USA > Vermont > Caledonia County > Peacham > Caledonia County grammar school, Peacham, Vt. Report of the commemorative exercises, August 11-12, 1897 100th Anniversary > Part 8
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Vermont is a State whose beautiful scenery the brush of the painter can not imagine. With a climate that is not sur- passed, there is no state in the Union whose summer sun shines any brighter, or the wintry winds blow much fiercer. A climate so healthgiving, if it were not for the seashore sum- mer resorts and the $1,000,000 worth of patent medicines manu- factured and largely consumed, every inhabitant would be ex- pected to reach the allotted three score years and ten.
Vermont, a paradise nine months in the year, and the other three as distant from that place where the wicked go (if one may judge by the thermometer) as is the North Pole from the Equator.
Vermont, a State when our nation was in peril gave of her wealth and her sons loyally and freely, that our flag, the em- blem of Union and Liberty, might wave from every quarter of this glorious Union, and her citizen soldiers maintained the record of her Green Mountain boys of old, and were ever found at the post of duty, and thousands laid down their lives that this nation might continue to be the grandest nation upon the face of the earth, a nation of God-fearing, liberty-loving people.
Vermont has upon her hillsides and in her valleys scat- tered all about among the mountains that which gives her a name and fame among the people of the earth, that which leads to Christianity and loyalty, that which gives character and stability to her people, that which is the secret of her prosper- ity and good citizenship, is the rural homes of her people.
Vermont is called an agricultural State, yet there is one crop, not exactly a farm crop, that is always fresh and in good order, which should be considered her chief product. It is a crop worthy our careful and prayerful attention, neither hard times nor the tariff can diminish its size, beauty or activity.
DR. L. F. PARKER President, 1884-1892
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We can care for it so that the drought of summer or the frosts of winter do not retard its growth. It is a product con- genial to our soil and climate, it will thrive as well on the hill- side as in the valley, it matters not whether the land cants toward the north or toward the south. It is a product in de- mand all the year round, and sought for by the world at large. There is no danger of an overproduction or a decrease in value; it is never out of date or behind the times, it is always on the move and ready for any emergency. It is a product that needs pure air, sunshine, lots of exercise and good influences. I refer to the Vermont boys and girls, chiefly those educated at the Caledonia County Grammar School.
Vermont, a State which all her sons and daughters, whether by birth or education, learn to love and cherish.
A State that has sent out into the world more great men and Christian women to the square acre than any other spot upon God's footstool.
A State that has yet within its limits sufficient Presi- dential timber to run this Government for the next century.
Vermont, a State proud to be born in, a State delightful to live in, a State whose hillside homes lie so near the boundary of the skies it must be a joyous State to die in.
That one was born in Vermont, long ago became a pass- port with St. Peter. To live in Caledonia County means a re- served seat, while to live in Barnet avoids Purgatory, on gen- eral principles.
CALEDONIA COUNTY. SPEECH OF CHARLES A. CHOATE.
I think you will all agree with me when I say it is not the name that makes the man, but the man that makes the name a power for good or evil, famous in business affairs, illustrious as a statesman and philosopher, renowned as a soldier; or that lifts him head and shoulders above his fellowmen during his earthly career, and that keeps his memory green after he him- self has been called to his long home.
That this is so one illustration will prove conclusively.
Take the name of George Washington, which has been ap- plied so indiscriminately to embryo Americans before and since his decease. His name, so illustrious, has lifted them just so far, and no farther, toward fame and fortune as a man could lift himself by tugging at his boot-straps; and so far as they are concerned has signally failed to make one hair either white or black.
But what, you ask, has this to do with Caledonia County? Much every way, as I shall endeavor to show.
Caledonia County, in so far as her natudal resources are concerned, the number of acres it contains, the character of its soil, the amount of land and water, differs not essentially from other counties in this our beloved State, and it is not of these we would speak to-day. But of the men and women who
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in Caledonia County during these last one hundred years have lived and loved, have wrought and died, and, in many in- stances, whose "sepulchers are with us unto this day," to- gether with her many sons and daughters who are still with us, as have gone out from us, and are helping to do the world's work to-day, of these we would speak at this time. And to those who have gone before we would bring our meed of praise and grateful remembrance for the work done by them, the fruits of whose labors so many have been permitted to enjoy.
