USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The Vermont union of Boston and vicinity > Part 3
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them better, - I cannot but look back with even more affection to the Blue Hills of old Massachusetts.
Permit me, therefore, while I beg you to accept for yourself and the Committee of Arrangements my obliga- tions for their polite invitation, to offer the following senti- ment :
Old Massachusetts-Always the leader in all that is great, good, useful, and profitable. She established the first school, academy, and college in the United States; set up the first printing press; published the first book and newspaper; coined the first money; caught the first whale, hoisted the first national flag, and sent the first ship to discover the islands and continents in the South Sea; dug the first canal; built the first railroad; pro- duced the first philosopher; fired the first gun in the Revolution; put her hand first to the Declaration of Independence; gave John Bull the first "licking;" invented Yankee Doodle, and gave a name forever to the Universal Yankee Nation.
I am, with much respect, Your obedient servant, N. A. TUCKER."
Letter from Ex-Governor Fletcher.
PROCTORSVILLE, March 12, 1859.
Dear Sir: Your very kind invitation to attend the Festival of the "Vermont Union " on the 15th inst., was duly received. I would express to you, and through you to those whose organ you are, my grateful appreciation of this testimonial of regard. It would give great pleasure to mingle with those who were once the residents of the
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Green Mountain State, but now have their home in the metropolis of New England, but circumstances will render it wholly impracticable. I am happy to know that the members of your asssociation remember respectfully and gratefully, the place of their birth and education. In my view the " Vermont Union" had its origin in a generous and noble impulse. It is generally true that we owe our success in life, to that society that protected, encouraged, and aided us in early life. To exhibit a strong attachment to your native State evinces good taste, and correct principle. Nowhere is the structure of society better adapted to give a right direction to the young, none more friendly to all the best interests of man. Here it is understood that the mere acquisition of wealth, the multiplication of pageants and luxuries, do not constitute the true glory of a State, -but the far nobler pur- poses of giving to all the means of mental and moral elevation, and to inspire even the lowliest with a conscious- ness of his moral and immortal nature. In short, to im- part to every man without stint or abatement, his full share of all the advantages, and all the benefits which God de- signed that man should find in the social state. Pleasant memories of such a state of things may well incline you to give public demonstration of your attachment to your native State. The residents of Vermont are proud of many who have left here, - they reflect credit and honor upon her. But it should be borne in mind that she is too shrewd to let her smartest boys leave.
Permit me to offer a sentiment :
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Vermont - Small in territory - but large in products - in- habited by men who know their rights and are ready to vindicate and defend them - and by women in whose hearts the Christian graces reign. We are proud to call her our mother.
Wishing you a most pleasant and happy time, I am, Sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
RYLAND FLETCHER.
Letter from Ex-Governor Fairbanks. ST. JOHNSBURY, March 10, 1859.
Dear Sir - In reply to your valued favor, inviting me to attend the Festival of the Vermont Union in Boston on the 15th instant, I beg to say that I should most certainly do myself that pleasure but for a previous engagement on that day at Albany, N. Y., which I am unable to change or forego.
As a Vermonter, I feel that I am identified with your Association, and the more so in view of the fact that its locality is in the State of my nativity. The occasion and its associations recall precious memories and awaken deep- felt emotions.
The members of the Vermont Union in Boston enjoy the proud privilege of representing, in that city, the State whose sons are all freemen, and in which there is no pau- perism, and no aristocracy of wealth.
The citizens of no other State in the Union can boast of such equality of position, or of more noble independence of
i
--
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character; and it is safe to assume that, in proportion to its population, no other State exerts a greater influence in the formation of character in our newly settled States and Territories, while her sons, in every city in the Union, and especially in the city of Boston, do honor to the various departments of business and professional life.
I am, sir, with high regard,
Your obedient servant, ERASTUS FAIRBANKS.
Letter from President Pease.
UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT, March 4, 1859.
JOHN S. TYLER, ESQ., - Dear Sir: Your polite note, inviting me to the "festival " of the Sons of Vermont, to be held in your city on the 15th inst., was received this morn- ing. Engagements which I am unable to set aside, will prevent my accepting your flattering invitation.
