Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-08-24
AIpIbittS ~
OF Hon. 4. y. Walton before the Yer
mont Editors and Publishers Associ-
alton, at Bennington, on Tuesday eve
ming, August nth.

mont Editors and Publishers Associ-
alton, at Remington, on Tuesday eve
ming, August iih.
Light more light is the constant cry
from the cradle to the grave; light Tor ali
things in earth and heaven; light for the
ewes, the mind, the soul. Doubtless God
| can create a world of darkness, and people
| it with eyeless creatures. as, down IN the
DEPTHS of the Mammoth Cave Of Kentucky,
where no ray of sunlight has ever pierced.
| lie has created eyeless fish; but the record
| is that, in the divine design for man, light
was the first element that was necessary,
even for OmnipOtent power IN working
out that design. "And God said. Let there
be light: and there was light. And Tod
saw the Light, that it Was good; ard HOd
| divided tho light from darkness. lhls
was the first act in that divine drama which
will not be completed until there shall be
"a new heaven and a new earth, where
| there shall be no night" and the dwellers
| there '.hall need no candle. neither light
of the sun, for the Lord God giyeth them
| light" Light, therefore, was the begin
ming and is destined to be the end OF tod
work for man. Without light, the earth
would have had no heat; no vegetation Tor
the support of man or beast; no beauty oil
sky and landscape. of form and HOVER; no
beauty that man should desire it-but utter
desolation. Most fifty, therefore, outer
darkness was Christs synonym iOr neil.
Since. then, God Himself gave to the light
the first place and the highest dignity IN
the order of Ills own work, and is at last
| to make it His greatest glory-for Tod
| Himself is the light and glory OF Heaven
| il is not prcsumptuous to say that the light
| plyers of the earth are entitled to stand In
the first rank among all orders of men, and
to be honored by all precisely to the degree
in which they honor themselves in the
noble professions into which they have been
called. -, !,
And who are the light-givers? OF old
| thew were mainly the prophets, priests.
apostles, historians, orators, philosophers
poets-Christ being the greatest OF teachers.
the highest of priests, the lght oil the
world In our day they arc the teachers
of ali true knowledge. the preachers of all
truth, and, boldly add, the heraius oil
good tidinps to all men-the editors. pub
| fishers and printers-wh0se duty 1t Is TO
pather up all that is good from all hight
overs and send it, as the sun sends It's
rays. into every corner OF the earth reiresh-
! inc and gliding all it touches; and gladden.
;ne ali who behold it. We have been wont,
| after the best authors, rulers and statesmen.
to give the highest honors to the learned
professions-the teachers, the preachers the
LAWYERS, and the physicians; but pray tell
me what profession needs so much learning
as that of the editor His field is the world
nav, it embraces both worlds; 1t covers
priest-craft and kine-crait, all tho proits-
sions, all the sciences, all literature IN
| short all knowledge-human and diylne-ail
pbases of practical life. all ialcies OF the
| ideal. and all promises of the eternal. The
| editor should be a walking dictionary and
| encyclor ada combined; his head should
contain all the Libraries within his reach; his
Judgment should be perfect, his heart pure,
| his character spotless, and his hand apt IN
| pennipg the loitiest thoughts to restrict, anu
| The lipbtest trihes to smuse. Many editors
| have reached nearly up TO this ideal many
more have approached it; and ! am glau
to believe that the general tendency Is III
the right direction. Journalism mas come
TO be recognized in some OF the colleges as
a high profession, and within the last guar
ter Of century the colleges OF 'erlnont
have sent out men which have adorned IT,
RAYMOND and Spaulding were truly giants
among the editors OF New York city. and
both we're graduates of the University OF
Vermont; and to the credit OF the practl-
cal printers, who have had no advantages
of high school or College, have only to
| name Horace Greeley. This brings me to
the practical printers, from the highest 10
the lowest, as light-givers-irom Inc lore
man down through the compositors anu
the pressmen ard women to the smntty
little devil Of the printing oihce. lhey
are all light-givers, and prominently SO.
