The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1873-08-29

New Hampshire may well boast Of her
eminent sons, who, having been born on
her soil, have gone thence to honor other
states. and add to the fame of the nation
The names of Webster, of Mason, of Cass,
the DcarbOrns, the Sullyans and the Chases
at once suggest themselves, among host
of others, who have reflected honor upon
the state of their nativity and our common
country. Her eminent sons have not all
gone abroad, as witness her Landgons, her
Woodburys, her Hales and others. Our
concern to-day, however, is not with any
one Or even all Of these. Search the annals
of American history and biography,
through and through, and it will be diff
cult, if not impossible, to find man with
cleaner, purer Or more patriotic record
than John a. Dix, now Governor of New
York. Having served the state of his
adoption and the country In almost every
station and capacity, he has, in every in
stance, but added new honors to himself
and made his mark, ineffacably and gloIi-
ously, upon the record of the times When
only fourteen years of age--thc country
being involved in war with Great Britain
he received the appointment of cadet in the
regular army, which gave him the oppor-
tunty of passing four years-the whole
period of the war-away from danger at
the military academy at West Point AL
though fond of study, this looked to him,
too much like inglorious case while his
country was in danger, and instead of West
Point, he reported himself for duty, at the
post of danger, with the army of the from
tier. At Il later period, when peace for
many years had broodcd over the country,
he retired from the army, studied law and
naturally drifted into politics. A member
of the assembly of New York, secretary of
state and, subsequently, United States SEN
ator, during the bitterest and most personal
days Of state and national politics, he dis
charged the duties of each and every posi-
ton with the utmost fidelity, and without
the faintest breath of suspicion attaching
10 his name
In the practice of his profession and by
fortunate investments, he had amasscd
comfortable private fortune, so that, at the
close of his senatorial term, he retired from
al active participation in public affairs,
dcyoting himself to travel and those studies
which were most cOngenial to his taste.
When past siXty-siX years old, new
danger threatened the Union. A large fac
ton at the south, marshaled by ambitious
and reckless leaders, encouraged by the
countless concessions, heretofore, made by
the north, were clamoring for dissolution
of the Union. For the first time in our
history, Il party WAS found in Congress
strong enough and with sufficient back
bone, to resist the cncroachments of the
slave power, repel their insolent demands
and flout the idea of compromising princ-
pie. States had pretended TO secedc from
the Union, and had succeeded in so doing,
so far as such result could be ac-
complished by resolutions, and an armed
resistance to the enforcement of the fcder-
al laws South Carolina and other states
then or soon after-had practically severed
their connection with the United States,
and, to all intents and purposes, were de
.tacto sovereign, independent states. How
were these efforts met A weak and I'M
beetle administration were, by temporiz-
ing and cowardly policy, doing all that
it was possible for them to do in aid of the
rebels, insurgents, and seceders. The
north, agape with wonder and surprise,
looked on supinely, and no measures were
taken to stem the current which was fast
becoming overwhelming and irresistible.
The verdict of impartial history will be,
that the course pursued by Buchanan's
administration, in the early days of the re-
bellion, was more advantageous to the
cause of the confederacy, than would have
been the open recognition of South Caro-
limo and other states as free and indepen-