USA > Vermont > Rutland County > The history of Rutland county, Vermont; civil, ecclesiastical, biographical and military, pt 2 > Part 38
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Among the best products of Vermont, we may safely name her judiciary. The names of Phelps, Royce, Williams, Collamer, Red- field. and many others that have adorned the Bench of Vermont, are among the highest of modern judges. Could we be assured that the century to come will have a judiciary in Vermont equal to that of the century past, it would be the strongest assurance of the preservation of our liberties, and the pros- perity of our Commonwealth. Equal in character and ability with her executives and judiciary, stand her statesmen. Indeed, in many instances, the same men have aided to establish and maintain the proud position of Vermont, as governors, judges and legisla- tors. In the civil service, Vermont has never been excelled by any State in the em- inence of her public men.
There remains to speak of Vermont on the battle fields of the Republic. And yet the sentiment to which I am called upon to re- spond, comprehensively covers the whole ground: " Foremost, from Ticonderoga and Plattsburgh to Gettysburg and the Wilder-
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ness." Vermont has been called " the legiti- mate child of war." It is a curious fact of history that the territory now constituting Vermont, was more a battle-ground of fierce aboriginal tribes upon the north, west and south, than a home or possession that any tribe claimed. So, through the Colonial period, it lay in the pathway of British and French armies contending for supremacy in the new world. After this canie the conten- tion arising out of the double system of grants from New Hampshire and New York. Resistence to the unwarranted and unjust jurisdiction of New York was the occasion of that military organization known as the Green Mountain Boys, afterwards famed in the great struggle that resulted in severing this nation from an empire, and lifting it to the dignity of independent national existence. The grand figure of Ethan Allen on the heights of Ticonderoga, in the gray of the morning of May 10th, 1775, proclaiming the authority of the Continental Congress, and compelling the first surrender of the British flag " to the coming Republic," has been the inspiration of Vermonters through the suc- ceeding generations. The preservation of the honor and integrity of the Republic has ever been to them the most glorious cause, the most exalted duty, in the performance of which they have held life as but an idle breath. When they planted cur starry flag on the ramparts of the Hessian, at Benning ton, the American heart was filled with joy and hope, and the success of the American cause passed from the possible to the proba- ble. When, in 1812, the pestilence of war again breathed upon us, the lines of Vermont flamed along our Northern border, at Platts- burgh, at Niagara, at Crown Point, achieving glory worthy of Ticonderoga and Benning- ton. In the war with Mexico, though our people were not in full political sympathy with its object, yet when declared, and the national fame became imperiled, partisanship was buried in patriotism, and Vermont fur- nished her full quota, and co iributed the brave and brilliant Ransom tovele country's cause. 1
Next came resistance to the assaults of treason, in which 34,000 Vermonters partici- pated with distinguished honor. They struck the first blow in Virginia. They were the first to enter Richmond. They set an ex- ample of gallantry at Lee's Mills that was
never surpassed, and Rutland there lost the brave and noble Reynolds. They were firm amid confusion at Bull Run, and their firm . ness contributed largely to the salvation of Washington. They were patient and persi :- tent amid the disasters of the Peninsula, and through the seven days humiliating conflict, never declined a battle, nor failed to punish the enemy in every instance of his attack upon them. History will one day record what is now not generally known, that a * son of Rutland, here present, as effectually and surely contributed, by his personal exer- tions, to save our army from defeat at the desperate battle of Malvern Hill, as Warner contributed to the victory of Bennington. At Fredericksburg, South Mountain and An- tietam they bravely bore our banners to victory. At Gettysburg, they stood in the pivotal point of our lines, in that pivotal battle of the war, as firm as the hills of their Green Mountain State, and after three days of stubborn fighting of 200.000 men, they dealt the blow that ended the battle of Get- tysburg, which in brilliancy, is not eclipsed by the resplendent glory that for half a cen- tury has steadily rested upon the field of Waterloo. In the Shenandoah Valley, their unyielding presence convinced the gallant Sheridan that he could turn defeat to victory. They were also on that outstretched battle- field, from the Rapidan to the Appomattox, running through from May to April, where the scythe of death swept as it never swept before, every day garnering up laurels that would have adorned the chaplets of Roman Emperors, in their triumphal returns from the conquest of Empires. They were at Ba- ton Rouge, where another son of Rutland, the gallant Colonel Roberts, fell. They were everywhere, indeed, throughout the vast arena of conflict, making up a record which the most brilliant achievements of war never eclipsed ; and, thank God, they never, throughout the four years of fighting, lost a flag. May we not reasonably expect that in all the accomplishments of Vermont in the century to come, she will scarcely, at its end, be able to point to a nobler record than that of her brave sons in the gigantic struggle which resulted in lifting the cruel yoke of slavery from the necks of a race of human beings ?