It is what these men and women have done, it is the ser- vice they have rendered in their day and generation that makes it an honor to stand and speak for Caledonia County to-day.
But what, you ask, has been done that the name of Cale- donia County should be written high on the scroll of fame, and be held in grateful remembrance by all who have sojourned for a time within her borders, or who claim her as their birth- place and for a longer or shorter period as their home?
I might speak for an hour of the many things that have been done of which we may well be proud.
In morals, in religion, in all that tends to make the world better, her voice has been ever heard with no uncertain sound.
But the one thing that stands out pre-eminently to-day above all others, and which we meet here to celebrate, is the fact that here was born and has lived for one hundred years Caledonia County Grammar School.
To have been the birthplace and the dwelling place for a century of an institution such as this has been, entitles her to the profound respect and lasting gratitude of the thousands who have shared in the benefits she has so abundantly be- stowed.
Who shall sum up, compute, or estimate, the priceless value of the work done here during these one hundred years?
And how eminently fitting that we, who have drunk of the streams that have flowed so freely and constantly here during these years, should assemble here to-day, and by voice and presence testify to the abundant worth of the work done here in the past, and bid her Godspeed for the future. The apostle Paul says, "I write unto you young men because ye are strong." When I think of the strong young men who have gone forth from Caledonia County, made stronger by their sojourn here, better fitted for their life work, and to assume the cares and responsibilities we are all called upon to bear-and such nice girls as have gone forth and still remain in Caledonia County- when I think of these language fails me, and I can only ex- claim that in my opinion the world has never seen the like.
But what of the future of Caledonia County? To this I would reply that to chant her pæons of praise, which she so richly deserves, and paint in glowing colors the brilliant future we all hope she may enjoy, I leave to abler tongues than mine ...
HON. G. P. BLAIR Secretary and Treasurer, 1884
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But I think I voice the wish of all present here to-day when I say, may her influence for good, for intelligence, for virtue, for godliness, for all that tends to uplift and elevate mankind, be greatly enlarged as the years go by; and may she long con- tinue to sow good seed on good ground that shall spring up and bear fruit, some thirty, some sixty ,and some an hundred fold.
The typical New England parson of a century ago was supposed to carry upon his countenance a suggestion of Hades. To-day, a pleasant smile isn't considered a compromise with Satan.
The modern parson advertises the best of his goods and not the most worthless. A century ago he could sail through to forty-ninthly without striking shoals, while to-day he will hear breakers at thirdly. I shall call upon a good sample of the modern Dominie to respond to our next toast, "Old Peacham." Built upon a fair New England hillside, she lifted high a torch whose benignant rays have for a century been see and felt in every State in this broad land.
OLD PEACHAM.
ADDRESS BY REV. S. S. MARTYN.
I have been deeply stirred while listening to the eloquent tributes paid to this favored spot and its old academy, where I had my former pastorate and also sustained close personal relations as a trustee. Feelings of love and pride rush over me at the remembrance of all that the past has been here, and as I rise to add my word of tribute in response to the call upon me, I seem as if once more standing among my own flock. Many forms are not here that I once knew, yet methinks I see them mingling with us, and still moving in and out among these familiar haunts. "Old Peacham!" and its institution of learning is fitly likened to a benignant torch lighted upon a fair New England hillside.
