USA > Vermont > Addison County > Cornwall > History of the town of Cornwall, Vermont > Part 22
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" That the arrest of William Walker and his followers, on the shores of Nicaragua, was made for her benefit, and in pursuance of her consent, then rightfully presumed and since thankfully ex- pressed ; that it prevented the carrying on of an unlawful and for- bidden invasion of that country ; that it was justified by the orders and instructions given by the authority of the President of the United States ; and that Flag Officer Hiram . Paulding, who made that arrest, performed a meritorious act, as well as an official duty, and is eminently entitled to the approval and commendation of his country."
In his remarks upon this substitute, Mr. Foot discussed with much discrimination, not only the act of Capt. Paulding, but the vaccillating, crafty and inconsistent policy of our Government, whose actions often contrasted strangely with their avowals of pri ciple-favoring instead of discountenancing fillibustering. Ver- mont, by the fearless course of her Senator, is exonerated from all participation in, or sympathy with the disgraceful scheming of those at that time in power.
An act in the highest degree creditable to the generosity of Mr. Foot, and to his interest in the legal profession in Vermont, was the donation, in 1859, of his extensive professional library, num- bering more than five thousand volumes, to the bar of the United States Circuit and District Courts in this State. . The act was ap- propriately acknowledged in the several resolutions which follow :
Resolved, That this Bar gratefully accept the valuable Library offered by the Hon. Solomon Foot, for the use of the United States Courts in Vermont, and of the Bar practicing therein, and under- take the task of preserving and administering the gift in a manner appropriate to its value and to the generosity of the giver.
Resolved, That the sincere thanks of the Bar be presented to Mr. Foot for this very liberal and handsome donation, with the assurance that the spirit of attachment it evinces to the profession of which he was so long an ornament, and of personal regard for those heretofore associated with him in its practice, is appreciated by them even more highly than the gift itself.
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Resolved, That proper measures for the removal of the Library to the U. S. Court building and suitable regulations for the custody and management theroof be recommended to the Court as soon as may be, by the Committee appointed for that purpose.
Resolved, That the Court be respectfully requested to cause these resolutions and the deed of gift of the Library to be entered on the Records of the Court.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted by the hands of the U. S. District Attorney to Mr. Foot.
II. E. STOUGHTON, ROBERT PIERPOINT, E. J. PHELPS,
Committee.
The interest of Mr. Foot in whatever could contribute to the welfare of his native State, has ever been manifest in his endeavors to promote that welfare, by all measures consistent with a due re- gard to the interests of the whole country. At one period, we find him laboring to secure the commercial interests of the State by im- proving the harbor of Burlington, by the erection of a substantial and efficient breakwater ; at another, laboring to secure a merited tribute of respect to Col. Benjamin R. Roberts as having first planted his country's flag on the ramparts of Mexico; at another, laboring to secure a suitable acknowledgement in the way of boun- ty lands, to the hardy sons of Vermont, who volunteered their ser- vices to repel invasion at Plattsburg in 1814.
In 1860, Mr. Foot and the arch rebel, Jeff. Davis, were, by the President of the United States Senate, appointed Commissioners "to examine into the organization, system of discipline and course of instruction of the U. S. Military Academy," at West Point. The service was performed, though with very different motives on the part of the Commissioners-one having been actuated by char- acteristic devotion to his country ; the other by a covert but settled purpose, at the first favorable moment, to involve that country in ruin. One has gained the unenviable notoriety of being made the nominal head of a foul and infamous conspiracy ; the other by an easy coincidence might appropriately be made the real head of the country he has served so steadily and so ably.
Few members of the U. S. Senate have secured more fully the respect of that body, for ability and for uniform urbanity in the
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discharge of official duty. Even during the administration of President Buchanan, Mr. Foot was elected President pro tempore of the Senate -- an office which he still fills to the acceptance of his compeers. Besides serving on other Committees, he has long served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Buildings, and in this capacity has had the supervision of the enlargement of the Capitol, and the erection of other Government Structures. Mr. Foot was Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements at the in- auguration of Mr. Lincoln, and in the discharge of his trust, very happily exhibited his executive tact. Though treason threatened the quiet and order of the occasion, and even the life of the Pres- ident elect, rarely has a similar occurrence passed off more happily.
