Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1892-10-28
THE PROFESSIONAL CLUB.
Formative Influences in American Life
and Character


the Season Is02--O3.
The Professional club began its meetings
for the season of 1S02-03, Monday even
| ing, with paper by Rev. Dr. George Leon
| Walker on "Some Formative Influences in
! American Life and Character" The three
! characteristics discussed in the paper were
| those of Difference to the will of the ma
! iority, tendency to organized action, and
the quality of dcality which marks our
| American life.
There is always. the ,sSayist said, very con
| siderable interest belonging to the development
! of any strongly marked individual character.
] knowledge of 10" circumstances which enNlrpned,
! the agencies witch moulded. the incidents Whl'u
/ anticlpativcy Illustrate such characters have a
perpetual attractveuess Even those who have
| no relish for philosophical analysis OF biography
| largely employ that kind Of practical anay SIS
| which disccrus IN the early incidents Of great
| mans career a prophecy Of the traits which have
aiterward made him famous In this way the
stories of Napoleons schooldays at Brienne, or
| Abraham Lincoln's torchlight studies by the CAB
| in fire. or Grants bOyhOOd wrestling with retrac
tory colts ON his fathers farm. are treasured up
in the popular mind as a. once aifprding exam
pies Of characte1stics subsequently hlustTateu Oh
the arena OF general aHalrs' aud as p"IIipha
the developing proc ssrs by which those charac-
teristics were brought TO maturity. So II Is WIN
the characteristics OF "a whole people. The carry
outlines of features which are afterwarI recog'
nized as Of national significance, and the early in
I Nuences which hardened such features into per
| manenCp arr matters OF as much greater inter
| est as the collective traus'euds the individual.
FIRST among the strongly marked traits Of our
! American character. aud perhaps the most TAMIL
| lar of them ALL is The universal Difference IN
this land to every authentic expression. IN mat
ters Of common public con'etnmrnt. OF the pop
ular will: that l.. tn major VIII OF tue people
| The hush Of quiet acqui,sceuce which falls in an
! hour over the storm and controversy of the most
/ violently contested state or national election
settled, perhaps as the one eight years ago was
by n mere matter Of ltol votes ~ single state -
is but an illustration on largr scale Of what Is
/ manifested almost every day in every township,
scnuoi district and PARISH assembly in our land.
In looking for the origin Of this trait It was dis
covered primarily in the fact that the founders
of the American republic, Whatever their diverse
motives and circumstances, alike came out
from the old civilizations Of Europe In the new
lnnd saparatpd by 300 miles Of stormy waters
from ali the established institutions of society,
they were thrown ON their own resources they
were cut or completely from the governmental
power. or support. or patronage, on which they
had heretofore leaned: they were compelled To
establish "a new working force aud through the
necessities thus laid upon them there was devel-
oped in the will Of the people themselves the
power for the accomplishment pt collective or
community ends which IN other lands were
/ wrought out 10y, or through. king. or a cabinet,
! ! or a governing class SO powerfully did this in
nu.u e. do its work that at the period Of the Rev
| ulution IL had tran ,jurmed what We're originally
! thirteen chartered trading and real estate asso-
ciatiuus with less or more distinctly developed
religious motive connected with soma Of them,
into thirteen selas-' rive, self directing democ-
racies. disciplined by long experience into pref
rrrnct Of popular desire 10 royal prerogalve,
and to an elevation of IN" VIII ot the majority
10 the supreme place ia Affairs
These commonw eath>. hich the close Of the
! Revolution found scattered along our great Allan
tic seaboard were almost iMmtasurably diverse
, IN local characteristics, IN commercial interests
/ and prevailing occupations, hut they we're one ~
The characteristic habit Of appeal and obedience
to the viii Of the majority Was only Strengthened
, bv the experiment OF the great rebellion and us
legislative issues II is the trait which first and
; most imprrsses the European stranger landing on
1 | our shores.