Mr. President, [ am mindful that I must * Lieutenant Colonel Win. Y. W. Ripley.
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close. I have said that the century we are to-day, in a certain sense, reviewing, pro- duced Vermont. Vermont in turn has pro- duced, that which, it is said, in the highest sense, constitutes a State, " Men, high- minded men, who know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain ! "
Gen. W. Y. W.Ripley followed in a tribute to the brave men of Vermont, and feelingly implored their descendants to preserve the relics of their memory in their hands at pres- ent, that the future might revere those who so nobly lived and died.
Gen. Ripley said, to the subject of "The Ladies, " embraced in the concluding senti- ment of the toast, he would call his friend, Hon. D. E. Nicholson, whose anticipated re- sponse would fully justify the fitness of the call.
Mr. Nicholson responded that he duly ap- preciated the distinguished honor of being thus commended to this particular sentiment. As a Rutland county man by birth, whose mother, now in her sainted grave, and whose wife and daughter all had a Rutland county origin, he should justly be condeinned if he was wanting in appreciation of the value of such companionship. What has been said here and elsewhere of the distinguished Christians, philanthropists, patriots and sages could never have been true if woman the mother of them all, had been less than an exal- ted being, and the perpetual homage of man's heart has been to the Great Creator of all, that when beholding the solitary, pitiful and help- less condition of the father of the race, He be- nevolently created for him companionship, with such social, intellectual, moral and nate- rial adaptations, as had served not only to perpetuate, but to exalt the race.
Third Toast- The Early Settlers of Rutland -True descendants of the Puritan stock, they builded better than they knew.
Gen. Benj. Alvord of the U. S. army ra- sponded.
When I first received the invitation to share in this celebration it seemed impracti- cable to accept, but every day which elapsed convinced me that my heart would gravitate in this direction, and that it was a duty to make an effort to attend. During all my wanderings to the remotest corners of this Union, throughout the last thirty-seven . years, I have never failed to recur with pride and pleasure to Vermont and to Rutland.
The attachment of those born in mountain regious to their homes is proverbial. The discharge of my official duties has carried me to the most celebrated mountain regions of this continent; those of Central America,
the snow white peaks which border on the north west Lake Nicaragua, * * those of the valley of Mexico, * those of the Sierra Nevada range in California, and of the Cascade range in Oregon and Washing- ton, and those of the Rocky Mountain ranges of Colorado and Utah Territories. However deep the enjoyment received from such scenes of grandeur, they always only served to carry my memory and imagination back to these lovely green mountains, whose quiet beauty is unsurpassed. I know that it will be said that such sentiments have their origin in the charms and fascinations of youth. But it is fitting that here, on our return to the land of our birth, such feelings should be indulged. Let them not be despised ! If Heaven, in showering upon you other blessings, has also imparted a love of nature, an appreciation of your beautiful scenery, and a keen relish for the wonders and splendors lavished on this material world, let them be highly es- teemed. Contrast the ideas of the native of a level prairie in the West with the sensa- tions awakened here! By cultivation he may acquire such tastes, but his birthright has comparatively a limitation, a tameness and a monotony which excite the pity of ex- ultant mountaineers ! It should certainly be to-day a cause for holding in grateful re- membrance our hardy ancestors, who one century ago chose their homes in such pleas- ant places, that they bequeathed to their posterity such influences, and such sublime inspirations. There are some not open to such magnetism. There are those who, under the shadow of Killington Peak, can, without emotion witness the lovely clouds move to and fro, and the cultivated valleys smiling between mountain slopes, and the meander- ing river gliding through grassy meadows. I say there are those who can gaze at such scenes and turn upon them only a vacant and uninterested eye, buried in the cares and clogged by the surroundings of the busy world. But their effect upon the genius of your popul ion, upon the character of the most enter, ising and susceptible, is un- doubted; a. ove all upon the scholars of your State. From one end of this Union to the other, Vermonters can be found remark- able for their clear heads, their hardibood, and if scholars, for their acute, robust intel- lects and poetic sensibilities.