In describing the New England schoolhouse, James Rus- sell Lowell has called it an original kind of fortification in- vented by the New England fathers. Their great discovery, since they were the first law givers to clearly see and prac- tically enforce the great truth that knowledge is not an alms, but a sacred trust willed by the Commonwealth to every one of her children. The torch as lighted upon this lofty hillside was the beacon light on one of these fortifications. It was lighted not in a valley where its rays might be lost amid fog and mist, but on one of nature's watch towers-Old Peacham Hill-that the mountains rising in the distance away might catch these rays and flash them forth again on every hand. I have often thought as I have looked out from these fair sur- roundings upon Mt. Washington and Lafayette and Jefferson and all the White Mountain range, looming up in lofty might, that God had indeed placed Peacham in a most favored setting,
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as a spot foreordained for high and noble things, and for giving forth to others of His own truth. And I cannot but think that the fathers and mothers had something of the same feeling when they instituted here a hundred years ago their church, and then followed it with this honored academy, which has sent out into the world so many worthy representatives and notable citizens.
There are grand missions, statescraft, leadership, discov- ery, freedom, revolution, and even war in some holy cause. But there are missions also in quiteter walks; and that of this town was one of these, special and God given, to raise up worthy men and women and help mold them for freedom, in- dustry, and truth. Old Peacham raised men; and her academy seasoned them and made them ready for work. "The latest gospel in this world," says Carlyle, "is know thy work and do it." The New England pioneers from the first made that a portion of their gospel in Jesus, and early set the running brook to the music of honest labor, and the household to the hum of the spinning wheel. They brought hither to these hills the same unremitting toil, and then turned their attention to godly and educated men and women as the richest investment they could make. It might all be plain, homely, severe; yet it was human limitations and infirmities becoming trans- formed into larger faith, and character taking on correspond- ing worth and strength. This was Peacham's mission, and worthily did she meet it.
Then came the varied missions in the world outside, with the master spirits that here went forth to fill them. Worthy wom- en also have added their luster to the light that has sped its way from this old town. What missionaries among them have gone forth, by the score and over, in home and foreign fields alike! Think of it; what a record of honor for both town and academy-daughters going out by scores as heralds of the Cross and pioneers of Christian civilization!
It is truly a pleasant past which thus holds us in our gathering. Yet I am persuaded that it is equally a living re- ality which fills us. The conditions attending those early days may have changed; but there are still living problems before us of social progress and development, of a broader brother- hood, of finance more closely joined with morals, and of a purer and nobler living. And this school still has its place as a power right here among these farms and homes in helping prepare for these problems. It is needed and still asks our loyalty and support.
I stood during a summer jaunt in Franconia Notch, look- ing up at the most wonderful sculpture work of nature, the Old Man of the Mountain, chiseled in stern and rugged contour upon the mountain's edge, as if God had stampel His own lineaments, unchanging and eternal, upon the very rocks above, and had chosen the human face as the type. So the life made fast in eternal foundations is the type of enduring
HON. CLOUD HARVEY President, 1892
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power and grandeur. Those foundations yet endure, imbedded in eternal righteousness and truth. To aid in endowing with the might of that righteousness and in guiding to that truth was this torch of learning lighted by the fathers and mothers here a century ago, and its rays, burning still, illumine hill- tops and vale, and reveal the forms of stalwart sons and fair daughters trained to honor learning, love God and obey truth.
Long live Old Peacham-old in worth and years, but young in spirit; as her hills, grown hoary with age, yet stand clothed afresh from year to year in living green.
One of the pleasures of the day was the response of Rev. Moses M. Martin, D. D., of Ann Arbor, Mich., to the toast, "In the Early Fifties."
IN THE FIFTIES.
Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen-The story is told of a good lady who went with her boy, ten years old, to the railway station to take the train. She did not wish to take the 12.50 train, for if she attempted to take the 12.50 train she was liable to get left, as it would be ten to one if she caught it. So she inquires of the station agent the time of the next one.
It seems that the agent had a very peculiar twist to his mouth when he talked.
He told the good lady, with that peculiar twist, that the next train left at half-past one.
"Thank you," she said, and went to her seat.
In a few moments she went again to the gentlemanly agent and said: "Excuse me, but what time did you say the next train leaves?" "Half-past one, madam, half-past one."
"Thank you," she said, and went to her seat again.
But it was not long before she again went to the ticket window and repeated her question.