I had noticed with deep interest the formation of the " Vermont Union " in Boston. There are Vermont interests in the cherishing of which, the strength and honor of the whole country are deeply concerned. I refer, especially, to general education, personal independence, and political vir- tue. So long as these are cherished at home and exempli- fied abroad as they now are, Vermont will never lose the pre-eminence which she enjoys in all that gives value to public institutions and happiness to private life.
I will only add that --
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" My heart is at your festival, My head hath its coronal, The fullness of your joy I feel - I feel it all." Your obedient servant,
CALVIN PEASE.
Letter from Hon. William C. Bradley.
WESTMINSTER, March 11, 1859.
Dear Sir : Your invitation to attend the approaching festival, on Tuesday next, has been received by me with great satisfaction. Like Cornelia of old, Vermont does not pride herself on riches or show, but on the warm hearts, sturdy sinew, and free spirit of her sons. Nor are they forgetful of their noble mother. Her lofty and striking features are indelibly impressed upon her children, and each one going abroad carries, in memory, the whole native hori- zon, with its hills, valleys, streams, villages, and farms, just as looked upon in childhood. And often do they gratefully call to mind the admirable qualities of the founders and promoters of our local independence, such as the sagacity and prudent firmness of Thomas Chittenden ; the quiet but indomitable courage of Seth Warner ; the prompt and suc- cessful audacity of Ethan Allen; the legal discrimination and judgment of Nathaniel Chapman ; and, somewhat later, the science and labor of Samuel Williams, with the classic lore and exuberant wit of Royall Tyler. It was my good
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fortune to be born and reared among these distinguished men, and, in due time, to take the lead of my native com- patriots in entering our Legislative council, and the Con- gress of the United States. How worthily and honorably that lead has been followed up is well known, so that noth- ing is now required but to keep alive the old Green Moun- tain spirit, and this, while associations such as yours remain, can never die. Rest assured that it would be delightful to me to be able to join in your festivities in compliance with your kind invitation, but age and infirmities forbid. I can only add, that if present, I should only propose as a senti- ment : -
'T'he tie that binds us - May it never be weakened.
With sentiments of respect and friendship, I have the honor to be,
Your obedient servant,
WM. C. BRADLEY.
Letter from Ex-President Wheeler.
BURLINGTON, March 12, 1859.
Dear Sir : Yours of the 26th ult. has been received, inviting me to attend the festival of the " Vermont Union " on the 15th inst., in Boston.
It was my wish to be present, and at one time my in- tention, but I find it impossible to leave my duties here for that week.
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Permit me, however, to express my great gratification at the formation of the Union ; and the hope that it may live to celebrate many festivals in coming years. The in- fluence of the place of our birth, and the circumstances of our childhood in developing our social and our patriotic affec- tions can be scarcely overstated. There they germinate, grow, and expand in strength and beauty. If called away from the paternal hearth to find our home elsewhere, the carrying back of our thoughts to our earliest days, and to the fresh and glowing feelings of childhood, serves to quicken the growth and to increase the power of all social and national attachments.
We are natives, more or less, of mountainous districts, which are the special home of free, cheerful, and generous sentiments. May every recognition of our early homes but increase these sentiments.
Permit me to contribute the following sentiment for the festival :
The two voices of Liberty - The one of the mountains, -the one of the sea; may the sons of Vermont and the sons of Massa- chusetts Bay keep step to the music of their Union.
With the highest respect for the " Vermont Union," and for yourself personally,
I am, dear sir, Very sincerely, yours, etc.,
JOHN WHEELER.
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Letter from Hon. Jared Sparks.
CAMBRIDGE, March 10th, 1859.
Dear Sir: I have had the honor to receive your let- ter, inviting me to attend the meeting of the Vermont As- sociation in Boston, on the fifteenth instant. I regret that my engagements are such as will not permit me to be present on that occasion.
I am not a native of Vermont, although in my younger days I passed six months most agreeably among its moun- tains; and I have studied with much attention and a lively interest the events of its history, and the acts and characters of the distinguished men by whose patriotic efforts it became an independent member of the confederacy. No State in the Union has more reason to be proud of its origin ; and the "Green Mountain Boys" of later times have given suf- ficient evidence that they know how to value and improve their inheritance.
I am, dear sir, Respectfully and truly yours, JARED SPARKS.
