Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1905-06-23
x, BRATTLEBoRo, FRIDAY, JUNE %, 1905.

lawyers and doctors and ministers and
teachers and business men; In all the
varied field Of human endeavor the young
men and young women OF Vermont have
shown that appreciation Of the response
bilities Of life that has resulted In their
being called to positions Of honor and
trust.
On the other hand our public school
Is the corner stone Of our free institu-
tions. Our system of public instruction Is
as modern as Is the steam car, the steam
ship or the electric telegraph. Even Eng
land, with her ancient and Justly cele-
brated seats Of learning, had no system
of public instruction until within the pres
ent generation. 1t seems appropriate.
therefore. to call attention at this time
to the responsibility that rests upon the
graduates of our public schools to carry
out the great purpose of the founders of
the republic. to aid in reaching those high
ideals for which the successive genera
lions have so earnestly wrought. For
you remember that when our fathers
adopted the constitution under which we
now live, they declared that their first
purpose in so doing was to secure a more
perfect union. During the long and BIT
ter night OF the revolution the colonists
were bound together by the strongest tie
OF common danger and a common suf-
fering. The midnight message Of Paul
Revere was carried not only TO every
MiddleseX village and farm, but to every
hamlet and hearthstone of the thir-
teen colonies and the contest at Lexing-
ton Bridge and Concord Green knit to-
gether the minds and hearts of the colo
nlsts in a common cause. But when that
cause was achieved. when Lexington and
Bunker Hin and Yorktown had become
but precious memories, all the ties that
had bound the colonists together burst
asunder, and in place of a people working
together to build up a great nation there
stood forth thirteen petty republics. each
racked by the intensest iealousies OF all
the others. each fearful lest the least con-
cession of right or privilege for a COM
mon veal might open the way for the
tyrant. Then II was that our wise and
patriotic fathers saw that In order that
the people might not lose the benefits of
their hard earned victory, more perfect
union must be secured.
Mr.. Foster then went on to show how
this was the making OF new era In the
history of the world that the struggle
OF all the preceding centuries had been to
develop the individual. to secure to him
personal liberty, personal security. per-
sonal property. So our fathers were pio-
neers in this new movement in behalf OF
the union of the individuals who had
been emancipated through the struggles
OF all the preceding centuries. Our faith
ers had in mind the highest type of union
when they proposed to secure a more per-
feet union OF the American people. This
means a union in which each exercises his
own will and judgment. but where all
work together for a common cause. The
familiar saying. "in union there Is
strength" is true only in this highest
sense. Union is strength only when Ii
conserves the strength OF all its members.
II 1t tends to weaken or main or injure
any OF its members, then IT Is not
strength but ultimate weakness.
The first step towards securing this
union was the securing of a more perfect
union OF the states. But 1t was the peo-
pie who adopted the constitution. and the
more perfect union which our fathers had
In mind was that of the people. The tie
that binds together eighty millions of
people under the Stars and Stripes is the
spirit of democracy which underlies our
government and permeates all our in
situations. The East gave US faith:
Greece gave us architecture and liter
AZURE: Rome gave US law; England gave
US constitutional government: but the
American people from their earliest his
tory have been missionaries Of human
freedom. Liberty under law law en-
lightened by liberty, has been our watch
word. and with that cry on our lips we
have sought to establish as our gift to
humanity popular government resting on
the brotherhood of man: liberty resting
upon organized institutions. through
which the humblest as well as the might
lest individuals may enjoy the fullest OPP
portunity for growth and development
and through which society and ciyiliza-
ton may blossom into their fullest and
fairest flower
The speaker then went on to show how
for more than one hundred years the
American people In peace and war had
been earnestly striving for this more per-
feet union. and In closing called attention
to the responsibility that rests upon every
graduate OF our public schools to Join the
great host who continue to strive on for
this more perfect union. whose motto is.
In essentials. Unity: in non-essentials,
Liberty; in all things. Charity"