Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-04-26

made dent in the serried ranks of tho peo-
pie, it came to be seen that it might be our
duty to vote so as to bring our principles to
bear "where they could do the most good
At frs. we voted for Wings, and soon found
ourselves nobly represented at Washington
by small band of intrepid men, like Slade
and Giddings.
The Wings, however, were dragged
so slowly and reluctantly to the high ground
AbolitiOnists required, that the Liberty
party was formed, and then occurred the
lasting division between the Garrison and
other Aboltionists, the Garrison party en-
tirely eschewing the political movement. 1t
took some years of patient waiting for the
Wings, before it seemed to become our duty
to cast our lot with the Liberty party. We
had but Just got into position then, when
the great Free Soil movement began, and to
our delighted amazemenr, many Democrats.
as well as Wings, abandoned their old party
affiliations and became Free Sellers, or, as the
FREE Press of that day used to call US,
"loose dirt party" We voted for Martin
Van Buren, 1t was bitter pill TO those
who were converts from the Wings, but it
was taken. Cass was defeated, and Ten.
Taylor elected. Gen. Taylor was good
President, and | am thankful that he was
successful
Cas- was defeated, and this seemed to
satisfy Van Buren,. whose Free Soilism,
think, was never heard much of after ward.
1t astonished us to find the aspiring pOlisi-
clans rushing into our rapidly increasing
ranks Several of them have since been
Republican Governors, Lieutenant Cover
nors, Judges, etc.. some of them barely
having time to throw off their old party
regalia, before they were clothed with the
robes of Office. In 1856, came the baptism
of the Free Sellers, by the name OF Repub-
lican, and though defeated in that cam
paign, under the gallant Fremont, aided by
the strange madness of the South and its
allies, the Republicans came into power in
1850 and hold the sceptre still. The old
Wings who had little or no sympathy with
the liberty movement, went first into the
native American party but by short and
easy step passed thence to the Democratic.
while multitudes of Democrats, passed hap
PLY up to the platform of freedom, and have
!" fought good fight" Some within the
circle of my acquaintance went as far the
other way. became Breckenridge or Buchan-
an Democrats, and gave all their sympa-
thies to the Rebels in the late war. While
SOue Oi tue DtuOcrdtlC ledutIS Decduio III
tensely devoted to the cause of the Union,
like Dickinson and Dix, of New York,
and Dillingham; and Thomas, of Vermont,
others, Democrats and Wings, were cold as
ice. The war made strange bed fellows, and
brought into the field, shoulder to shoulder,
those whom we never expected to see stand
ing so near together. There were some even
in Vermont, during that fearful and bloody
conflict, whose sympsthies were with those
whom our sons and brothers were fighting.
1t is not easy to forget, though We may for
give. the jubiant expression of some faces.
when news of disaster to our armies came,
and what sorrow and dismay were mani
fest when we we're victorious. | heard a
good citizen say, once, speaking of the reb-
els, They are right, and hope they will
succeed" When report came that a
young man had fallen in battle, reputable
townsman said. referring to the father, at
is good enough for him. he need not have
let him 60 to the war
So strong were the ties of party that very
good and patriotic people were strangely
blinded. They really loved their country
but, somehow, it seemed to them that the
public welfare was bound up in the triumph |
of the South. do not doubt but they were
Just as sincere in their convictions as We |
were,-and so were many of the rebels. 1t |
was hard for some of US to bear. There are |
ties stronger than those OF party, but they |
are few and hot. To some, the services of |
those who fought and saved the Republic |
are beyond our power adequately to reward. |
To others, they are easily, quickly and un-
gratefully forgotten.
AT general convention of Congregational |
churches and ministers, held in Bradford. |
there were four who voted for the entire |
separation of the churches, as to fellowship, |
from slaveholding churches. Nor can |
forget the cold contempt on the part OF
some, and the intended to be whitening scorn
Of others, in regard to the proposition, nor
has it entirely gone from me, how certain
young man was taken with a wild and bitter
frenzy of passion, on account of the exhibit
ton of heartlessness, on that occasion, and
how foolishly and madly he withdrew from
the convention. turning it over to daniel
Webster" and another gentleman whose
name | would not now connect with that of
the mightiest of American statesmen. A
gear or two later. the repeal of the Missouri
compromise was proposed, and when the
same convention met at Waterbury. it was
amusing to see the icebergs melt, and
the lambs change to tigers. We old Adolf
tionists had little to do but fold our arms and
witness the tumultuous rage Of those who had
treated our former protest with contempt
The world should not begrudgc US the JOY
of our triumph. We have lived, though
many have fallen. to sec our fondest hopes
more than realized.
There are no slaves in our country but the
slaves of party. The last fetter has been
broken. Almost twenty years has Liberty
been represented in the Presidential Chair.
The Constitution has no relic Of barbarism
in it, no " covenent with hell" as the old
Abolitionists called it. The two great pOlit-
ical parties vie with each other in adjust
ing their platforms to the demands OF Free
dom, and they have little to fight over, ex-
cept the spoils of Office. We have Presi-
dent who means to be true to his pledges, for
which his party friends abandon him, and
from whose Independence his party foes can
not seduce him. and many hearts welcome
the advent to power of man who would be
the head of Republic, instead of Repub-
lican party.