l | ter discussed was its prediction and aptitude
= for organized action NJ de- roqueville discov
= / cred this when he said. Wherever at the head
. / Of some new undertaking. you SEE the govern
| tnent in France. a man Of rank in England, II
| the United States you Will be sure Ia find an as
\ sociation." The American unit Of action. that u
. 10 say. is not the individual man. but SON" vol
I untary society Of men This form Of force. ton
was undoubtedly at first the offspring OF nrcrS
~ Al the NOR. O-'ahse 81 their wide DIVER
geucr ~ national and religious TRAITS. were the
new corners ON this American soil Obliged 10 come
10 an understanding with one another m th'
=. bonds Of some voluntary fellowship Tried ant
proved a. this principle in the early tri
ais and conflicts Of the colonists. u met its Su
pr,tu,. test in the war Of the Revolution an,
a it, successful outcome. The development OF
= the country since that time. instead OF lessen
= ing the need OF this trait as an active prin
Cipie has constantly increased il. Every advance
Be step in the territorial occupation Of the country
p. has called It into 1t has marched with th'
o. growth of the country across the breadth OF thu
l., continent. This organizing faculty has altnuS
h come to be- the occupation OF American citizen
- ship and It's foremost capacity. II has got int,
q, the very blood anu bones OF the people TurI
>, lin, bpys of any High school East or West ON {,
u a desert island: let them know that for year a
T. least they were condemned To stay the withou
hope Of rescue; within weeks time they woul
be- organized into a society. with recognized rule
' Il behavior with prescribed and regulated on
r Gers They would in effect reproduce, 50 far a
n the exigencies of the situation called for II, JUS
: what is done in town meeting in Congress, an'
in courts. There is not an interest of business o
y Of pleasure, Of religion or OF labor, but gives eN
ampeS OF this persistent and universally operativ
q, power.
IS pahIity OF action Of a very different order. Thi
II we SCI, illustrated in the strikes Of labor organ
/ cations which stop in an hour the locomotion o
+ a great city, paralyze the traftic of vast con
r. tinental lines Of commerce Its vicious operation
n is seen. too, in the semi political combination
- which dictate the legislation OF states or embaras
, the processes Of the courts.
t. The last distinctive trait in American character
mentioned by the essaylst, was "a certain quaint!
4 Of ideality, of sensibility to large and imagina
u tive conceptions Of life, or action, or duty.
4 mean that quality OF nature which respond
h, | readily to those thoughts and sentiments, how
. | ever rudely they may sometimes be expressed
y which have in them a high and generous appea
Y. 10 the hearts and imaginations of men" Thi
is not characteristic which is very general Il
the ancestral stock. John Bull does not exhibi
il very often. He is concrete. practical. Blu
n Brother Jonathan likes a touch of romance i
- his affairs. He likes large, mouth Milling phrases
~ such as IAN men are created equal or "Libert
s. and unioa, one and nseparabe,' or NANTES
. destiny of America, - or Our country, our Who'll
70 country. and nothing but our country" and
rs has been known in moments of unusual harit
re to respond vocferously to the toast, our couI
70 try, right wrong"
% Ii is difficult In say just how such a develop
p ment of a certain national sentimentaltv cam
he into existence: but something must be ascribe
IA TO the character of the men who gave direction
our early life. They were not average and no
IN NAL types, but were rather extreme and speci,
st characters. A more emotional and imaglnatiS
. sensibility belongs properly to the neal onsprin
- of men thus marked. A good deal OF this ideal
n " must be attributed also to the influence of OF
A. vast continental territory which was forever b'
. hind and forever beckOnlng on 10 possession
- I'VE smile when on some congressional parad
- day or ON some festival or Fourth of July occi
u; sion the typical American orator gives wings I
% his spreadeagle Imagination and bursts the su
~ penders and Wristbands OF his rhetoric in the raj
vi ture of his discourse on the grandeur of Amer
u cas- territorial possessions But there is som,
thing in the common breasts of his hearers whiC
lg he touches and stirs by il nevertheless " tn
so discipline and results of the struggle for ind
:, pendence were a powerful means for developin
IL and confirming this trait. Thomas Jefferson wa
z, its most perfect embodiment, and was the mo
I powerful spokesman. OF the ideal conception
- | the heart of American nationality. Others, hk
VI Webster, Sumner and Lincoln, have spoken OF
IN the same national characteristics, but no subs
quent voicing Of American hopes and aims an
achievements can ever silence or make obscuI
jefferson S prophetic trumpet call. lt spoke an
IL speaks still the ideaty in American characte
"Glittering generalties' his words have bee
VI called, but 10 millions in our own and other lane
,g they are listened TO the true and proper voiC
X of America; that America which, Just becau
IL of its deality, is such power IN the world.
lg The essay was marked throughout /
n that keenness of insight and by that graz
II, and force of diction with which the Bra
lu tleboro community is so familiar in ever