The next regular toast was as follows : -
Massachusetts and Vermont -- Allied to each other by the strongest ties of friendship and material interests, always seek- ing each other's welfare - the one caught the inspiration of liberty from the sounding sea - the other from the music of the mountain pines.
Gov. BANKS was called upon to respond, and rose amid deafening cheers.
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Speech of Governor Banks.
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Vermont Umon : I cannot claim nativity with you. I am not a son of Ver- mont. Nevertheless, I feel, both as a citizen, and in the capacity in which I am called upon to address you here, that Massachusetts and Vermont have some affinities. I was born, Mr. President, in the old county of Middlesex, near Concord and Lexington, and in sight, almost, of Bun- ker Hill - a good place, let me say, to be born in. (Ap- plause )
But that is no merit of mine; (laughter) for, although, sir, I like generally to have a word to say about everything that concerns me personally, I regret to say that I was not consulted about that. (Renewed laughter.) I am sure, however, that I speak what will be the sincere sentiment of every citizen of the Commonwealth, when I express a pro- found regard, and even veneration, for the virtues of the sons and daughters of Vermont. (Applause.) Indeed, sir, we may claim that Vermont is, after all, in part, of our crea- tion. As early as 1716, Massachusetts had given some grants in the State of Vermont; and as early as 1824, she had planted in that part of New England, soon after called Vermont, "Fort Dummer," to which allusion has been been made by your President, the first settlement in the State.
Massachusetts has done considerable in the way of planting States, everywhere ; she had a large claim, a large capital, to start upon. She claimed, at one period, title to the territory of New Hampshire, which she afterwards
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conceded to the people there, and she also claimed a good part of the State of Vermont as her own. The question was never contested between the sons of Vermont and the sons of Massachusetts, as to which of the parties the terri- tory of Vermont belonged, for it made no more difference then than now ; - what was ours was theirs, and what was theirs was ours. (Loud applause.) But when New York claimed that she owned the territory of Vermont, then the heart of Massachusetts was with Ethan Allen, and those sons of Vermont who defended her territory.
Massachusetts was always inclined to get a little more land, and she has not altogether given it up yet. (Laugh- ter.) She has not a " sneaking notion," but a whole-souled, generous love for her own people, her own territory, and all the rest of the world. (Applause.) When her limits were circumscribed by laws, constitutions, treaties, she set to work to do the next best thing to draw other people under her control ; - she began running her railways all over the country ; sending her steamboats wherever there was water enough to float them; and spreading her electric wires over the world, seeking thus to broaden her influence by the extension of her principles of liberty among all men. (Applause.)
I do not know that there is anything in the infant history of Vermont that has more of romance, more of chivalry, than the contest of the sons of Vermont, before it became a State, with the British troops under the lead or control of Governor Tryon of New York. Let me say, that the fixed determination of a few men upon that territory then to
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denounce and resist the claim of the men of New York, who sought to wrest from them their homes which they had carved out of the forest, is unsurpassed in heroism and bravery by any class of men on this continent, and, so far as I know, in any other part of the world.
When Governor Tryon notified the people of Vermont that the British troops had authority to kill and murder, and that they were to be indemnified, Allen and Barker issued their proclamation, saying that they were welcome to murder, but they must remember there was murder to give as well as to take; and as to indemnification, they must remember that whoever came upon the soil of Vermont, whether the British King, or General Tryon, or the British troops, they had no charter of indemnification from Ethan Allen and his associate heroes. (Loud applause.)
It is refreshing - aye, refreshing - to peruse the history of that period, and see what heroism and bravery were ex- hibited by these men. And it was, sir, only a foretaste of what was to follow ; a premonition of the spirit then exist- ing, but which had not then been manifested by the rest of the American Colonies. In 1774, before even Massachu- had made up her mind to fight to the last, the few brave and heroic men of Vermont had come to that conclusion, and had announced their determination to fight "to the bitter end." Thus they set the example which was soon followed by Massachusetts and the other Colonies.
