The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1874-08-20

village 4U WHiGH rWe are uHM 4sstuAttaf
was ola, and growing older To-day it
is young, aa1 growing younger, IhrH
,As geauues o. this valley were known
and appreciated, chiefly by those VITO
Inherited them from their birgh. Nas-
they are the property OF the nation, shaI-
cd So by tbc stranger who comes 60
luggr amid lbcm lor @ uaic, lhcn
hics 20 other resorts. Twenty-Five years
ago the rocking c0aeh with its four horse
/ locomotive, over hiu aud through vale,
cauied lbc lonely youth "rem0le" fam
all that he beId dear, "uniricnded," per
hbps melancholy" but certainly slo9p,
from bis distant home TO yopdef seat of
learning. .....
To-day, leaving the seaport metropolis
with The morning sun aud train, be is
swiftly borne with Hortiuy aud putting,
over steel rails, aud at evening is landed
at the very doors Of the old seminary.
Looking backward quarter of cen
tury, there comes vision Of that lime
stone building, with its background OF
rugged mountain scenery, With its living
throug moving like the ife-blood through
is rooms aud halls, long ago displaced
by successors Of many different genera
tions there comes vision OF its stately
grey haired principal, courteous, digui-
fled aud kind, bat frm and conscientious
ia the e1aclion OF duties prescribed, still
lingering with whittier locks and form
hardly less erect, amid the scenes OF his
former labors, aud honoring Us with his
/ presence to-day
There comes the memory of the ascot
ate principal, ever active, ever energetic,
with his great mind aud noble heart in
his slender frame, who years ago heard
the plaudit, "Well done! good aud faith
ful seryautr' There comes the recollec-
ton Of the village church, now grown to
this odiice of nobler proportions, where
the pastor, not yet gone to his reward,
dispensed gospel truth, undiluted, and
unadutcraled, with faith mistaken by
scientific tests, ,undisturbed by any theory
of the origin Of the species, or OF the age
OF sedimeutary rocks There comes a
view of the seminary chapel, from whose
platform the ineipient Websters aud
Clays made their earliest flights of ora.
tony; a view of the students room, with
its book.coyered table aud unassuming
couch, emblems of toll and rest, with its
huge iron stove, whose genial open coun.
p tenance and draft never dishonored, gave
assurance of summer warmth through
the coolest of mid-winter evenings
There comes dim recollection OF apple
orchards, with their contraband fruit
visited after the tolls of day were over
remembrance Of wearisome climbing'
to the summit of green Mount Equinox
on the crust of snow of depth unknown
when the growl of the bear or the screecl
of the catamount would not have been al
unfamiliar sound.
Twenty-Five yearsl To the father
around us who count by fillies, they may
seem short, to the youth who have no
I yet numbered them, they seem long--tC
the midde-aged they seem worthy of a
least respectful consideration.
Led as we are to-day by the association
of the time and place, to glance back
ward over a quarter of century, it ma!
be profitable to spend our time in re
viewing some OF the characteristic ideas
sentiments, and veins Of thought, of th,
period just past.
For It is the ideas OF an age, whicl
characterize il, and make il famous, O
injurious, as the case may be. The ma
terid changes which are taking place a
9 the time, the development Of wealth anC
:, power, the revolutions from war, do no
always belong to the aye in which The,
}. occur. They Of en- are the result Of lhu
IL, development OF The ideas ot some previ
ous age. Slavery has just been extcr
minated IN our country, but the glory o
- the result belongs, at least in part, Il
the tine when The doclrne of equa
rights drove the Puritan fathers across
the ocean 10 these frozen shores, and "a
the time when New England agitator
stemmed a tide Of public prejudice, b.
insisting that the doctriuc should appl'
to black as we'll as white. 70 those VIII
SOW The seed and ill the ground belong
the greater credit, not 10 those whl
shout the harvest home. The mst fev
years have witnessed wonderful dcycl
'' opmcnts oi teiegraphic. steamboat, an,
railroad communication, but the h0uo
% Of this belongs 10 the time when Mura
was pcrscvering in spite OF obstacles
when Natl was testing the power o
steam with bis tea-kctile, aud IS hen Fui
tou was launching his padde-box IN tb
Hudson, amid The jcers OF uubelieyin,
spectators. TIE result was ensured
when tho idea originated. columbus
had discovered America, when wander
= iug through tie streets OF Madycd beg
giug for metrand ships With which 10 &c
sail Tic cathedral 3f Milan was bull
when lbe architect reared the stiac,ur
.y in his brain; hot, whcu hundred year
after, gbc workman laid lAe lgpm1-
stone.
We sill assume thcu, tAat ibe thought
tie sentiments Of tho period iust pas
win give IL character for the future Tbi
period has witnessed the birth OF eeflal
uew theories, startling al least NheiI
cf true or false, oi new discoveries, g
new projects for reform, some Of Bhie
when expanded may explode Iikc az il
Gated ba.}oous others. when developed