LUCIUS C. FOOT was born November 22, 1790, and graduated at Middlebury College in 1815. He pursued his professional stud- ies partly in Granville and partly in Cayuga, N. Y. He practiced in Cayuga some years, and then became a land agent in Nunda, N. Y., where he resided until his death in 1828.
PHILO HOLLEY was born about 1790, and without enjoying the advantages of a collegiate education, became a lawyer and was set- tled in the northern part of New York.
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OSCAR HOLBURT was born in 1834. He entered the legal pro- fession without having acquired a collegiate education, and recently engaged in legal practice in Memphis, Ark., where he is supposed still to reside.
CHARLES LINSLY was born Aug. 29, 1795. He was educated to mercantile pursuits, and was thus engaged for several years ; but his tastes led him to prefer a different calling, and he entered the legal profession. He was for many years engaged in an exten- sive practice in Middlebury, and received appointments to several responsible official stations. He removed a few years since to Rut- land, where he resided some time, engaged in professional practice in that and adjacent counties, but has recently returned to Middle- bury.
Hon. ASHLEY SAMSON was born March 19, 1790, and graduated at Middlebury in 1812. He chose the legal profession, and passed
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through s thorough course of preparatory training. After a year or two of practice in Pittsford, N. Y., he removed to Rochester, where he prosecuted his professional labors until 1837, when he was appointed first Judge of the Court in that County, an office to which he was repeatedly called in subsequent years. He also served as a member of the State Legislature.
Judge Samson possessed peculiar qualifications for the discharge of Judicial functions; was too discriminating to be deluded by sophistry ; too honest to indulge in partiality. Simple, amiable, and ever actuated by obvious Christian principle in the performance of duty, he lived to serve others rather than himself, and, by his will devoted a considerable estate almost wholly to benevolent purposes. Among his legacies, was the gift of one-third of his estate to Mid- dlebary College, from which the Institution may hope eventually to realize three or four thousand dollars.
PATRICK H. SANFORD was born November 10th, 1822, and graduated at Middlebury College in 1846. After his graduation, he spent three years in teaching-one year as Principal of Newton Academy, Shoreham ; and two as Principal of Williston Academy, He pursued legal studies under the instruction of Hon. Asahel Peck, of Burlington. Having been admitted to the bar, he estab- lished himself in professional practice at Knoxville, Ill., where he still resides.
Hon. WILLIAM SLADE was born May 9th, 1786, and when only seventeen years of age entered Middlebury College, where he main- tained a high standing with compeers, several of whom have since become distinguished in "professional life. He graduated with the class of 1807, and studied law with Hon. Joel Doolittle of Middle- bury, and there commenced the practice of his profession in 1810. But legal practice seems to have had for him very slight attractions. In 1814 he established a political paper in Middlebury, called the ' Columbian Patriot," of which he was both publisher and editor, and in connection, engaged in the book selling and printing busi- ness. After conducting these branches of business for about three years, in which he was not successful, he was appointed Secretary of State, Judge of Addison County Court, and in 1819, Clerk of
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the Supreme Court for the County of Addison, all of which offices he held simultaneously, and during several successive years. Dur- ing this period, he rendered a most valuable service to the people of this commonwealth by compiling and publishing a volume of Re- cords and Documents relating to the early history of Vermont, under the title of " Vermont State Papers:" This compilation was made in compliance with an act of the Legislature, passed Nov. 15, 1821, which designated the Hon. Daniel Chipman for the per- formance of the work. But "in consequence of the interference of other duties," Mr. Chipman abandoned the undertaking, and committed its execution to Gov. Slade. In his introduction to the compilation, Judge Slade remarks :
"It will be seen by a reference to the act, in pursuance of which this publication was undertaken, that little more was originally comtemplated, than to collect such records as should perpetuate a history of the legislation of the State, down to the year 1787. In prosecuting the collection, however, and particularly, in the effort to recover that portion of the journal of the Council of Safety which was not recorded in any public office, a great number of val- uable historical papers were discovered, connected with a period, anterior to the formation of a regular government, and commencing previous to the existence of any kind of political organization in the State. On examining thsse papers. it was found that they were susceptible of an arrangement which would exhibit a connected view of the principal events which form the early history of Vermont.
