The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-11-10
Colfax's Lecture at Brandon.

speaker, and his lecture is thoroughly in
teresting. He was introduced by Rev
Franklin Tuxbury. The next lecture in
course will be by Hoo. Carl Schurz, on
Wednesday evening, Nov. 17lh.
The speaker opened his address by re-
ferrng to the courtesies he had received
from citizens of the Green mountain state,
and said that it was peculiar pleasure for
passed since there was blood upon the
presidential chair. Our land is filled with
graves, where sleep those who willingly
died that the republic might live. When
the end seemed almost at hand, the victim
came from the highest place in the land.
They brought him from his proud position
atthe supremest moment of his life. ]
would be glad TO speak to you Of those
three great commanders, Grant the uncon-
querabe, Sherman the fearless and daring,
and Sheridan the faithful. My object is
rather from the civil hilltop of history
upon which we stand, to sketch the life OF
the father of the republic which he saved
The careers of great and good men are
the beacons of human progress. Thus
Moses and David, Plato, and Seneca and
Epictetus, speak to us with greater force
than when they lived. Thus with the
Presbyterianism Of Calvin, the Methodism
of Wesley, and, as your lips will add, the
emancipation of Abraham Lincoln. He
never disguised his antagonism to slavery
lie compressed into one clear-cut sentence
his convic ions: IF slavery is not wrong,
then nothing is wrong" He declared in
characteristic sentences that this union
could not endure half slave, for house
divided against itself could not stand. He
was warned, truthfully, that his sentiments
were in advance of his party, and his
calm reply was: - believe those
sentiments to be true, and l will
utter them if they sacrifice every po-
litical prospect / have" They proved,
however, to be the direct line from Spring
field to the White House. He advanced to
higher ground, in which he demonstrated
that the signers of the constitution antici-
pated the downfall of slavery. AT his in
auguration he reiterated over and over
again the same sentiments. Unconscious
" to himself, he had become the great
prophet OF future events. Because he did
not believe The opportunity had arrived, he
refused to allow Secretary Cameron to arm
the slaves. His favorte illustration was
that it was the duty of the physician to
save the life and the limb, even though
they be gangrened. Very thoughtfully,
con, oientiously. solemnly, he approached
that great ACT which shall cause his name
to resonnd through all the corridors of
time. One hundred days passed. The re-
belion became more insolent. The year
1868 became the jubilee year. He said,
will str Ike at the pillar of their strength.
Assassination destroyed his hand, but il
could not destroy the document TO which
he had put his hand. There was more
than human wisdom in this act, unparal
leled in history. 1t was linked to Gods
cause When he wrote "Liberty for all
men, he enfranchised the nation. The
sword of right became the sword of vic
tory. He gave us a nation where the sur
does not rise upon a master, nor set upon q
slave. When his judgment was grasping
and mastering and deciding some grea,
question, the opposing arguments often
seemed to overbear his own. Hence hi
often mentioned these arguments in con
versation, to see if they could be over
thrown. Hence when he made his de.
cision, be often surprised friend and
! foe: The peculiarly of his own life
was that he always studied the reverse
side, of the question with more attention
more thoroughness and elaboration thar
| the issue of which he was an advocate anC
supporter. In this manner he WAS nevel
surprised by the arguments of his oppo
nents, and was already primed with suit
| able retorts for their attack, often finding
| them weaker than he had expected.
| / feel how difficult il is to sketch his life
aud avoid the Sylla of over praise on thu
one hand and the Gharvbidis of criticism
on the other His individuality was a
marked as the snow-capped summit is, wheI
compared with the baroness of its base
all through his life, 10 poverty as in sue
cess, In adversely in prosperity, his pole
star was always right. He held that NJ
| great principle could be safely and endur
ingly settled without building it on right
He closed his Cooper institute speech
"Let US have faith that right makes might.
| You may search history, ancient and mod
| ern, and you shall see that Abraham Lin
coin was the most mercitul leader tina
ever put down mighty rebellion. In tn,
west, he had studied government, his polA
ical creed, and had fixed his principles un
alterably. He became radical, not from
passion, nor excitement, nor sensational
ism, but from purest conviction; not from
partisanship, for he was born in slav,
state. Rooted and grounded immovably
the storms of civil war developed the very
attributes that were necessary for the oc
casion He was on the one side criticised
for being too slow, and on the other fo
being too fast. He always insisted that h,
had not controlled events, but they hat
controlled him. Time was his prime min
lister. Whenever he advanced, the host
of the nation advanced with him agains
the demands and even threats of his polit
ical friends, he would not act until the gu
preme moment of action had come II,
was ever over cautious to be just to ever
man.
When he reached Washington to tax,
the oath of office, can you not recolec
how the very ground shook under his feet
He was beset by office-seekers, so that h,
said he was like the man who was lettiny
rooms at one end of his house while fir,
was burning the other end. Often weared
he would exclaim, "How willingly would
exchange places with the soldier who
sleeps upon the banks of the Potomac p
have seen him with his tall, sinewy form
his long hands hanging behind his back
| obu III thS hStPNss Hicoiis vi, COulu HO
this bloody war have been prevented /" h,
would exclaim but he would add, "Gran
will not fail us, and on his success tn,
hopes of this republic are founded" Lack
of sternness was supposed to render hin
unfit to be trusted with the pardoninl
power, for touching incident, especially
II told by woman, would be sure to war;
his judgment. Secretary Stanton, the Bis
marck of those days, would often take hin
to task, after the fact of pardoning, tC
show him how grieyously he had been i'm
posed upon.
He had familiar way of speaking Of
the generals of the army as "my generals. y
His kindness of heart is worthy Of the ap.
plsuse with which you honor it. Critics
have blamed him for his lack of dignity
and he used to reply that he had never had
a courtler's education. They had never
kept dignity instructors out west Imagine
the feelings of the Marquis of Harrington
Gone OF the proudest of Englands nobility,
| when hp VIVA infrnducad ~ NJ. He'll,