News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1885-04-09
JUSTICE
DerIders of the Green Mountain State Answered
r1,eLlmonts Contribution of Great Men to the
and Art. " GU C. '"'o'o0

IL are, Tor the most part, rather I'M
complimentary, especially upon the
pari OF the disappointed practical pol
ltlclans OF the Democratic school.
lheSe people, who are angry at the
selection of Mr.. Phelps for the lead
ing foreign mission, are voluble about
I Vermont 'greenhorns" and we hear
the OLD sneers about Vermonters plant
ing corn by shooting it into the cracks
IN the rocks with rifle, pulling beans
with tongs, sharpening sleeps noses
so they can Craze among the cobUle
stones, ETC., and the courtly and
scholarly Phelps is mentioned in with
enng sarcasm as '.Varmount Yam
kee."
! This is all very well as a joke, but
it is, nevertheless, unjust and unfair.
Vermont is small, and large proper
ton of her surface is mountainous,
but the fact is, that the State has
much to distinguish it, and it has pro-
duced more famous men, and contrib
uted as much to the greatness of the
country and the success of the Union
as any other State of like area and
population. A little looking into the
affairs Of Vermont and Vermont his
tory will show that her people have
more to be proud OF, and more to boast
OF than many States twice and thrice
her area and population. The inf1u-
ence of the State in building up the
country westward has been beyond
calculation for good. From her hills
and valleys, her wooden and rocky re-
cesses, her clear S-AospffFss:sss==7 ssr cool
lakes and beautiful rivers has flowed
continually stream of fresh, young
blood into the muddy currents of the
toiling, weary and worn world. Every
where you find the Vermonter, eager,
ardent, pushing, ambitious, fearless.
They are everywhere ON the frontier,
among the pioneers, all over the far
west, and in Chicago the proportion
of Vermont born people to the popu-
lation is astonishingly large.
Now, as 10 the men she has furn-
ished with her little area of 1865
square miles, and population not lar
ger than that of Cincinnati aud Ham
ilton County, and the great names
she has written high up in the history
of America.
Let US study this bit, and let us
have justice done the gallant little
Green Mountain State in this respect.
To begin with take the present hour.
The President, Chester A. Arthur,
who has just gone out of office, amid
the plaudits of his count ymen, is a
Vermcnter.
The gentlemanly Mr.. Villas, who
has just taken charge of what is by
many, thought to he the most impor-
tant cabinet portfolio, the post office,
is Vermonter.
The new minister to England, Civ
en- the most important foreign mis-
sion, Mr.. E. j. Phelps, is Vermont
err.
The distinguished Senator from
New York, and ex-Secretary of State,
Mr.. VIM. NJ. Evarts, who has just
taken his seat, is Vermonter.
The present Minister to Russia,
and ex-Secretary of War, and ex-At-
torney General, Alphonso Taft, is
Vermonter.
That is not bad showing for YER
mont. Where is there a State that
can make better one?
Now, about the men of the past. |
Where in our history shines there
more heroic figure than Ethan Allen,
and what more fascinating page in
American annals than that which |
deals with the glorious names and |
deeds of Allen and Seth Warner, Re- |
member Baker and the bands of Green
Mountain boys In the brave Old days |
when they Numbered at the gates of
Ticonderoga, and demanded its sur
render sin the name of the Great Je-
hovah and the Continental Congress
Where stands fairer name than
that of Stark, or was fought drawer
battle than that at Bennington? Wipe
out the names of Allen and Stark and
Bennington, and the tender memory
of MOLLY Stark" that lives through
the heroic declaration of her gallant
husband. and some of the graDdest
teaching and best inspiration of our
history would be lost.
To the last war Vermont contribut-
ed the names of such men as General
Stannard and Commodore Foote. One
OF the most noted organizations in the
Army of the Potomac was the famous
Vermont Brigade, that outmarched
and outfought any similar organiza-
ton for five years, and at Gettysburg,
under Staunard, accomplished the
daring movement that turned the tide
of battle, saved the day TO the North,
and captured three times as many
prisoners as the brigade had men.
When distinguished English author,
writing on the American war in The
Westminster ReejeW, sought for
typical American soldier, he took the
men of the Vermont Brigade.
The late Benjamin Alyord, Paymas-
and distinguished in mil
ltary life, was a Vermouter.
The late George 2. Marsh, for
many years Minister to Italy, and au-
thor of many profound and scholarly :
works, was a Vermonter.
Silas Wright, Steven A. Douglass
and Thaddeus Stephens were Yer
nonte,s. Doug ass learned his trade ,
Of cabinet making in Middlehury. and ,
w rights monument stands in the adj
oiniug town of Weybridge, in plain /,
light from the hill, at tue front of
which Middlebury stands. This little
village was the home of Senator S.
). Phelps, who was fourt cen years in
he United States Senate, and noted e
nan, even among the giants of that j.
lay, the Websters, the Clays, the RAN
lolphs, the CalhoR4s.-Here WAS born
he present munster to England.
Close by the monument to Wright in
WIS born Wilbur F. Sto-
'ey, the famous editor of the Chicago C
Times. There stands Middlebury
College, from which for eighty-t five d
ears has been graduated men known t
III over the world in every profession a
i walk in life.
John @. SAKE, the great humorous n
)oet, and Salem Town, the we'll a
,nown educator, were Vermonters. n
l.