Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1877-08-24
BENNINGTON.
A sucCsSsfaI CsIshralIsH- -HSaOFs to the
PFssidOnt-Aa lnOldssts- Speeches Of
Hayes, EvaFls, Key and DsvVas.

cessful. During the procession Presi-
dent Hayes acknowledged the tributes
of applause by Q slight inclination Of
the head, and did not appear to en-.
courage exuberant manifestations BY
frequent and conspicuous bOwing.
There was q slight delay on Main
street, which several persons availed
themselves of to rush up to the Presi.
dents carriage and shake hands. One
of those, prominent local politician,
remarked: Il like you, personally, |
Mr.. President, but damn your policy"
To which he good-humoFedly replied,
"COme now, no politics to-day"
After the formal oraliOn, Presi dent
Hayes was loudly called for and spoke
as follows: ladies and fellow-citi-
zens-I need not say to you that ] am
grateful for this greeting. / am great
ly obliged to those who had charge
of this celebration for their courtesy
in giving me an opportunity to enjoy
with you the ceremonies ofthis day; !
am quite sure none Of ne will forget its
occurrence, or the notable event of the
battle Of Bennington--so great an event
toward National Independence. am
sure we feel it has been fitly celebrated
to-day, Only think Of the procession
that we beheId-citizen soldiers so
disciplined; soldiers from Ver-
mot, soldiers from Connecticut,
from Massachusetts,, and from New
Hampshire, were here. Applause !
But more touching than oil the long
PROFESSIONS, were the veterans Of the
Union army, survivors of the twelve
hundred battles that saved the nation,
and made liberty throughout the world
forever possible. Applause, And
what eye was not dimmsd 90 we saw
proudly marching with bis comrades,
that MANNED soldier walking with his
crutches. But, my dear friends, must
not detain you. recognize that among
the pages OF the speech to which
we have listened, 80 packed full as each
page was with interesting matter touch
ing on that great event Of 100 years
ago, that no one page In it was more
valuable than this. And one hundred
years ago It was meritorious to be q
minute man TO fight in the cause of in.
dependence is there not some merit In
my becoming q minute mAn1 APP
plause.
, AT the close OF Hayes's speech, Sec
: retary Evarts was called for, and re
sponded as follows:
|. "Mr. President, Ladies and Gentle
: men-It is fair that / should warn yOI
. thA. though am very slow to begin
, speech; am much slower 10 end it
! and / know your only safety is in ny
= retiring before | commence"
. Secretary Key was next called
ana responded as follows: "My dOaI
friends, this call is grateful to me.
> do not accept il IS personal compli
> men:, but as an indication Of fraterna
! feeling on the part Of our Northern
! friends TO their erring Southern breth
rem Applause.
F.; At!orney.GenerAl Devens was theI
! loudly called for. Smiling and ad
| vancing, he said: at is said 10 be onC
! of the maxims OF the Chinese philoso
. pher COniuCius, Il have never read
. him. 10 put q few words in your
I speech that may be remembered. So
: ! will not follow the example of my
I predecessors, but l will detain you q
! few moments to tell you q short story
3 q story with Amoral. Perhaps had bet
l ter tell the moral first, for | know tina
/ in studying as soph. we used 10 skip
} the moral. The moral Of the story 4
/ simply this-lhAt in The cause OF palri.
otism, however weak we may be, WI
may all do something. The story Il
: this: Although 10th to confess this IL
e the presence Of so many ladies, 1t waI
something more than thirty years age
3 that !, 3 young lawyer, was invited
8 to deliver sn oration on the
l Fourth of July before my fel.
= low-citizens Of the State Of Vermont
. at Brattleboro. There were still len at
3 that time few Of the survivors OF the
!, great revolutionary army. Three or
( four were waiting In the hotel where |
6 was stopping, with my oration sum-
Q mering inside Of me, g good deal EN-.
. bsrrassed as | am now Iapplause by
. constitutional bashiuness which |
l shall never get over. There came in
with these three or four old gentlemen
8 a somewhat younger gentleman than
Q they, but still considerably over 10
!, He said, II am not 9 revolutionary
1 soldier, but should like to ride with
: the revolutionary soldiers to-day. ]
would like TO explain my position, and
. ask if | have not q right" OF course
!. they gave him permission. he went
on to say that, "when l was q boy
about eight years old, my father kept .
f ferry somewhere on Lake Champlain,
ct Putnam or Windham. There came
to the river to cross, while my father
I was away and was at home alone, two
: men, one OF whom seemed of superior
? rank to the other. They we're soldiers
J evidently, though there was little uni.
/ form among men in revolutionary
3 times. They wished TO cross the ferry
and said they must cross. | said | was
( only boy and could not run
the ferry across, even If they
assisted me, l could not get back.
They sail they would help me
to cross, and some of the neighbors
could help me back. understood Il,
and after | had crossed to the other
. l. u a.. . a