Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1874-11-14
Rev. MIR. FultOM's Reply.

sls -
Mr.. Editor:
By your courtesy. ~ u redemp'
ton Of our card of the cath ut ,
we proceed to review Nh article
which appeared as an editorial in
the BRADFORD OPINION Of Oct. II.
The author proceeded to state that
we preached "fiOm the text, Why
all this wastei' We simply say
that we did not preach from those
words, as q text, neither Ia that text
in the Bible. The quotation IL
abOut asc0rrect rs quotations usual.
" are when they appear second ol
third hand. Perhaps If the author
had been present. aud had taken
his own notes, he wOuld not have
thought it necessary to instruct the
community with the article in ques
ton. He proceeds to say that OuI
reference to the recent fair,t press
&C., was Tin u manner which has
caused much comment and c0nsid
erab.s feeling" Doesn't the learned
author know that action and reac
ton are equal I That If you deal d
blow and there is no reaction, yor
have hit nOthingi That if you hit
the target the ball will click ! That
il you disturb ~ beehive the furious
insects will throng around your
ears Did he ever know a sin ex
posed, u crime unearthed, u NAL
practice disclosed, or a corrupt and
mischievous institution laid bare
and "much comment and consider
able feeling" not followi But fol
the sprightly article, we should new
er have known that the ball hit thu
bulls (horse's) eye, or that the print
er's devil was made afraid. Surely
the patrons Of horse racing, tight
rope performance, &C., at least have
mistaken their advocate, or he new
er would have exposed their alarms
He proceeds, "He conveyed til;
impression to the nearer that a very
large portion of the money spent a,
the fair was wasted, and that in.
stead of good, evil resulted from
such gatherings" We conveyed nc
such impression to those who at
tended church. There is not an in
lividual in Bradford or Fairlee
whose opinion is worthy Of respect
who will SO affirm. Our language
whatever the impression, was this,
"Thc idea of a county fair is a good
one. The encouragement Of the
production of stock; the raising OF
grains, vegetables and fruits; the
favOring, to the utmost, the manu-
facture, at home, Of all we need; and
the cultivation Of the aesthetic in
all the fine art departments, a II these
we applaud. When this is done We
favor it to the utmost of our ability.
But when this il proposed, aud some
thing just the opposite is accomplish
ed, we raise our protest, It's the
abuse of a good institution Of which
we now speak" Then without quot.
ing our language until further re-
quired, we did convey the idea,
that the fair was but little better
than an appendix to the horse race,
tight rope performance, SC. That
a large part of the funds raised by
tho town and county, for fitting the
grounds was expended in elaborat-
ing accommodations for horse rae
ing, huckstering and for persons out.
side the county to come and adver-
tise and sell their wares. We insti.
tuted a comparison between Floral
Hall aud the horse race. WeShowed
that after the horses, as stock took
in prizes some $40, more or less,
more than was devoted to f. Hall,
the fast horses Of the county were
yet worth, in the society's estima-
ton, three times as much as all the
wives, mothers, sisters and daugh-
ters Of the county. A purse of $500
was held out for the fastest horses,
ntter the best prizes, while the dear
wives and mothers, who might have
worked all the year, taking tens of
Of thousands OF stitches, got from
50 cents to $3.50 for their palms,
That horse racing was not the cult
,atiOn of stock /; that the fast horse
vas untitled tor anything else that
asst horses are, at the present day,
n plain words, gambling stock. That
he intrinsic value of the fastest
,orse in the United States may not
10 more than "that Ofthe old mare
,ou drove to church to-day" We
'howed that superior interests were
anguishipg, aud yet those who
'ould scarcely pay for % weekly
newspaper must attend the affair for
hrce long days. That corruption of
he public morals and q distaste for
that did not string one ND
o the same nervous tension of ami
nal excitement inevitably follow
That the end reached is the placing
f religion, and all it's hallowed as.
at a fearful discount.
hat it was creating a cry for minis
ers who will not only countenance
orse racing, &c., but keeps and
rots their horses themselves, &c.-
'ince then we have looked into the
4eneral Statutes of the State of
vermont and we find them in per-
sct harmony with the pulpit in this
egard. Under Offences aga inst
'ublic Policy, title xxxiv, chap. 119
ection 9, "All racing, running, trot-
ng. or placing Of any horses, or
orse kind, for any bet or wager of
'oney, or other valuable thing, or