The Bennington daily banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1877-1877, 1877-08-16

II more lllustriOus for tho herOism and saga-
.ity OF ITS chief men: nor more marked Tor
lie sturdy Independence and honesty of its
PEOPLE, for their energy, persistence. will
ndOmitable to defend their rights, and rea-
illness TO accord like rights to Others. II we \
)f to-day have become spindling and weak /
10 is not the fault of the fathers. True, we I
have not had their personal experience and !
trimming in the hardships of pioneer life. 10 :
teach that practical sagacity which comes of !
necessity; nor yet that schOoling.Of a whOlel
people IN CIVIL rightsand law ard statesmab-
ship, which their long controversy with New
York, New Hampshire, Great Britain and
congress gave them, during the years of that /
great awakening Of thought which preceded,
accompanied and followed the American
revolution, and made OF piain men shrewd
tninkers and wise judges, But they have
left us their thoughts, their spirit their in
stitutiOns-tOwn ORGANIZATIONS, those little
demOcracles where a the inhabitants, as
sembled in common meeting, discuss and
decide all matters of local government, dis
tribute the offices Of administration and Jury
service, by which, and the official service
imposed upon those esteemed the iittest. the
people are put to school in the principles Of
government and kept In training for the du-
ties of civil life, aud made at one with the
law which they make and administer They
have left us, too, the school house and the /
meeting house, and foundations for religious
teaching, for the grammar school and the |
university, as well as cleared fields. roads, |
bridges and mills-and we have entered into
heir labors.
II isa question which presses upon us,
whether the State in its subsequent deyel. |
Opments has proved itself worthy its origin.
and whether We of to-day deserve such an
eestIy; how far the spirit and the times of
hundred years ago have impressed them
selves upon the century, and made its hisfO-
Ty what 1t has been, and the people what
such questionings, it may be truthfully said
that the age has not passed beyond the inn
pulse which first set in motion the State and
its institutions; that the temper and spirit of
the fathers are yet traceabe IN the moral lin
eaments OF their p0steTity: that.the prinei-
pies upon which they Funded tlhQ State lie
under iHtO-day, undisthrbed in place urOn
the bedrock Of truth, untouched by decay.
Thus, upon all questions Of human lib-
erty, especially in the fierce conflicts winch
have since been waged between the absolute
right and the expedient wrong, between fine
doctrine of human equality and the wild fan
tasy OF property in man, Vermont has ever
| been true to her early declaration, and fixed
as NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. even al aRQres
sive zeal for liberty and holy anger against
/ slavery, cOntemptuOus Of all excuse or nnnlO
gy for such invasion of human rights. Thus
It happened, that the teachings of the early
| abOl1tlOniSts seemed no new doctrine Int
the awakened echo of the voices of the faith
ers who had passed into silence, and their
appeals fell upon willing ears and sank into
sympathizlng hearts. 1t was this kinship
to the spirit of the fathers, which inDelled
our people to the verge Of the compromises of
the. National constitution, OF beyond il, in
their legislation upon the subject of fugitive
slaves; and made hostility to slavery the
dominant question of politics making and
ummakinR parties and moulding the policy,
or debating the utterances of all parties.
This spirit mingled largely with the spirit of
nationality which inspired our people to the
heroic devotion displayed in the late civil
war, and made it, in their esteem. a war
twice holy, since in its issue was bound up
as well the liberty of the slave. as the ma
| TONS life. "a f+
So II we consider tie part taken by Yer
mOnters III the wars which have arisen since
the Revolution, il may be claimed Of them,
that they have not disgaced the memories
of the men who took TicOnderOga and con-
quered OF bennington. Thus Lake cham
| plain and Plattsburg cheered the rush of the
| Vermont farmers, TO repel the British invasion
of1sl4. So in 1851, the gun fired on Sumter
was heard In every hamlet in Vermont. The
spirits of the Green Mountain Bows of 1.-THE
Grants slnmbering in the caves of their
mountains, seemed to arouse to quickened
life, and Allen, Warner and their cOmpeers
once more to walk the earth. Every heart
was stirred with divine anger and from
every valley, hillside and mountain top
echoed back the responsive cry, "Sinee you
the right" And so Vermont sent forth ~
the fray some thirtY-four thousand of her
sons, with her gift Of blessing and armor OF
the spirit If the fathers, aud they so fought
as to make the name of Vermont and the
Vermont Brigade historic glory, and Sc
died, to the lumber of five thousand, in the
shook of battle, as only heroes know how to
die, And so the nation was saved by the
sacrificial blood of her sOns,-the issues OF
the fratricidal strife happily solving, as We
trust the riddle of Samson, "Out of the eat.