The sons of the old Bay State have reason to be proud that she took a little part in the settlement of that portion of New England. She did something, also, towards the
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settlement of the rest of New England. She gave up her claim to the territory of New Hampshire, and that made New Hampshire a State. Then she joined with New Hampshire and gave up other territory, and Maine became a State. They boast a great deal about Rhode Island ; and I am sorry to say, that Massachusetts (to use the mildest phrase) sent Roger Williams out of the State. And as to Connecticut, we have sent her the best men and the best manufactures and trades she possesses; so that Massachu- setts has a right to be proud of what exists around her in New England.
But, much as is due to Vermont, in view of her past his- tory, still more is due to her for the strength, the intellect, the perseverance, the enterprise, the patriotism of her sons now, and which will continue, I trust, in all future time. In our own city, I am proud to say, that no better citizens are to be found than those who owe their nativity to the State of Vermont.
In other States, the same thing is found. Wherever a son of Vermont has planted himself, you will find that characteristic to which the distinguished Senator on my left has alluded, which is the basis of all society, and with- out which there is no government and no liberty. You will find a home where affection rules, a home without the despotism that makes the basis of despotic government, but with that spirit of fraternal love which everywhere, now and in all time, must be the basis of a republican and free government.
Wherever you find them, you will find an enterprise that
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is fettered by no barriers, that is hemmed in by no limits, but which regards the world as the field for heroic, brave, enterprising men; and wherever they go, the institutions of home, the proper institutions of trade, and good govern- ment are sure to follow them.
I give you, sir, -
Prosperity to the State of Vermont - She has given to us a model government, judging by our guests who are assembled with us. Her daughters are worthy daughters of a worthy inother ; and the history that her sons and daughters will give to the world hereafter, I am sure, will equal the heroism, the patriotism, and devotion to liberty which she reflects in her past history.
(Loud and prolonged cheering.)
Our City - We honor equally our native State and our adopted city; for Boston, with its enterprise, intelligence, and good gov- ernment, gives us the opportunities to use what we inherited from Vermont.
Mayor Lincoln responded in a brief and pertinent speech, in which he bore testimony to the good sense, wisdom, en- ergy, zeal, and enterprise of the sons of Vermont resident in Boston. He concluded with the following sentiment :
The Sons of Vermont - The State in which they were born, as well as the State which is their adopted home, are alike honored by the success and renown which have attended their career through life.
The Legislatures of Massachusetts and Vermont - Excellent il- lustrations of the proper application of the maxim that the best governed State is that which is governed least.
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Dr. Phelps, President of the Senate, was called upon to respond, and did so in a very eloquent speech, which was loudly applauded.
The Granite State - Separated from her sister only by a peace- ful stream which divides their borders but not their hearts - since the only disagreement they ever bad was settled, Vermont only asks and takes what New Hampshire Grants.
To this toast Hon. Marshall P. Wilder responded in an appropriate manner.
The Vermont Union -The Union and honor of her noble sons - the union and happiness of her fair daughters.
A letter from Hon. George S. Hillard was read.
The Colleges of the Green Mountain State - Not only are they as cities set on a bill that cannot be hid, but the light they radi . ate is potent to dispel the darkness of ignorance.
Hampden Cutts of Vermont responded. He said he was born in the Granite State, and was not disposed to renounce the place of his nativity, but was disposed to give the second place in his consideration and affections to Vermont. He had resided upon the hills of Vermont for twenty-five years, and believed he had some right to claim there a second nativity. He alluded to the ladies of Vermont, and said, that although he did not obtain in Vermont his birth, he had obtained there his better half.
The Valley of the Connecticut and of Champlain -Twin sisters adorned with mother Nature's most bountiful and beauteous gifts
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.
-one toward the North, the other Southward, sending their pure waters to the sea, laden with the burden of wealth, and singing the songs of " the land of the free and the home of the brave."
Mr. E. F. Hodges of Connecticut responded briefly.
The Railways of Vermont - Her latest but by no means the least step in material progress ; their existence is the literal ful- filment of the prophecy : "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain."
Chauncy Smith, Esq., responded to this sentiment.
The Beech Seal -The mark which Vermont set upon tories and traitors, hard to be borne, harder yet to be effaced; with the expulsion of tyranny and kingly rulo from the State, the demand for its use ceased.
To this, J. B. Mansfield, Esq., responded.
To a volunteer toast, Dr. Samuel Gregory responded, and gave a toast to Massachusetts and Vermont.
