The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1901-08-16
NO. a..

but it has in other things. So we
You may feel after all that this COM
monwealth is not yours as it once
was. A feeling of sadness may come
over you because of old scenes and
old familiar faces missing. Some
vacant chair will cause tinge of
sadness.
The possessions you return to can
not be mortgaged or a1ienated. The
real estate of the soul is the thing
to which you are returning. There
are three impetishable possessions
which are alike the property of the
old home guest and the inhabitant,
young and old, rich and poor.
These are (a) Great Scenes of the
Past. (b) Great Thoughts of our
Fathers. (c) The Personality of
Great Men.
On the fourth of July, 1909, there
appeared in the mouth of the Rich
elieu River a large war canoe. 1t
contained the first white men who
ever looked on the long expanse of
Lake Champlain, their leader being
Samuel de Champ1ain, who rejoiced
to be the discoverer of such a lovely
piece of the Creators handiwork to
which the pious Frenchman gave
forever his own musical name.
e ;a+ af
does not seem a great scene in itself,
but look beyond this procession of
canoes and see the shapes and Wis
ions which followed in the next
century. The speaker then rapidly
sketched some of the great events
in the French regime.
Then we look to the south. Lieut..
Dwight, with 40 men, tools and
beasts, settled in Vermont just over
the line from Massachusetts, on
Dummerston meadows, and there be-
gan the erection of block house on
Feb. 5, 1924. From the north came
the French and Indians, attempting
to drive back the Saxons. Vermont
was made a highway for them to
come down and perpetrate their deeds
of horror, of which the destruction
of old Deerfeld was specimen In
winter the war parties came down
the Connecticut on the ice and re-
turning by the same highway carried
their t,alatiyes back to CaYaaea.
The planting of this blockhouse
was the first English footho1d in our
state. A phantom procession also
follows upon the trail to Dummer-
ston bringing Saxon justice, Protes-
tant religion, Puritan ideas, and
above everything else, a few great
thoughts.
What of great thoughts did these
first settlers bring? Personal re-
sponsibility of every individual to
his God. And unless men heed this
thought the world will begin to sigh
for another Calvin and Jonathan
Edwards. Another thought is that
it is worth while to move one's
home for conscience and for God.
Mr.. Kilbourn then told of the
prosecutions of. the people in old
Derry, Ireland, how 200 families
apply for a settlement in Massachu-
setts and from there go to New
Hampshire, giving birth to the new
town of Londonderry. Some of
these settlers finally drifted to Yer
mont and to Bradford. Prominent
among them came the McKeens,
McDuffees, James Wilson, inventor
of the artificial globe, and others.
They were sterling men, recognizing
the responsibility to their God, in
fluencing life around them and leav-
ing an impression that still abides
in the life of our community.
The personality of great men.
This is happy possession to which
we can turn to today. The speaker
did not stop to dwell on the long
line of eminent men Vermont claims
but of those who were great in a
quiet way.
Seven days ago there sailed into
New York harbor the greatest ship
that has ever appeared upon the
face of the waters, an ocean palace
700 feet long and carrying 5000 peo-
pie. But before this ship was pos
sible Morey of Fairlee must toll un
noticed for years to invent a mech
anism which would drive a ship
through the waters by steam. Rob-
ert Fulton hears of his effort,
searches him out, appropriates his
idea, launches the Clermont on the
Hudson and receives the applause of
the world. But the Celtic is the
reat-granddaughter of the little
craft which sleeps under the green
waters of Morey Lake and the name
of Morey shall one day be carved
above that of Fulton in the Temple
of Fame.
One flower, the speaker said, he
must bestow upon the resting place
of that noble woman who lived on
the lower plain, whose home was
the earliest center of holy influence
in that section and whose influence
was the first impulse which sent out
into the world six ministers of the
Gospel.
Silas McKeen, Margaret Pickett,
Samuel Morey, among the other
makers of early Vermont are among
those who