er came forth meat, and out of the strong
came forth sweetness - the riddle of all
time-gOOd out of evil,-the wrath of man
praisng God. Thus far. in spirit Of freedom
and self-saorifce in patriotic devotion aud
heroic courage, / note no degeneracy, We
are TO bear 10 mind, that it is the times and
t me, s,s..s seaEe or tn9 Pc
the opportunity creates the man for the Op-
portunity and the great occasion makes the
man great for the occasion, who, without
such stress, would have seemed but common
clay, and have died without giving sign OF
the greatness that was potential in him, So
it is, that in the dull times of peace aud the
hum-dTum quiet Of easy life, the shades Of
the great men Of heroic past loom high
and are enlarged to our vision by the. misty
distance that lies between. This Is well
since # keeps alive reverence and aspiration
and kindles divine emulation TO be like
them. But as there were brave men before
AgdmemnOn, so, as think, Vermont has had
heroea like Ethan Allen and Seth Warner
wise governors SINCE Thomas Chittenden ;ac
cOmplished diplomats since Ira Allen able
statesmen, legislators and jurists since Ma
thaniel Chapman, il not as great as ha,
Those improved means Of Intercourse
among men and reader intercOmmu nicatiOr
of thought and knowledge, the result of move
invenHons and new applications of science
which have marked the present century anC
affected the civilization of the world, havC
. mt Oaqqp1 VarmOnf nv and har T1anV,la ba
thereby become less provincial, more cusmO
politan, less peculiar people, than our faith
ers We're, And yet, being largely agricultu
! raj people, with no very large towns or cities
with few milliopalres and few very poor, ant
/ little chance to become rich by speculatiOns
, we have not been tempted to stray very fa
fom our fathers ways of industry, economy
simplicity Of living and providence TO
the future. And, since we are gathered
) here about the old hearthsstOne, W,
; may be allowed, in the freedom and con
; fidence OF the family circle, to fellcitate our
} selves as VeTmOnters, not only for what on
= fathers were, for their heroic lives and his
} tOric deeds and the institutions they created
and transmitted TO us, but that their poster
: ity have so faithfully guarded, preserve,
and wisely improved them. and have so wei
: kept alive the spirit of those institutions AM
: the temper of that heroic age THAT educa
I ton is free, and that we have freedom in re
hgiOn, both moving in wider and deepe
\ channels than AfOrettme Of culture ant
2 Christian charity THAT a greater sOftnes
: OF manners has not made us effeminate :
r that we are in good degree a temperate
| sober, self-restrained people, standing b.
! good order end obedience to law, oOnserva
/ tive aud vet progressing, having q steadfast
: ness that may be counted on, and will o
1 our own not having parted with practica
/ wisdom and common sense, nor yet far de
4 parted from the religion Of paying our debts
\ From this little hive and nursery of men
4 how many have gone forth to the broade
and more inviting fields Of the expanding
e West, to the great marts of commerce, ant
: wherever the spirit of adventure has im
4 PEELED, or Of gain or ambition lured, carrying
: with them the temper and training of thei
r birthplace, and planting IN virgin
/ fields the seed germs they gath
4 cred in boYhOOd upon thes'
: mountain sides,,fAnd as We have seen the
[ emblematlc pine tree of onr. State, come o
/ such planting. towering oftimes above tn
: indigenous trees of the land, with branehe
/ wide spreading and royal crown of leaves
: singing to the winds the music Of its ances
: trail home, how proudly have we cheered sucl
: vision, crying Grace, Grace unto it.
d One hundred years hence, when Vernon
: shall celebrate the second centennial year O
/ her life as IA State, when we who to-day com
=