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" There is a view in which many of them possess a much higher interest, than when regarded as a mere record of events. They introduce us to an intimate acquaintance with the fathers of Ver- mont, and exhibit them in all the interesting particulars of their character.
" In perusing them, we catch the living expression of the times. The actors in the eventful scenes which distinguished that period, of our history, rise in full view before us, and we seem to converse, and become familiarly acquainted, with the Allens and Warners and Chittendens of ancient days. In this view, nothing can supply the want of these original papers. Like the human countenance in all its peculiarities of expression, they mock the highest effort at imitation or description."
In the compilation of the Vermont State Papers, the subject of this sketch has laid future generations of Vermonters under obliga-
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tion to his industry and perseverance and sound judgment. Few would have undertaken the work. Fewer still could so successfully have accomplished it.
With these records before us presented by his skillful hand, we are no longer dependent upon the delineations or the comments of the statesman or the historian for a knowledge of the character, or the purposes of the Founders of Vermont. We see them acting, and of necessity we form our own conclusions respecting the men, their principles, their objects and their measures. Here are plans of deep laid strategy ; there is bold and open defiance of those who would trepass upon their rights ; there the infliction of summary chastisement on the intruder, which caused him to recoil from the resentment he had awakened.
In 1824, the year after the publication of the Vermont State Papers, Judge Slade was appointed a clerk in the state department at Washington, and continued in this employment till 1829, when, by the inauguration by President Jackson, of the new and very questionable policy of proscribing faithful and competent officers for opinion's sake, to make room for partisans, he was removed, and returned to Middlebury. He now resumed the practice of his profession, and in 1830-31 was State's Attorney for Addison County. In 1831, he was elected a representative in Congress, and the voters of the District testified their confidence in his ability and faithfulness, by giving him five successive re-elections, making in the whole twelve years of service as a member of Congress. While in Congress, Gov. Slade stood shoulder to shoulder with the venerable John Quincy Adams, in defending the principle that the freemen of the land have the unquestionable right to present in the National Legislature respectful petitions in relation to any subjects affecting their welfare, and to have those petitions respectfully heard and referred. The contest in this case, which was stubborn and protractedl, grew out of the proposition to adopt the following as one of the standing rules of the House of Representatives, viz :
" That, upon the presentation of any memorial or petition praying for the abolition of slavery or the slave-trade in any District, Ter- ritory or State of the Union, and upon the presentation of any
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resolution, or other paper touching that subject, the reception of such memorial, petition, resolution or paper, shall be considered as objected to, and the question of its reception sball be laid on the table, without debate or further action thereon."
The introduction of this proposition roused in opposition all the energies of the "old man eloquent," and the flagmant encroachment which, by it, the slave power attempted to make upon the freedom of opinion and speech of those opposed to slavery, awakened no less the hostility of our own honored Representative. With Mr. Adams and a few others of kindred spirit, he threw himself into the " deadly breach, "" resolved that whatever of reproach, of obloquy, or of peril might betide them, they would conquer, or fall in the contest. In this contest it was that Mr. Adams, though full of years and honors, won some of his brightest laurels as a man and a statesman. And on this period in the political career of Gov. Slade, those most acquainted with his character will love best to dwell.
