The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1877-08-24

pulse of the convention was to separ-
ate and look to the protection of their
families at home, when ga severe thun-
der storm come OH and gave then time
to reflect" and SO they stayed till
their work was finished. The thunder
storm was blessed providence-a voice
from the skies proclaiming to the con-
vcntion duty higher even than the
personal protection of family and home.
And SO Vermont received her christie
ming and became q state, though
for a time after, under the anoma-
lous administration of a Council of
Safety, and until March A., 1871,
fourteen years existed rs an indepen-
dent sovereignty, with all the attri-
butes and functions ofsovereignty, when
she was admitted as an equal member
of the Federal Union.
In the meantime the American Revo-
luton had been closed i'm q declared
peace. The confederation of the United
states had been formed and dissolved,
and the United States constitution had
made of the United States government.
In this construction fconfederation and
constitution Vermont had not been al
lowed to take part, but during all these
fourteen years she had stood apart
among her mountains in stern independ-
ency, defending herself against states
contending for her lands and life, dis
owned by Congress, and having for
years on her borders the common enemy
to fight with the weapons and the finesse
of war. In all this she did her work
bravely and well; and we do well to-
day by commemorating these labors of
the fathers hundred years ago.
This constitution of 1777 was more
than declaration of independence and
frame of government. 1t was charter
of human liberty also. Thus the !Dec-
laration of the Rights of the Inhabitants
of the State of Vermont" starts off with
the broader declaration, ''that all men
are born equally free and Independent,
and have certain natural, inherent and
lnalienable rights; amongst which are
the enjoying and defending life and lib
erty; acquiring, possessing and protect
ing property, and pursuing and obtain
ing happiness and safety" Therefore,
it is to this the logic leads-"no male per-
son born in the country OF brought from
over the sea, ought to be holden by the
law 20 serve any person as a servant,
slave or apprentice, after he arrives to
the age of twentv-one years, nor female
III iikc manner i,Ier She arrives ~ tiI,.
age of eighteen years, unless they are
bound by their own consent. after they
arrive to such an age"
This provision of the constitution re-
ceived judicial nterpretation-clear
enough without it-by the Supreme
Court in 1902, that no inhabitant of this
cfnfn hold n clox-a ,,1 tlo& l. 1.
coming an inhabitant his slave brought
from another state becomes free.
(Winsor V. Jacob, 2Tyler's Reports.
l92.) The bill of sale in such case, to
be effective, must, according to the
traditional ruling of Judge Theophius
Harrington, be under the hand seal of
the Almighty. We give our fathers
credit, that they did not distort the logic
of their broad declaration of human
rights, or attempt to accommodate an
inflexible truth to the passion of
power, or the lust of gain; that they
were ready to award to all men what
they claimed for themselves, and stam-
ped the soil of Vermont with the seal
of freedom for all and forever.
Thus reviewing cursorily the early
history of this state, we may safely say
that none has a history more romantic
in its incidents. or more illustrious for
the herOism and sagacitv of its chief
men nor more marked for the sturdy
independence and honesty of its people,
for their energy, persistence, will in
domitable to defend their rights, and
readiness TO accord like right to others.
Ii we of to-day have become spindling
and weak, it is not the fault of the faith
ers. True, we have not their personal
experience and training in the hardship
OF pioneer life, TO teach that practical
sagacity which comes of necessity: nor
yet that schooling of a whole people in
civil rights and law and craftsmanship,
which their long controversy with New
York, New Hampshire, Great Britain
and Congress gave them during the
years OF that great awakening ofthought
which preceded, accompanied and fol-
lowed the American Revolution, and
made of plain men shrewd thinkers
and wise judges. But they have left
us their thoughts, their spirit, their in
stitutions-town organizations, those
little democracies where all the inhab-
itants assembled in common meeting.
discuss and decide all matters of local
government, distribute the offices of
administration and jury service, by
which, and the official service imposed
upon those esteemed the fittest, the
people are put to school i'm the princi-
pies of government and kept in training
for the duties of civil life, and make
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 uni
versity, rs well as cleared fields, roads.
bridges and mills-and we have entered
into their labors.
1t is question which presses upon
us, whether the state in its subsequent
has proved itself worthy
its origin, and whether we of to-day de-
serve such ancestry; how far the spirit
and the times of hundred years ago
have impressed themselves upon the
and made its history what il
has been, and the people what they are.
In the way of partial answer to such
questionings, it may be truthfully said,
that the age has not passed beyond the
impulse which first set in motion the
state and its institutions; that the temper
hHN ~ VI INV itNlltlN dit Ntt
in the moral ineaments of their poster
ity; that the principles upon which they
founded the state lie under it TODAY,
in place upon the bedrock
of truth, untouched by decay.
Thus, upon all questions of human
liberty, especially in the fierce conflicts
which have since been waged between
the absolute right and the expedient
wrong, between the doctrine of human
equality aud the wild fantasy of prop
erty in man, Vermont has ever been
true TO her early declaration, and fixed
rs her mountains-exhibiting even am
aggressive zeal for liberty and holy
anger against slavery, contemptuous of
all excuse or apology for such invasion
ofhuman rights. Thus il happened, that
The teachings of early abolitionists SEEM
ed to our people no new doctrine, but the |
awakened echoes of the voices of the |
fathers who had passed into silence, and
heir appeals fell npOn willing ears and |