The statesman. the preacher, the InTist' inc
author, the editor ard the pnplisher' are
capable of being great lights IN the woiIu'
but only through the practical PRIMER;
| Lor altro fau fhnnS1nnS
neonle. while by the practical printer lie
has shaken TO millions upon millions. and
will sneak to them until all shall nave
heard the glad news of salvation. without
| tho nrintcrs. the orator, the statesman, the
inrist-po matter how great-eould address
at most but few thousands OF people the
noet and historian could only go from
hopse 10 house and inn TO inn and repeat
their tales as did Homer and the trouba-
dorrs or write out q few copies and de-
nos;t them in Libraries. But the printers
make all the werld their audience. Inc
publishers and practical printers, then. ioi
their great usefulness, are larry enti1Ieu
TO stand in high estimation by the sue OIL
the authors and editors. whose WORK tney
issue to the world, crystaliZed and perpet-
uated in the printed page, TO instruct OF
amuse not merely the people OF their own
4
On another occasion this theme may be
protitably developed by some one more
competept than am into an elaborate DIS
cussion of the dignity, the duties and the
RESPONSIBILITIES of the professions when
this association represents. | have sug-
eested it for your reflection. hopeful that
Your own consideration OF 1t Will lead you
10 higher aims, a better improvement OF
YOUR great opportunities. and better dis-
charge of all your duties to the pdblic.
And now ! turn to topic more peril
nent TO this historical occasion. TO wit, the
earliest printers in Vermont. They were
not large and brilliant lights, but as q can
die set on bushel. Their little light went
a little way, for there we're but lew people
then. even within the limits OF the whole
state and no mail routes, so that the sub
scription lists must necessarily have been
small. Nevertheless, the first !ight-glvers
wee yery useful to the State, which had
been compelled to go elsewhere Tor the
state printing, and useful also to the people
? within their reach in giving the news OF
the day and discussing, by their best
writers. subjects of the greatest public I'm
portance. But more largely they were
useful in stimulating taste Tor reading
and a demand for more printers, books
and newspapers. so that IN this centennial
wear the profession in Vermont ranks July
az high as in any other section OF the coun-
try outside OF the metropolitan cities. Let
ms then accord due honor to the first ad-
yenturer in the field of Vermont journal
| ISM. -
The frst printing press in Vermont was
nrohsblv brought by Samuel Gale, who was
married in 6rattleboro in 1913, was sur
revor under New York in that year. and
annointed clerk of Cumberland (Wlndham)
county court in ia. lie was an English
man by birth, well educated, gentleman
in manners. and Tory in politics. As
!, clerk of the court, he of course fought on
the court side in the Westminster massacre
of IT'S. and for that he was arrested and
imprisoned by the Wings, and his property
was coniiscated by Vermont In fact he
was so long in prison. under different au
thorities, that he abandoned the country on
his release by the Continental congress and
took cfGce in Canada, and subsequently a
pension from the British government. The
evidence that he brought the first printing
press into Vermont is meagre, yet tolera-
bly satisfactory The writing Office so
Rms the record) of one Pale. at Westmin-
ster. was contiscated to the use OF the
State by the Legislature IN 1850. The name
of Pale does not appear in Thomas history
of printing, neither does that oil samuel
Gale, he not being Inter, bat 1t Is Oh,
yioul that the p instead OF a Il Is natural
clerical error There il ample evidence
that Gale was at Westminster IN E53-j IS
clerk of the court, that he was man OF
learning, ambitious OF authorship at Phlla-
delphia IN I772, and actually an author
subsequently, IN England. The most rea-
sonabI, inference Is that Gale brought
printing materials with him to Vermont
with the intention of uring them. though
by reason, possibly. of his short residence
in the State, and lack of printers. there is
no evidence that these materials were ever
used by him
The next press brought Tor the use OF
Vermont was established at llrt Sden, now
Hanover, n. H. in I77n, by Timothy
Green and Judah Paddock - O1ncr. In
both Thomas history and Xtdock lhomp-