Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-03-02
early history of Vermont in the following
burst of Irish eloquence:

mont that before the crmsoned tints of the terrible
battlefield of Bennington had been bleached b!
time, when the name of Ethan Allen was echoed
from every hilltop and from every valley in tn,
Green Mountain state, and long before the name o
Stark had lost its power the rallying-cry of th
patriots of the Revolution the American and Irisl
enansiof that day elected to Congress, in the verl
l district which the gentleman represents, ma
l ttvc-born Irishman, then imprisoned crimina
Tor daring TO utter s honest sentiments against h'
policy of the administration of the elder Adams-th'
gallant and heroic Matthew Lyon. BY the operation
OF the infamous alien and sedfton laws this revolu
, uonary patriot, like the American prisoners now
and MS love of liberty 20 the Establishments of pow
er and the people of his district, Ike the gallant
, O'Donovan Rosa to the British Parliament, sem
him rebuke to his oppressors to represent then
: IN the Congress of the Unons'
Matthew Lyon was cashiered for desertipg
the post of which he had command, in er-
+ mont during the early part of the war oil
the Revolution. He was indicted, tried. and
convicted for libel on John Adams. After
his second term in Congress he went to Ken
lucky, seeking fresh fields, where his turbu-
lent and stormy nature found, no doubt,
more congenial comrades than in Vermont,
/ and Vermont has got along tOlerably well
without him. Fenianism is not now, am
constrained to think, the highest type of
wise and brave struggle for liberty but it
has, no doubt, improved greatly in that re-
spect since the time of Matthew Lyon.
! But, sir, this debate has drifted away from
4 the single point of objection which I made
/ to the report of the committee namely that
the report expressed sympathy with the
/ Fenian organization. My colleague, the gen.
tleman from Maryland, MIR. SWAMI has
given a fine dissertation on the duty of
the American Government to protect Amer
lean citizens In this | most cordially con-
cur. But | said when this subject was first
! before the House, and / here repeat it, that
/ the citizen must be in the lawful pursuit of
his business or pleasure TO entitle him to
that protection. When he becomes on a
! foreign soil a violater of the laws of that
foreign jurisdiction; he Voluntarily throws
off the shield of protection which American
citizenship would otherwise hold over him.
We have heard here warm praise of the
conduct of Irish regiments in the late rebel
lion and have been asked if had no sym
pathy for the soldiers of such regiments who
have since enlisted under the banner of the
Irish republic, and thus found their way
into British prisons. | can hardly under
stand why | ought to follow them with my
sympathy. Because they fought here gal
lantly to crush rebellion against established
Government, am compelled to approve of
their course when they attempt to make a
rebellion against an established Government?
Is an Irish much more righteous than a
confederate rebellion, that l may love the
one and hate the other? Do gentlemen mean
TO be understood as holding that while re-
bellion against our Government is the great
est crime, rebellion against any other Gov
ernment is righteous May we strike
everybody, and must nobody strike us?
American citizenship ought to be protec-
ton to every one who has right to it, and
who has not forfeited that right by mscon-
duct but it would very soon come to be no
more respected than the brigand's sword, if
we attempt to make it cover with it's protec-
tion every citizen of this country who vio-
lates the laws of other Governments.
The gentleman from Kentucky Mr.. Why
CHESTER was eloquent in his pleadiDgs in
behalf of freedom and people struggling
against oppression, and he launched the
thunderbolts Of his fervid rhetoric against
tyranny always and everywhere in such
periods as these
"5fr. Speaker, there has been a conflict between
freedom and despOtism during the whole history Of
the human race: but never before, II seems to me,
has liberty, with all its fervor, and despotism with
stoo M s sy 9
net remedy the convuisions of oppression and ty-
must be kept in chains. Always quiet and moder-
ate when they truly free, they are violent and
are systematcaIIy debased. The sword only re-
establishes the peace Of terror the silence OF des
justice, and legal liberty that secures peace and
order"
This is all very fine, but might disagree
with the gentleman to the precise point
of time when freedom and despotsm stood
most directly and boldly confronting each
other. Nine years ago the most terrible
conflict the world has seen was joined between
these opposing forces, and the sears of that
terrible war raging over more than half the
territory Of this Republic are scarcely yet
healed, and the wrecks of its battles are
hardly yet cleared away. | do not remem-
Der to have heard during that struggle the
clarion voice of the gentleman summOning
the sons of Kentucky to join the army of
freedom, but, doubtless, with his quick and
burning impulses to strike and speak for
downtrodden and oppressed people. lie de
nounced tyranny then as he does now, and
the poor slaves of Kentucky found in him
sym pathizer, defender. and brave cham
pIon. But / may, perhaps, be pardoned for
suggesting that the constitution and laws OF
Kentucky are not to-day much more liberal
toward colored persons than English laws
are toward lrishmcn, and that State may
still be considered missionary ground
where the passionate defamation of the
gentleman against oppression may find occa-
sion enough for it's utterance, w shout cross
ing the Atlantic to strike terror with its
eloquent fulminations into the heart of every
Englishman.
And now, Mr.. Speaker, will call atten
tion to only one more Of the many illusions
to my position which have been made during
this debate by the gentlemen who have waged
this oratorical warfare on England. My col
league on the committee [Mr. WooDl at the
onset of his speech characterized Vermont,
New England, and the Republican party IN
these words
The tenor of his remarks, which all Of this
character, leaves painful impression and like the
political party to which he Is attached and the sec
tion Of tne country from which he comes is lntOer
ant, unprogressive, fnatical and Puritancal IT is
religious and political sentiments different from
their own, and which unhappily has recently been
Therefore, the gentleman from Vermont does not
represent himself alone in what he has said upon
party and section of the country, and 1t is T. be
| unprecedented, OF the Administration itself His pO-
sitiOn thus becomes important, and propose 10
examine it."
/ | am not surprised that the section of
country which | have the honor in part to
represent here should present to the gentle
man little in it's political or religious history
with which he finds himself in sympathy
and the gentleman will, trust, take no Of
fense when | tell him that politically, at
least, the great majority of the people of
Vermont are not admirers of the example Of
republican government given by New York
city. Vermont has, no doubt, some Puritan
notions, and / should be entirely false to her
history and her political character if should
plead here not guilty to that charge. She
Is not ashamed OF her reputation IN that re-
gard, but on the contrary is proud of it.
Among the Puritan ideas which Vermont
put as the cornerstone under the fabric of
her government is that old-fashioned notion
that all men are created equal, and that civil
and religious liberty is the right of every
person born on our soil or adopted as cit
izen of the Republic. \ slave never breathed
her mountain air. Her form of government
is simple and democratic, and under it her
people have for almost century enjoyed
perfect civil and religious freedom, equally
and happily removed from intolerance on the
one hand and license on the other. The mob