A little annoyed, but still very gentlemanly, as such agents always are, he said:
"Half-past one, madam, half-past one. Half-past one," the last words with a very decided emphasis.
The good lady then explained, for she was a very good lady.
"I did not ask this question," she said, "because I did not understand the first time. But my little boy likes to see your mouth go. I did it to gratify him."
Now, Mr. Toastmaster, my name is not on this programme. It is not expected or desired that I should say anything, as the time is far spent; but some of my old friends here have a curiosity to see whether "my mouth will go" any better than it did thirty years ago, when we were here at school, translat- ing Latin and Greeek, or demonstrating problems in mathe- matics. For then I was like Moses of old, "slow of speech."
I can say to them that I have not changed, so they will not be like the boy at the station, delighted to see my "mouth go."
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But this thought comes to mind to-day. What has brought this audience of fifteen hundred people together?
We often hear it said of this or that thing: "Oh, that is nothing but sentiment." But sentiment is a great controlling force in this world. It is right that it should be. It is senti- ment that has brought together this great audience from the four points of the compass this afternoon.
Some one has said "sentiment rules the world." "It is less than thought and more than feeling. It is thought flooded with feeling." And one great philosopher says that reason and sentiment coincide in the consideration of questions concern- ing morality and religion.
At any rate it is sentiment in its highest exhibition which has brought us together to-day.
Our thoughts are flooded with feelings which we are not able to put into words even if there were time.
But the "sentiment" to which I was to respond was "In the Fifties."
Now, my dear Alumni friends, I have no disposition to discount the years of the century which went before, or that followed the "fifties." But the boys and girls who were in this academy in the fifties were not responsible for occupying the most responsible position of all the century. We are said to be free moral agents, but that agency does not apply to the time of our coming into this world.
Carlyle says, in substance, I have not his words, that there is a time in the history of every man and every nation that may be called "the dawn of a crisis."
In the "fifties" this country was in "the dawn of a crisis," and the most important crisis in its history. Please hold that thought for a moment.
Emerson says: "The prosperity of a people does not de- pend upon the census or the size of its cities, or the crops, but upon the kind of men and women the country turns out."
He says also that "the destiny of a country at any given time depends upon the opinions of the young men under twenty-five years of age."
Please hold this thought also for a moment.
Professor Phelps says that in every decisive battle, all of the great generals from Julius Caesar to Grant have made the assertion that in the moment of crisis he who seized the ridge won the field. If Carlyle and Emerson and Phelps are correct, it is plain that the boys and girls of the fifties occupied the most important position of all the century. The crisis was near; the boys and girls of our time were under twenty-five years of age, and they had opinions. These opinions prevailed. backed by valor on the part of those who held them. They seized the ridge and won the field; and thus changed not only the history of the country, but the world.
The chain of every slave in the South was broken, and every crowned head in Europe and the world holds his scepter
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PROFESSOR C. H. CAMBRIDGE 1895
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with a looser grasp on account of what the boys and girls of the "fifties" did.
But for the accomplishment of such results there is always a special and providential preparation. The Ruler of this world is always ready for an emergency. He knows the hour. He has His men ready. And when the hour comes He says to his men, and women, too: "Stand in your place. Move at my command. And I am with you."
Preparation had been made in two distinct lines before and during the fifties. The farm and kitchen were schools of physical culture before the "fifties" were ushered in.
And during the "fifties" here in this academy there was an intellectual and moral training which fitted the boys and girls of our time, for their part in the crisis which was so near.
The world may never know how much that wonderful debating society had to do with the results of that terrible conflict.
If you could have been there on a certain evening you would have been reminded of the Webster and Haine contest at Washington more than fifty years ago. The question was whether Vermont was justifiable in the double part she played before 1791 when she was harassed by New York on the west, the New Hampshire grants on the east and Canada on the north, and when Congress would not receive her into the Union.
The speeches of that evening never will be produced. And it is sad that the world must forever be poorer because they cannot be.
But I know on which side I was. I stood for the Green Mountain State. And notwithstanding the eloquence of Harri- man and Gilfillian, Vermont has had a good reputation in this glorious Union ever since.