It is customary in Massachuestts to boast
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of Berkshire county, and the array of dis- tinguished characters who have originated there. Berkshire is the mere offshoot, the last descending ridge of the Green mountains, which Vermont condescends to give Massa- chusetts. If the scenery of Berkshire and the lovely estates at Lenox and Stockbridge of the Sedgwicks, Fields, Rockwells and Bryants can awaken admiration,-for still stronger reasons should Vermont indulge a little pardonable exultation, rioting as she does in the Green Mountains (par excellence,) in the very backbone and lofty summit of those mountains. Why do not the Aspin- walls, and Carys, and other men of wealth, who went to Berkshire in search of a mount- ain home, come up here and get the Simon- pure article ? I feel certain that the Rev. Dr. Todd, now a resident of Pittsfield, in that county, however attached to his Pitts- field home, will admit the force of my recom- mendation. Why ! from the seat of Aspin- wall and other of those millionaires they point to what they call mountains ! A few years since I was delighted to make a visit to that county, filled with such charming society, such refined and hospitable residents, -but I aver I could not find in all Berkshire county an elevation as high as your " Pine Hill."
The Puritans settled Vermont. From Connecticut and Massachusetts they came here to seek their fortunes. All my military life I have been on our extensive frontiers in contact with pioneers. I know well their virtues, their hardihood, their enterprise. I have delighted to watch the growth and ex- pansion of infant communities.
Our ancestors came to the New Hampshire Grants deeply imbued with all the best traits of the Puritan race *
The question occurs, Has this Puritan character borne generous fruit ? In pare and applied science, in oratory and meta- physics and literature, in poetry and art, the educated men living in the State or sent forth by Vermont, have made their mark throughout the world. The names of James Marsh, George P. Marsh, S. S. Phelps, Charles K. Williams, Collamer, Foot, Horace Greely, Saxe, Powers and Mead are a sufficient re- sponse, known, some of them, to the whole civilized world. And it was fitting that the State which produced the best living Ameri- can sculptor should also find in its exhaust-
less quarries the best marble for purposes of art on this continent, and thus spread the name of Rutland to all lands.
The student residing here, far from the dis- tractions of more populous haunts, has had time and opportunity to dive deeper into the recesses of science. Vermonters are noted for their liberal culture, and in public life for their national sentiments. They have not been eaten up with sectionalism or pro- vincialism. Their State pride, however in- tense, has not diminished their love and devotion to the Union and the national government. In time of deliberation and counsel, they have been for peace and averse to war. But their hearts have embraced the whole country, and have instantly rejected every proposition looking to a dissolution of the Union. This brings us to say that the descendants of the Puritans have stood the test of the great eivil war, in which their best qualities have been conspiciously mani- fested. Look at their promptitude, their manly spirit, their martial enthusiasm, their noble deeds, their devotion to the flag and to the cause of liberty. Let Grant, Sheridan and Meade be consulted as to the bearing of the Green Mountain Boys ! * * *
In the war it is but simple justice to say that Rutland sent forth her full quota, heroes who returned with honorable records, show- ing that they are worthy sons of a State whose expressive motto is "Freedom and Unity." * *
A birthplace is a fountain-head, whence should a fountain of rejuvenation flow pure, sparkling waters to gladden, vivify and fertilize the vale of life. A return to it takes the memory back to youth and all its gilded hopes, joys and enjoyments. To carry youth forward into age, and Jet the mind remain equally susceptible of vivid impressions and generous impulses, should be the aim of every Christian.