The City and the Country - " If a man would eat, drink, die and be forgotten, let his dwelling place be in the city; if he would live, love, and be remembered, let him speed him to the glens of the mountains."
Z. K. Pangborn, Esq., responded to this toast.
Speech of Z. K. Pangborn, Esq.
It is not fitting, sir, at this hour, that I should engross your time -- it is pleasure enough for me to be present here and enjoy the festival in silence. Yet I have, perhaps, as
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good a right to a place in this festival, and in all the pleasant associations gathered around it, as any one of my brethren ; being a descendant, on the one side, of one (my paternal grandfather), who, of Scottish origin and Connec- ticut birth, in 1761, cut the first tree in the valley of the Otter Creek, and built the first saw-mill, the hum of whose rude music waked the echoes of the wooded hills, and who, with his associates at a later day, under the lead of Ethan Allen and Seth Warner, applied the beech seal to the Tory Yorkers; and on the other side descended from an En- glishman who deserted from the royal navy of King George, and found a home and citizenship in New Hampshire - so that I may lay claim of relationship to the Yankee clock pedlars, and also to the land of poor relations and cheap grave stones! (Laughter and applause.)
But of my birth-place I am proud, and glad to own my- self a Green-Mountain boy; and, as the Turk said in rela- tion to the Sultan's being married, I may claim that I was born there a good deal! (Mr. Pangborn continued in a humorous strain, provoking much merriment. We have not space even to sketch this part of his remarks.) He said -
But, sir, to your sentiment. There is in it a deep mean- ing, if I rightly apprehend it. Its author was a Scotchman, born, like ourselves, in the shadow of the everlasting hills, and I can understand how none but one born in a moun- tain land should be moved to say : " If a man would live, love, and be remembered, let him speed him to the glens of the mountains." It suggests the contrasts between that
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active struggling city life which we have chosen, and the more peaceful and possibly more desirable country life which we have left behind, perhaps forever; and this may teach us to value more highly, and cherish the remem- brance more tenderly, of the sweeter life from which we are parted, and which we are met to recur to with delight.
These points of contrast are obvious, and sharply de- fined. The city and the country life are different in their necessities, their incidents, and their antagonisms, especially the latter. In the present turmoil of our city life, our antagonisms are with men, each contending with the other, each struggling for the foremost place ; and passion, pride, and ambition, and, alas! avarice, rule the hour. Our con- tests are in grappling with the stirring issues of the restless life of the hour, and we are in peril of forgetting the great and good in our selfish strife and tense exertion; but in the quieter life of our home-land our antagonisms were of a different, perchance a more ennobling kind, with the powers of nature, the obstacles which she opposes to the sturdy arm of honest labor.
If we have justly given the preference here to-night to the life, the morality, the thoughts and feelings that cluster round our mountain birth-place and our earlier years, we may not trace it to this cause, in part - for we are made what we are, and grow to what we become, more by our antagonismns than by aught else. There is reason, then, in our hearts for the longing to speed us to the glens of the mountains, when the yearning desire sweeps over the soul to live, love, and be remembered. It is well to recur to
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this a moment now, and interpose it even in the midst of our festive mirth, for the hour will yet come to us all when we shall feel in its deepest significance, the difference be- tween the living "to eat, drink, die, and be forgotton," and the living to love, be loved, and remembered.
But it is not when girt with the armor that we wear in the battle of the work-day world; not when, as now, from day to day we are whelmed in the surging current, now borne onward and up by the wave of success, and anon buffeted and beaten back by the wave of adversity; not when burdened with care and toil, and engrossed with pre- sent hopes and fears - it is not at such a time that we can- feel the force of the sentiment to which you have requested me to respond. But, sir, there are hours when we do feel it. It is in the moments of retrospection and of reflection that find us freed, perchance wearied, into a forced with- drawal from the weight of corroding cares and crushing responsibilities - it is then, sir, that we recur not to those active scenes of city life, not to thoughts and things that engross our manhood, but to the better scenes of earlier days; the heart flies back with a glad recoil, nay leaps with an impulse that will not be controlled, back over the life of to-day to the life of long ago, to that life when we lived, loved, and believed we should be remembered.
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