The speeches which we heard on this platform yesterday afternoon attest that Vermont easily stands first in the galaxy of stars.
The results of these two lines of preparation for the great crisis are well known and need not be recounted here. The boys went to the war, and girls were equally brave in their own sphere. In fact they were the greater sufferers. Mrs. Browning has beautifully expressed and explained how this is true. She says:
"Heroic males the country bears,
But daughters give up more than sons. Flags wave, drums beat, and unawares You flash your souls out with the guns And take your heaven at once.
"But we empty heart and home
"But we empty heart and home
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Of life's light love, We bear to think you're gone, To think you may not come To hear the door-latch stir and clink- Yet no more you-nor sink."
Not for any special merit in them, perhaps, but provi- dentially, the boys and girls of the "fifties" were upon the stage at the great crisis in our country. They seized the ridge of destiny, turned the tide and changed the history of the world. We only hope the friends here to-day will recognize the fact and that credit will be given where credit is due, even though we are not counted with the two hundred and seventy that rose in this tent this morning.
They have and will accomplish much, and with good rea- son.
They stood on the shoulders of giants.
I think four of my five minutes are up. I would like to use the other minute in telling a little story for two reasons. (1) To rest the audience. (2) The story has a moral. It may not be new, but Mr. Gladstone says "Things that are new are not always true. And things that are true are not always new."
At any rate, out in Michigan we have decided that it is proper to tell a story so long as there is one in the audience who has not heard it. I think there is one young man in this audience who has not heard this story, but for the sake of his future ought to hear it.
In fact, one young man told me in my parlor in Michi- gan that if he had heard that story two months before it would have been his salvation.
The story is this: It is said, though of course, it is not true, that the milkman sometimes utilizes the pump to increase his quarts, which are worth to him a nickel apiece. Though this is a slander on the milk man, it does not change the point of the story. In dipping the water for his milk (this man used the spring instead of the pump) he accidentally got two little frogs, In placing his milk for the night, two glass jars had a frog apiece in them. They did not find this a comfortable position and tried to escape, which was, of course, quite im- possible. One said, as he beat his head against the walls of the jar, "There's no use trying," and he sinks to the bottom and dies. The other said, "I will keep kicking, anyhow." And he did. Next morning when the good man opened the first jar he found a dead frog at the bottom. In the other he found a frog sitting on a nice little ball of butter. Kicking churned the milk. He not only saved his own life, but he had the butter besides, as the milkman gave him this batch of butter for churning it.
Moral No. 1. Young man, keep akicking. Moral No. 2. Peacham Academy, keep a kicking, and you may find yourself sitting on a larger ball of butter than you have ever seen in all
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the century past. Indeed, it is rumored that a batch of cream is already in the churn, and that the butter is "coming" before this session closes this afternoon.
Dash! Splash! And be sure to turn the crank!
Give all credit to the two hundred and seventy, but don't forget the "fifties."
It is related that a speaker once on a time, in addressing a Sunday school, told the story of two boys who grew up from childhood together, one good and the other bad. The details were beautiful and harrowing. At the conclusion he asked the conundrum, "Can any of you boys tell me what became of the bad boy?" One urchin who had been there before and knew a good thing when he saw it, answered, "He stands before us to-day." Now, I'll not tell the story again, and not take any chances, but call upon him to stand before you to-day.
IN DAYS OF OLD. REMARKS OF A. H. KENERSON.
Mr. Toastmaster and Friends of Peacham Academy- "Modesty is the best policy." Did you ever hear of the fellow who ordered chicken and claret for his lunch? He had to call his waiter back. "Waiter," said he, "you have made a mis- take. I ordered broiled spring chicken and 1857 claret, but you have brought me 1857 chicken and spring claret."
Now, my friends, I think your head waiter (I believe you call him toastmaster) has made a similar mistake. Not long ago my attention was called to a little child and the remark was made: "You know that child?" "No." "Well you ought to; for its grandmother went to school to you."
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