The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1891-08-26
NUMBER 81.

'i''''
come we are wont TO await with so much
so!icitude, and which seem to our impatient
VISION To raise against us obstacles so dam
gerous We look down upon them, and we
see now temporary and ephemeral they
are. We perceive that we need not on
their account despair of the republic, which
patriotism and devotion have brought out
respondent from darker days than we
shall ever know. Gazing forward, i'm the
light Of the aftergow of the vanishing CEN
tury, we are able to discern with the eve Of
faith and hope what this sentinel pile shall
look ont upon i'm the days that are before it.
IL VIII look out upon Vermont on whose
valleys and hillsides the seedtime and har-
vest shall never fail. A land 10 which its
people shall still cling with an affection not
felt for The surface Of the physical earth by
any but those who are born among the hills,
hallOwed to them as tous by its noble tradi-
tions, sacred for the dead who rest in its
BOSOM The beautiful name which the
mountains have given it will abide upon
the land forever Vermont, always YER
montl And it will behold society where
the great principles of civil and religious
liberty on which it is founded shall be
slowly but surely working themselves out
TO their final maturity. A prosperity, more
and more widely diifused among common
men. An advancing civilization, not with
out the viCssitudes, the hlemshes the mis-
takes, the sorrows through which humani-
tvs path must always lie, but in which the
gain shall still surpass the loss and the bet
ter surmount the worse; enlightened from
generation to generation by an increasing
Intelligence, "A broader knowledge, a higher
morality alleviated and illuminated, as it
was in the beginning, by the inexhaustible
blessing of our fathers God.
PRESIDENT HARRIsON's SPEECH.
Mr. President and Fellow Citizens There
are several obvious reasons why | should
not attempt to speak to You at this time.
rms great audience is so uncomfortably
situated that further prolongatiOn Ofthese
exercises cannot he desired but the stronger
reason is that you have just listened with
rapt attention to a most scholarly and in
teresting review of those historical Incl
dents which have suggested this assem-
blage, and Of those lessons which they fur
niSh to thoughtful and patriotic men A
son OF Vermont. hOnored 10y his fellow iti-
zens, honored by the nation which he has
served in distinguished public function,
honored by the profession of which he is an
ornament and an instructor has spoken for
Vermont, and it does not seem to me fit
hat these golden events should he married
ny any eNtempOraneOuS words which can
, add. | come to you under circumstances
that altogether forbade preparation. | have
no other preparation for speech than this
| inspiring cup of good will which yOu have
presented to my lips The most cordial
welcome which has been extended to me
today makes ii uniting that should omit
to make cordial acknowledgment of it.
Perhaps may be permitted, as "A citizen of
Western state, to give expression to the
high regard and honor in which Vermont is
held. Perhaps | may assume, as public
officer representing in some sense all the
states of the Union, TO bring to-day their
app, eciation OF the history and people of
this patriotic state. Its history is unique,
as Mr.. Phelps has said. The other colonies
staked their lives, their fortunes and honor
upon the struggle for independence. with
the assurance that if, by their valor and
| sacrifice Independence was achieved, all
! these We're assured. The inhabitants of the
| New Hampshire Grants alone fought with
! their ellow-countrymen of the other colo
MES for liberty, for political independence,
unknowing whether, when it had been
achieved, the property, the homes upon
which they dwelt, would he assured by the
success of the confederate colonies. They
| could not know; they had the gravest rea-
son to fear that, when the authority of the
/ confederation of the states had been estab-
lished, this very government to whose SUI
| premaCy Vermont had so noblv contributed,
might lend its authority to the establish
| ment of the claims of New York upon their
| homes; and yet, though security of property
would undoubtedly have been pledged bv
| the royal representative, Vermont took a
! conspicuous, unSeliish and glorious part in
achieving the independence of the united
colonies, relying on the justice of her cause
| Tor the ultimate security of the homes of her
people. II is most noble and unmatched
history; if | may deliver the message of
| Indiana, as "A citizen of that state and an
public officer the message of all the states
| | came to say, Worthy Vermont" She
has kept the faith unfalteringly from Ben
nington until this day. She has added in
war and peace many llustrious names to
our roll of military heroes and of great
statesmen. Her representation in the ma
tional Congress, as it has been known to me-
has been conspicuous for its influence for
the position it has assumed in committee
and in debate, and, so far as | can recall,
has been without personal reproach We
have occasionally come to Vermont with
call that did not originate with her people
and these have been answered with the
same pure, high conservation to public duty
that has characterized those who have been
chosen by your suifrages to represent the
state. | found, when the difficult task of
arranging a cabinet was dependent upon
me, that | could not get along without a
Vermont stick in it; and | am sure you
have plenty OF timber left in each of the
great political parties The participation of
this state in the war of the rebellion was
magnificent. Her troops took to the fields
Of the South that high conservation to lib
erty that had characterized their fathers in
the revolutionary struggle They did not
forget, on the hot slvannas of the South the
green slopes OF these hills; they were ever
in their vision, lifting up their hearts in faith
that God would again bring the good cause
Ottreedom to just issue. We are to-day ap-
! IlbdNllhA Nit NUuNllSlOu Ol Il summer OF
extraordinary fruitfulness How insgnif.
cant the stores that We're gathered at Ben
nington in l177 compared with these great
storehouses bursting with fullness to-day
Our excess meets the deficiency of Europe
and ready market is offered for all our
cereals. We shall grow richer by the con
tributionS which other countries shall make
as they take from our storehouse the
food needed to sustain their people. But,
after all, it is not the census tables of pro-
ductiOn nor of wealth that tell the story of
the greatness of this country. Vermont
has not been one of the rich states of the
Union in gold and silver, and its lands have
not given the returns that some of the fer
tile rVersides of the West yield. There
has been here constant effort and honest
toll, but of all this there has been wrought
IA sturdy manhood, which is better than
riches, and ON which rather than on wealth
The security of our country rests. beg Won
to accept my sincere thanks again for this
evidence of your iriendliness, and apology
that the conditions are not such as 20 en-
] oh Ia f.,a ,...1y as. I 4 IL