Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1874-01-01
Senator Sumner and the Pilgrims.

Senator Sumner and the Pilgrims.
Senator Sumner. at the recent festival il
commemoration of the landing of the Pill
grims by the New England Society O
New York made the response to the secont
tosst-" The Senate of the United States.
This was in his happiest vein, singularly
opportune, and contrasting grandly will
the coarse personalities and boorish indie
cencies lately exhibited at the capital
We give Mr. Summers concluding words
The liberty which we so much covet i,
not a solitary plant. Always by its side i,
Justice. But justice is nothing but righ
applied to human affairs. Do not forget
! entreat You, that with the highest moral
iy is the highest liberty. 4 great poet il
one Of his inspired sonnets, speaking 0
liberty, has said e" But who loves that mus
fast be good and wise" Therefore do the
lilgrims in their beautiful example teacl
liberty, teach republican institutions, as n
an earlier day Socrates and Plato in then
lessons Of wisdom taught liberty and help
q the idea of the republic If any repub
litah government has thus far failed il
any experiment, as perhaps somewhere in
Spanish America, it is because these lessons
haze been wanting. There have been nc
Pilgrims to teach moral laws.
Mr. President, with these thoughts
which | imperfectly express, confess my
obligations to the forefathcrs of New Eng
land and offer to them the homage of (;
glratful heart But not in Thanksgiving
only would celebrate their memory.
wOuId, if | could. make their example q
universal lesson and stamp II upon the
Land The conscience which directed
thm should he the guide for our public
cotncils The Just and equal law, which
thr required should be ordained by us,
ana the hospitality to truth enioined upon
them should be ours Nor would | forget
thtr courage and conetancy. Had they
turned back OF WaVercd know not what
would have been the record of this CONT
ncIt. but | see clearly that 4 great example
would have been lost. Had Columbus
rIed to his mutinoue crew and returned
to Spain without his great discovery; had
Washington Slrunk away, dlshcartencd by
British power and the SHOWS of New Jersey
the,c great Instances would have been
wanting for the encouragement of men.
But our Pilgrims belong to the same heroic
company, and their example Is not less
pra-iouS Only short time after the Land
iug on Plymouth Rock the good republi-
can poet John Milton wrote his : Comu>,
50 wonderful for beauty and truth. His
nature was more refined than that of the
Pilgrims. and Vet it requires little effort Of
Imagination to catch from one of them, or
at beast from their beloved pastor, the eN-
qIsict. almost angelic, words ut the close
Nortals who would follow me
Love Virtue; she alone l. free.
Size can teach We how 10 climb
Higher than the -phcrlr chime,
Ga Virtue ie 'Dle were,
Heaven itself would >toop to her"
When NIr Sumner stated the result of
Mills Ntan,li~h'~ trip to England, when he
paid fifty per cent interest for one hundred
and fifty pound~, he turned to General
Sherman. and in iocular tone said; "a
much for sending soldier on 4 financial
The general, a> we'll as the
whole audience, joined in hearty laughter
at this impromptu sally. At the conclu-
sion of senator Summers speech, the audi
cncc arose and gave cheer upon cheer.
ENCOUNTER WITH \ SEA MONsTEE-
some fishermen off the coast of Newfound-
land recently had curious adventure with
a gigantic cutie fish. Observing at a
short distance some object floating on the
surface Of the water. which they first took
to bc a large sail. or a portion OF wreck,
they roWcu close to it. and one of them
,.-f+ SnIi.IlK~ tho
mass became animated. and put itself in
notion From among the huge folds Il
hu@c beak. a> large rs six gallon key,
reared itself, and Il pair of CHASTITY green
ewes. staring and prominent, @lared on the
terror-Strickcn men with an expression
Of the most intense ferocitV. The hcak
struck in the bottom of the boat violently
and suddenly from around the head two
arms of corpse-likc tle>hinesS da"ted out,
and bp@ln winding themselves around the
boat. and encirclin@ it in their lvid folds.
\ moment more and the boat would have
been dragged beneath the waves. But be
fore the suckers with which the arms are
furnished had closed with their deadly
grip. one Of the men seized Il tomahawk K
which was fortunately Ut hand. and severed
both arms a> they lay over the gunWale OF
the boat. The monster Immediately eject
cd an immense quantity of inky fluid,
which darkcned the water for two or three
hundred yards, and mol"d on. The men
saw it tur a few minutes after, with lis tail
out of the water. The body they c>tma-
ted 10 have been sixty feet in length and
five feet in diameter, or fifteen in girth.
One Of the arms was destroyed OF lost, but
the other i ii ST. John III the hands of
naIurHl~i-. Il measures nineteen feet in
length, and three and Il half feet in cir
and the men say they left ten
feet attached To the body of the monster.
SNAKES IN MAErINIQUE-The banc of
this delightful paradise is Il >erpent-what
paradise is without its ane?-called by
the fcartullV suggestive name Of the " iron
lance. This reptile, with vcnomouS taste,
chooses the coolest and most delightful
places in the garden for his retreat and it
is literally ut the risk of ones life that one
lies down on the grass, OF even takes Il
rest in an arbor The wounds inflicted by
these scrpcnt9 are very apt To be fatal I'M
less Immediately cared for. The whole
island is infested with this dangerous rep
tile. and it is said that on an average near
ly eight hundred persons are bitten every
wear, Of which number from sixty to seY-
entv cases prove fatal, while many others
result in nervous diseases, which are al
most as bad as death. \ few years ago,
when Prince Arthur of England visited
this island, Il grand fete was given in the
Jardin des Plantes In the evening the
grounds were beautifully Illuminated. and
thousands of people sauntered through its
cool and shady avenues. \ large number
were bitten by the : iron lance, and many
of them never recovered from the effects
of the poison The fondneSs of this terri
bic reptile for cool and shady places is a
serious drawback on the pleasure of ram
bling through the charming groves of Mar
Unique \ rest on the grass under the
shadow of some spreading tree is always
haunted by the shadow of unseen dangers,