Gov. Slade delivered in the House of Representatives a very elaborate and' powerful, and as recent events have proved, almost prophetic speech upon the proposition above quoted, on the 1Sth and 20th of January, 1840. My limits forbid extended extracts, but I cannot forbear to cite a few paragraphs which exhibit his position, his principles, and his firmness. After admitting the propriety of rejecting petitions for absurd, ridiculous or imprac- ticable objects, or those presented in a spirit of mere wontonness, or those asking unconstitutional action, he remarks :
" My very desire to maintain the sacredness of the right of pe- tition, leads me to desire that it may not be eneumbered with a claim to unlimited license. Thus limited and guarded from abuse, the night is next to the right of suffrage, the most important and efficient of the political rights secured to the people. It carries with it a tremendous power : for, though it wears the modest garb of a right or request, it really possesses, by its moral influence, and by the consciousness of responsibility which it awakens in the rep- resentative body, the power almost of command. The right of suf- frage can be exercised but periodically - that of petition contin- ually. It is a standing constitutional medium of communication from the people to their representatives. Its sacredness should be
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guarded, therefore, with the most wakeful jealousy ; and it is thus amarded. There is no right concerning which the people are more jealous than this. Wo, wo, to the representative who, under any pretence, however specious, treats it with contempt. To associate any cause, no matter what, with a practical denial of this right, will be sure to bring it into discredit, if not to overwhelm it with rain.
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It is urged, as an argument for suppressing freedom of speech and the press, and petition on the subject of slavery, that the free exercise of these rights will have the effect of dissolving the Union. Now, sir, I maintain precisely the reverse of this. I maintain that this very suppression if it can be effected, will, of itself, dis- solve the Union. You might as well expect that the stopping up of Etna's crater would not produce an earthquake, as that a disso- lution of the Union would not follow such a suppression. Every man who knows any thing of the nature of the human soul, and the power of the agonizing sympathies with human suffering and oppression, must admit this. Beware how you trifle with these sympathies ! Call them weakness-brand them as fanaticism-de- nounce them as incendiary. Yet they exist, and will exist, and ought to exist : and your contempt and abuse of them will only increase their intensity."
Sir, if you would preserve the Union, cease to treat thus con- temptuously the best feelings of the human heart. Cease to hurl back in the faces of the men and women of the North their hum- ble petitions, praying, in the name of our common humanity, that you would repeal your laws which hold their brethren in bondage. Bir, you owe it to them-you owe it to the constitution -- you owe it to the great principles of liberty which this nation drew in with the first breath of its existence, and which send the pulsations of health through every part of our republican system, not to abridge the liberty of speech, and of the press, and of petition in connexion with the subject of slavery. If you will assail these rights, let it be in connexion with some other subject, but never-never in con- nexion with this ! Guard them with vestal vigilance. If slavery suffers from them, it must suffer. If it falls in its contest with: " truth left free," then let it fall. Its fall will be the safety of the country and the perpetuity of the Union.
Mr. Speaker, is slavery to be put in competition with the freedom of speech, and of the press, and of the right of petition ? Which shall be surrendered, the slavery of the black man, or the noblest freedom of the white man ? If both cannot live together, which shall die ? Who can doubt-who can hesitate on such a question ? And yet, sir, we are told that this contest between freedom and
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slavery was settled fifty years ago in favor of slavery-not by the constitution -- that would have been monstrous ! - but by implica- tions growing out of " the compromise that lies at the basis of the federal compact !" Sir, if this implication lics at the basis of the compact of our Union, then was the Union placed on a mine, to be shattered into a thousand fragments by its inevitable explosion.
