious thing to
live in this world. When its Creator
launched it forth in the perfection of its
beauty, the morning stars sang together
for joy. 1t was made Tor man, the last
exercise of creative power, for man made
in the image God, into whose nostrils he
breathod the breath of life. 1t is noble
TO live for the development of the soul
1t Is beautiful to appreciate and enjoy all
the works of God, and all the endearing
relations with which we are surrounded.
1t is glorious
''To have
Attentive and believing faculties;
To 90 ab oad rejoicing in the joy
| Of beautiful and weller eated things;
| To love the voice of waters and the sheen
Of silver fountains leaping TO the sea;
To thrill with the rich melody of birds
Living their life Of music; to be glad
In the gay sunshine reverent in the storm;
To eauty in the stirring leaf;
To find calm thoughts beneath The whispering
tree;
To see and hear and breathe tile evidence
Of God deep wisdom in the natural world"
But more beautiful than life is the death
OF the Christian.
Mr.. Foot from the commencement of his
sickness seemed to feel that he would die,
and when the final summons came he was
ready.
His last thought was for his country,
and his last desire to look out upon the
beautiful sunlight and this noble edifice.
where he had labored so long and where
he believed the future safety of the Re-
public rested and then, as if fully salts
fled, with eyes full of celestial radiance,
he exclaimed, 81 see it ! sec it The
gates are wide open! Beautiful Beauti.
tul! !" and the plastic form was siilled the
casket was broken, and Solomon Foot
entered upon eternal rest.
Mr.. Speaker, the life of good man
like that of him we mourn is not confined
TO its immediate and most apparent result.
Its influence lives on, inspiring other
men to lives of nobIeness and duty. 1t is
the pillar of fire by night and cloud by
day that safely guides us in our weary
wanderings. Let us mark it well, SO
that when TO us the last dread summons
comes we each may
" Go, not like the quarry slave at night
seourged to his dungeon, but sustained and
soOthcd
By an unfaltering trust, approach OR graves
Like one who wraps the drapery OF his couch