Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1900-03-16
Sssrs County HrralA.
FRIpIY. MARCH Ii, 1900.
First and Foremost is Vermont's
Proud Position.

"''HN"' uSi'dN' ! MS s'NdNt NdN AWAY :
rrticent about directing the policy OF the
government. She has ALWAYS had men
of unexcelled ability in Congress hut
they were formerly content To follow
where sound principles led the way aud
to protest when they thought they saw
things going otherwise, or when they
saw their fellows DETECTING from the
paths OF justice. Such States as Nir-
ginia, Kentucky, Massachusetts and
New York seemed to have furnished
the leaders i'll history as if by a common
consent. But now it is otherwise. Yer
mont without assuming to do so has come
to the front. She has done ST. bv work
and not by proclamation. Probably the
work that Representative Grout has put
lnto congressional matters counted up
by hours and looked upon in all its yari.
ETY. would show more than that of any
other representative Vermont ever had.
And the work that Senator Ross has
done in the short time he has been in
the Senate considered in connection
with its results renders it unparalleled in
the history of the country. TO go slow.
deliberate and careful for a long time
and distance often Outruns the hare /:
hut to go short way with bounding
competitors and get to the goal first is
something new III congressional emula-
ton. But the Senator'S ascent had been
long and uninterrupted. He had first
lald the foundations of his life work in
thorough, practical education. lie had
ingrained the learning of the schools
into his very being until it became Il
part of himself. Having commenced
the practice of law with good prepare
ton he went to work deliberately and
nnremittinsly. He gagged the economy
and expenditures of his physical rpsour-
ces by the most exact rules of diet and
habits generally so as to make every
thing go for all it was worth. While at
the bar he walked deliberately but con-
stantly, and every step was upward and
forward. He early exhibited facility in
a practical application of law to facts
and was solicited constantly to assist in
the voluntary adjustment of differences.
Placed on the bench of the Supreme
Court he early evinced faculty not
only for formulating correct theories of
law but OF pat application of them to
the facts and conditions OF the case he
had in hand. He had little fancy and
no ornate demonstrations. He drew
much from the commonest realities of
llte. He saw the farmers bucket in the
sugar orchard filled by one drop, followed
by a ceaseless succession of others and
learned that to do one thing at time
and follow it with unrcmitting repeti-
ton would result in increasing accumu-
lation. While on the bench the court
house was the horizon of his thoughts.
lie did not look out of its windows to
see who was passing by in the political
highway, but his observation was such
that he kept in touch with current
events and especially the application of
legal theories to the administration of
the government. With him on the
bench it was work, work, work. He was
plain and simple in department and in
tercourse, but sincere and hearty. He
was true, unappreciated example Of
temperance without proclaiming it and
true Christian gentleman without sug-
costing hypocrisy by ostentatious dis
play. In the preservation of his mental
and physical resources he did not per
init envy, jealousy Or disappointment to
diminish them. Possessing art which
concealed art, and strength and virile
elements concealed by placid externals
he was sent to the Senate He went
there meekly as if sent on business
Grand. He paid no regard to the con-
yentionalities Of the Senate. If he had
ever heard that it was not customary for
new member to speak in his first SEES
sion he was apparently obivious to it.
1t might be expected that he would
eulogize the beloved Morrill,, whose
place he occupied, but that done he
walked right up to the leading issue OF
time fraught with most immense and
delicate problems with the same modest
assurance that had characterized his
whole life and began speech which
some say exhibited a little trimming to
make it conform to the current of the
times. He had not proceeded far in
his modest, unattractive manner when
the substance of his speech began to at
tract attention, and when he concluded
many ears were close to the current of
his thoughts. He applied his close and
long practical analysis to the subject
and so ingeniously avoided the weak.
ness Of the situation that when he fin
ished his speech he had won the admra-
ton and the profoundest respect of his
auditors, in which the whole country
soon shared. And then induced BY his
habit OF calling the next case as soon as