Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-02-26

Here was won, there was won to virtue
ny my mothers smile and deferred from vice
Nv my fathers irown; over these fields
followed the bounding game; in those clear
waters my Young limbs bnthed; | cannot
leave thee; Godl do so to me and mine also,
II aught but death part thee and me-" AS
to our sous, IN tho way Of education. the
grange here playsan important part it brings
about the combination Of
study aud Labor,
aud long experience of teaching leads me
10 believe that tho value Of this combination
c annot bo ovcrcslnnted. The worlds most
healthy and sound minds have been produc-
ed by just such combination. know no
position which would rather see my sons
occupy than to stand upon their own lands.
honest, educated farmers fearing God and
doing their duty to their fellow man. can
not conceive Of social position higher than
this. Tho grange is also moral. l don't
know who wrote the manual OF the grange:
but have this 10 say, whoever no was,
whether one mind or many minds, the work
that has been done is an immense benefit to
mankind. Out Of the sacred Scriptures |
know of no compcnd of human conduct
equal to it. In the teaching Of that ritual no
man, no woman, no youth of either sex can
fail, II she or he faithfully applies that ritual.
to be useful members of society and be fitted
for all lis ends. The grange directs its menu
bers to take an interest in public affairs AS
citizens. While we have
Nothing 60 do with Politics
in party sense, we have n great deal to do
with laws. If there are hurtIul laws that
ought to be repealed, and good laws that
Ought to be passed, 1t is our duty to turn out
those representatives who will not bring this
common good about. and put those in Office
who will provo faithful to this trust-not rs
men of the grange, but rs citizens. Tn"
whole country at present is not represented,
but the National Grange assemblies. and the
whole country is not only represented in that
body, but there is not single sectional in
tcrest represented in it, there is not siHgr
political clique, there is nothing 10 mar the
harmony of the body which meets to act Tor
the best welfare OF the great majority Of
American citizens; and when that body
meets il is in the kindred spirit to bear with
the Offerings OF party, and closely bound to
gethcr by the ties of friendship and mutual
interest
The North and south
should know each other better, and it is just
this intercourse in the grange that will bring
this about 1t is this intercourse which will
remove all those unpleasant asperities. Iii
said that bond OF railroad iron is the strong
est bond that can bind different SECTIONS OF
country together. 1t is indeed to US power:
but there is another bond that is stronger
it is water, it is stronger than iron; time can
not weaken it. The little stream that start
from the mountain top dancing down it
rocky bed To the ocean, never wearies till
reaches the broad path leading to the ocean
and us centuries roll ON there is always tina
dancing little rivulet, always That bright Iii
tie stream leading the commerce of on
country to the broad bosom of the Uccal
| The war settled one truth clearly; it WI
that the people living on the bank of Ill
Mississippi will be one people in all times
| We want four mouths to the Father of Wa
tiers. One for the Southern ports, one for til
Central Atlantic ports, and another for TIL
Middle Northern trade. If the government
will do this there will be created bond
union which never can be disturbed BIZ
there is still
| Stronger Bond
than iron or water. A bond invisible, in
deed, but potent rs the unseen circumambi
ent mir, without which we instantly perish
1t is the trple-cord which no man can break
Faith, Hope, Charity. These three-inimn
able, lasting as the existence of Him o
whose nature they are portion. 1t is thi
bond which binds the grange together, an
through it, binds together the whole countr,
If the National Grange, with its subordinate
| oranges, in their present numbers, had eX
listed for several years before the war, d
not believe that war would have occurred
II Is my further conviction that while tn
National Grange, with the subordinate
grange exists, " este perepetua,h u fratricida
war in this country can never occur again.
The grange, in its essence, aims, purposes
and teachings, is supremacy pacific. 1t re-
peats the heavenly announcement, and tn
echoes reverberate from Maine to Texas
from the Land of Flowers to the Lakes, from
the Pacific TO the Atlantic. from mountain
and valley, "On earth peace, good will
towards men,"