The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-06-30

and American patriotism so aroused
when among all the eager citizens
surging to the front as soldiers, the
man whom this convention has al
ready in its heart was among the first
to hear the call and answer to his name
PreferTiug peace but not afraid of
war; faithful to every private cbliga-
ton yet first to volunteer ut the sign
of national peril; u leader in civil
life and yet so quick to comprehend
the arts of war that he grew almost
in a day to meet the high exactions
Of command. There is nothing which
so tests a man as great and unexpected
danger. He may pass his life amid
ordinary scenes and what he is or
does but few will ever know. But
when the crash comes or the flames
break out, a moments time will single
out the hero in the crowd. A flash
of lightning in the night will reveal
what years of daylight have not dis
covered to the eye. And so the fash
OF the Spanish War revealed that lofty
courage and devotion which the Amer
lean heart SO loves and which you
have met again to decorate and recog-
nize. a
His qualities do not need to be re-
told, for no man in that exalted
place since Lincoln has been better
known in every household in the land.
He is not conservative. if convervatism
means waiting till it is too late. He
is not wise, if wisdom is to count a
thing a hundred times when once will
do. There is no regret so keen, in
man or country, as that which follows
an opportunity unembraced. For
tune scars with high and rapid
wing, and whoever brings it down
must shoot with accuracy and
speed. Only the man with steady
eye and nerve and the courage to pull
the trigger brings the largest oppor-
tunites to the ground. He does not
always listen while all the ssges
speak, but every day at nightfall be-
holds some record which if not COM
plete has been at least pursued with
conscience and intrepid resolution.
He is no slender flower swsying in the
wind, but that heroic fibre which is
best nurtured by the mountains and
the snow. He spends little time in
review, tor that he knows can be done
bv the schools.
The fate of nations is still decided by
their wars. You may talk of orderly
tribunals and learned referees; you
may sing in your schools the gentle
praises of the quiet life; you may
strike from your books the last note of
every martial anthem. and yet out in
the smoke and thunder will always be
the tramp Of horses and the silent,
rigid, upturned face. Men may
prophesy and pray, but peace
will come here to abide forever on
this earth only when the dreams of
childhood are the accepted charts to
Ruluo tuc uObtiuioS VI HULL GNOhec
are numberless and mighty, and no
man can tell which wire runs around
the world. The nation basking today
in the quiet of contentment may to-
morrow be writhipg in tolls of war.
This is the time when great figures
must be kept In front. If the pressure is
great the material to resist it must be
granite and iron. Whether we wish
it or not, America is abroad in this
world. Her interests are in every
street, her name is ON every tongue.
Those interests 80 sacred and stipend
GUS should be trusted only to the care
Of those whose power, skill and cour-
age have been tested and approved.
And in the man whom you will
choose, the highest sense of every ma
ton in the world beholds a man who
typifies as no other living American
does, the spirit and the purposes of the
twentieth century. He does not claim
to be the Solomon of his time. There
are many things he may not know,
but this is sure, hat above all things
else he stands for progress, courage
and fair play. which are the syn
onyms of the American name.