Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1893-06-02
MEMORIAL DAY, 1893.
j. L. MARTINS ADDRESS

Delivered before sedgwiek Pest and
BrattIeborO citizens, Tuesday, May 30
If there is a spot on earth where the |
graves of the dead should be kept forever
sacred it is here in Vermont. You can
find in every old graveyard the final rest
ing place of some strong, able man or
woman who made their good impress
upon the age in which they lived.
believe fully in these commemorative eXer-
cises The memory of the dead and the
recounting of their good deeds in life is
one of the distinguishing characteristics of
the age of enlightenment.
To remember to tell over the achieve
ments of our soldiers and the wonderful
lives of the original settlers and founders
of Vermont should be encouraged on ev-
ery appropriate occasion. | am sure that
on this occasion | shall be excused, If not
justified. in referring to the Lives of those
people who have made marvellous history
for our beloved state. The spirit Of indie
pendence, the love of good order and all
abundance of patrio' ism that was develop
ed by the inhabitants of these hills and
valleys long before Vermont became e'the
star that never set in 1871, is the real
fountain from which flowed the greatest
valor and the best soldery of the whole
war of the rebellion.
While we decorate today the graves OF
those boys who wore.the blue in the war
of the Rebellion, yet we recall with pride
the founders of this government who UNI
crowned the king in his reign here and
wrested from the hands of tyranny the
sceptre of usurped and oppressive power.
Our American ancestors superseded roy
al grants and repealed cruel and unjust
statutes of thousand years. they opened
the paths of fame and, in the language of
another, "placed the shining star of hope
over the cradle of the poor mans babe.
We remember all the heroes who came
from other lands to make ours free. We
remember the many thousands who shared
the gloom and glory of those seven years
of revolutionary conflict, though they have
all gone back to dust, many of whom sleep
in unmarked graves, and some beneath the
crumbling stones from which their names
have been effaced by times relentless
hand; but the nation they founded re-
mains and over sixty millions of free peo-
pie are the heritage of their sacrifice.
We live in what may be called the sec
ond century of this great continent; we
see before us events that may reflect I'M
bounded success or may require astute
craftsmanship to avoid peril. We are oft
en- moved by the reflection of occurrences
which have guided our destiny long before
our birth. At times it would seem as
though we were rushing on with impas-
stoned haste, little mindful of the events OF
the past and lightly approaching the grand
lives of those who have made us what we
are: but, as a rule, there are hours in every
mans life when meditation carries him
back over the fields that have been trOd-
den by other men, and some, il not due
credit, is given to those who deserve it,
This is day when all the people of the
land should fully realize and fully reflect
upon those deeds of daring that made ua
free and preserve for us an undivided ma
ton.
'Mountaineers are always freemen," anG
they always love the home of their child
hood. But this does not alone account fol-
the peculiar pride that we have in Oul
early history. Vermont has a history GOV
ering its earlier life unlike that of any
other state in the Union.
For many years after settlements wert
made by the white man on different por
tions of the Atlantic slope, Vermont was
the hunting, fishing and battle ground Of
the wild and bloody red man. So far a:
can be learned from its prehistoric period
it was never the permanent abiding place
of the Indian, vet frequent, fierce anC
DiOOuN were Iut DdlLlcS VI uillCIChb llibS
between Lake Champlain and the Con
necticut river. Our fathers who penetrated
this wilderness and made it their home die
what no other human being ever dared t.
do. 1t is said that the Indians looked upoI
the Green mountains as delightful ant
charming, but that the Great Spirit haC
never intended it for an abiding place. L
was sacred and dangerous ground. Fo
nearly 200 years after the Indian began t
recede from the Middle and New England
states this territory was yet without settle
ments.
The French had been settling on tn
north, the English on the south, until the,
had become so strong in the New Worl'
that they we're involved in King William
war of 1890 to 1897 and Queen Anne
war of 1902 to l713, and during that peri
cd the territory of Vermont was theatr
of war and the scene of Indian havoc an,
cruelty of the most appalling character. Pri
or to 1853, when the empire of the NeV
World was settled by Montcalm and Wolf
at Quebec, every home in Vermont was
fertilization of war; the inhabitant
climbed places of eminence to observe tn
conduct of the Indians by the smoke o
their camp-fires. Subsequent to 1850 set
Elements were quite rapidly made up tn
Connecticut and Battenkill valleys into tn
interior of the state. Then came tina
memorable contest between the New HamI
shire grants and the province of Me-
York, a period full of interesting histOr
and one which thrills man with pride fo
the valor and craftsmanship manifested b
those brave and hardy pioneers who carve
homes out of these mountain sides and de
Tended them with skill and learning in til
courts of justice, with diplomacy befOI
the king and used with fearless vigor til
beech seal.
Rulers had become deaf to the petition
of the people, the judiciary was cOrrup
justice wept at the throne of insOlence, s
that the liberty of our fathers was depend
ent upon the innate powers God gives t
man. They resolved to defend their home
though they persisted upon the threshold
leaving the cradle to be rocked by til
mother alone. In the hearts of these da
ing men was conceived the independent
of the New Hampshire grants. COmmi
tees of safety constituted by general col
uanfiono Of tho nanpla xuae tho fret 40,