Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-06-15
A ANDsOME COMPLIMENT.
What Rev. Edward Everett Hale, ID. ID
thinks of the Queen City of Vermont

thinks of the Queen City of Vermont.
At the recent 56th annual reunion of
the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity in the
Metropolitan opera house, New York,
v. DR.. Edward Everett Hale had this
to say in the course of his address
When | was told the other day, that
there was nothing distinguished" in our
cities, | asked myself what was the last
city had visited, away from my own
home. AS it happened, it was one of the
smallest of American cities-it was the
city of Burlington, in Vermont. | re-
member the moment when arrived there,
when the magnificent range of the Green
mountains, white with snow as it had
been through the day, was tinged with
the crimson of the setting sun and, as |
turned west to look upon the clouds of
sunset the sun himself was sinking be-
hind the broken range of the Adirondack
mountains. Between was the white ice
of the frozen lake and so far as nature
has anything to offer to the eye, | had GER
lainly never seen, in 40 years OF travel,
any position chosen for city, more likely
to impress traveller as remarkable, and
TO llnger always in his memory. Those of
you who have been in Burlington will
know that | was in city OF palaces |
mean by that, that there are private
homes there which, while they have the
comforts of Il log cabin, display the ele
gauces of palace But | snail be told
that this is not distinguished now,-that
this may be seen everywhere In country
as rich as America. Let it be so. Then
they took me to visit a new hospital, ar
ranged with everything which modern
science knows for the treatment of dis
| ease, with staff of surgeons and phys-
Clans who might stand unawed before the
/ great leaders in their profession and they
| NprnDnt
who was in need could be treated by the
! best science of the nineteenth century,
and with the tenderest care that the Chris
tian religion inspires. They told me that
| this institution was main aimed by fund
OF nearly half a million dollars, given by
| one lady, for this purpose OF blessing her
| brothers and sisters OF mankind. IL this
be commonplace monument, let us thank
+, God that we live in commonplace land.
, They took me then to their public library.
They showed me the Canadian emigrants
from the other side of the border, throng-
ing the passages that each might have his
French book to read, the German emf
grant pressing for his book, they showed
perfect administration for the supply OF
these needs. And they showed me that
they had not only provided for the rank
and file in this way-providing, observe
thousands of books in German and thou,
sands of books in French, but they
showed the last sweet thing" in the crtl
cism of Dante, the last publications of the
archaeological societies of ltaly-books
and prints which had been issued-well
let us say it among ourselves, for as dainty
people MS you and | are,-tOr the elegant
students of Browning or of madi9va
times. They had taken as good care of Us
in our daintiness, as they had taken of the
Canadian wood chopper, or of the German
, mechanic. This seemed TO me rather {
, distinguished bit of administration. AnC
leo min It TO- foil hn ~ hn,
arrangements for charities, of their fore
look III regard to sanitary arrangements
and when | asked them on the particula
matter which | was sent for to give coun
sci, how many people they had in the
Blackwell's Island establishments, il
their public institutions for the poor,
/ found there was momentary question
: whether there were three of these peopl
at that moment, or possibly four
/ That is So distinguished a condition O
/ affairs, that should not dare tell tina
story in any Social Science Congress il
4 Europe. 1t would be set down as
; Yankee eXaggeration. People would sa
I it was impossible. 1t is not impossible
= because he men and women of Burling
= ton have known how to give themselve
to the administration OF the wealth II
y common. Among other things, ma
I say in passing, they have known now t
: suppress the open bar. i have no need t
1 discuss the details, | only attempt, in on
such incident, to show to you that, as
! friend said to me today, while we travt
Z in Europe to see external things, Xix
o statues and cathedrals and other physict
Il monuments, we travel in America to Sc
y what man does for man, what is the train
e ing OF the hannah being, and we find som
/ interest in the advance which, from on
d generation to another, man makes in a
# resting sickness, in abolishing pauperisn
and, in a word, in the improvement {
mankind