And, sir, what I say of the effects of the abridgment of the freedom of speech and of the press, and of the right of petition, which is insisted on as a part of the "compromise," I must say of slavery itself. lis permanency is utterly incompatible with the permanency of the Union. Who can expect that a free people can be held in fraternal embrace forever with a community where slave- ry is cherished and proclaimed as " the corner stone of republican institutions ?" The thing is impossible. " The lilly and the bramble may grow in social proximity, but liberty and slavery de- light in separation." Such was the sentiment of Pinkney, uttered in the Maryland House of Delegates fifty years ago. And, sir, what he thu: uttered as a general truth will, as sure as man is man, become history, if the South persist in maintaining slavery against the feelings of the North, and against the enlightened judgment and enlarged humanity of the civilized world. If the framors of the constitution had attempted to form a compact of union specifically providing for the perpetuity of slavery, they would have been guilty of the most consummate folly ; and yet we now hear of "the guaranties of the constitution," and "the compromises of the con- stitution," in favor of slavery ! Sir, the guaranties were all the other way-guaranties drawn from the very nature of the Union, from the spirit of the times in which it was formed, and from the great principles which " lie at the basis " of all our cherished in- stitutions. * *
Mr. Speaker, slavery is not content with a multiplication of its victims or an extension of its territorial dominions. It sees the gathering storm, and prepares to avert it. It understands the power of free discussion, and seeks to suppress its outbreakings. For this purpose it penetrates the free states-it surrounds peace- able assemblies with mobs -- it destroys printing presses-it kills or follows with persecution their conductors-it even enters the city of PENN. the city where yet stands the " Hall of Independence," and applies the torch to a noble edifice dedicated to free discussion. And, sir, it has finally come into the halls of congress, and assailed liberty in these her most sacred temples, by striking down the cherished and solemnly guarantied right of petition, and imposing silence upon the representatives of freemen here.
But this is not all. Slavery has found its way into the Execu-
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tive department of this Government, introducing, and giving efficacy, through that department, to a new element of power unknown to the constitution. namely, " the wishes of the slave- holding states," insomuch that the President, while admitting that congress has constitutional power to abolish slavery and the slave trade in this district, declares, in advance, that he will give his official sanction to no bill for such abolition, "against the wishes of the slaveholding states." The "wishes," be it observed -- not the arguments-of the slaveholding states are to govern the Executive action ! With arguments he has nothing to do. He throws from himself all responsibility of judging, and makes the simple fact of the " wishes" of a minority of the people decisive. No other interest has ever advanced such a claim. In all the struggles about a protective tariff, the manufacturing states have set up no such pretensions; and if they had, they would have found no President willing to give such effect to their wishes." Thus, slavery asks and obtains what would be yielded' to no other interest in the country.
But slavery is not content with all this. When the people of the North, in the strength of their feeling for their brethren in slavery, and under a sense of the national responsibility for its continuance, with the abominations of the slave trade in this dis- trict, send their petitions here for its abolition, slavery rises up, in the persons of honorable members on this floor, and threatens to dissolve the Union! Yes, sir, slavery, that very slavery that, fifty years ago, was declared to have the consumption, and to be struck with death, has "got well," grown fat and lusty, talks of living forever, and absolutely threatens a dissolution of the Union if he is not "let alone," and permitted to go on unimpeded in his march to complete dominion ! Who can find words to express the amazement which this is calculated to excite ?
Thus it is, Mr. Speaker, that, slavery has, ever since this Union was formed, been gradually augmenting its power ; moving on, especially during the latter part of. the half century of our national existence, with giant strides in the march of encroachment, con- stantly grasping power, and constantly asking for more, never say- ing enough, but always crying, give ! give ! give !
And now, Mr. Speaker, let me entreat gentlemen to review the subject in the light which I have endeavored to throw upon it, and tell me if it is not the height of injustice to charge the petitioners and the agitators of the subject of slavery, at the North, with a violation of implied pledges in favor of slavery, when it is manifest beyond the power of contradiction that the South has violated, and is, at this moment, flagrantly violating its own most clearly implied pledges of a contrary character.
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Sir, as I have already intimated, the North, so far from encroaching on the rights of the South in this matter, are but resisting the encroachments of the slave power. They are standing on the very confines of the Constitution, battling, not merely for the rights of the slave, but for the dearest rights of freemen. And "are they to yield at this point ? No, sir, no ; not a hair's breadth. They cannot, without a surrender of every thing. It is time the South should understand that the North is no longer to stand still and witness the encroachments of slavery with arms folded, eyes closed, and mouths shut ; but that, while they will not transcend, by the breadth of a hair, the limits of the Constitution, they owe it to themselves-to their country-to its honor abroad-to its safety at home-to humanity-to justice -- and to the world, strug- gling for victory over time-honored oppression -- to stand firm upon the ground of constitutional right, and never surrender for one moment those great weapons of fair and honest warfare against slavery-freedom of speech-freedom of the press-and freedom of petition.
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