Here I watched the clouds, and commenced with the cheering siniles of a mother's love to learn my first lessons of science and re- ligion. Can influences thus planted in the midst of these lovely mountains ever die out ? Like Wordsworth, who was born and spent his days under the shadow of Skiddaw, in the Cumberland Mountains, and among the lovely lakes of Windermere.
" My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky !
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So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man ! So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die ! The child is father of the man !- And I could wish my days to be, Bound each to each by natural piety."
" Gen. Alvord was followed by Rev. Aldace Walker, D. D., of Wallingford, formerly pas- "tor of the Congregational church at West Rutland. He gave a brief sketch of the Congregational church in this town, with notices of Rev. Benajah Roots and Rev. Lemuel Haynes.
Fourth toast :
Rutland-Rapid in growth, wonderful in development, her past honorable and dis- tinguished, her present happy and prosper- ous,-her future is in her own hands.
To which Warren H. Smith, Esq., respond- ed : Prominent among the subjects presented in this toast is the " rapid growth " of Rut- land. * * My personal acquaintance with this town began in 1848. Prior to that time, as I learn, the town had remained nearly or quite stationary, celebrated, and very justly, for its age, its distinguished citizens, including several Governors of the State, eminent and incorruptible judges, a long list of able lawyers, distinguished divines and staid and substantial business men in all departments of industry.
Taking 1848, as my starting point, I feel justified in saying that the "rapid growth " of the town since that date has justly been the pride and boast of its citizens. It was about that date that new life, enterprise and energy seemed infused into the whole busi- ness and diffused among the mass of the peo- ple of the town, and hence its progress, rapid and resistless, in all that constitutes material growth. Statistics, always tedious in detail, best demonstrate this. In 1848 the popula- tion of this town was about 3,900-now about 11,000. Then there were about 600 voters-now near 2,000. Then the appraised value of her taxable property was $1,120,000 now $4,960,000. But the material growth has been still more apparent in the village of Rutland. At the date named it consisted only of Main street and the road towards Castleton, with no dwellings below the brow of the hill ; now hundreds of acres all around us are covered with comfortable houses and pleasant homes and many stately mansions. Then her business center consisted of some
half dozen old wooden one-story stores and shops, scattered around Court House square ; now we have our Merchant's Row and Center street, lined for long distances on both sides with massive blocks of three and four stories, filled with elegant stores, affordling us a basi- ness center unequaled in the country. Then we had but a single newspaper, the Herali, worked upon the hand press; now three weekly and one daily papers, all four power presses. Then but one school-house and 130 scholars; now 14 large and substantial school-rooms and 1700 scholars. Then but 3 churches, and poorly filled ; now 7, -and more being built. Since that date, railroads connecting us with all parts of the country and from all directions center here. Marble interests were then just beginning to be de- veloped, which since have produced supplies for the whole country.
In view of these facts, who can gainsay the "rapid growth " of this town ? We claim that it is unequaled in Vermont, and unsurpassed in New England. It is also noticeable that the prominent business men of the town at the date named were in the decline of life, and most of them have gone to their honored graves, and that the very large proportion of the business men of to- day are in their prime, in the full vigor of life,-men who have contributed largely to make the town what she to-day shows herself. That she is "happy and prosperous," this occasion and as you see her speaks more elo- quently than any words I can utter.
What shall be her future ? With such ele- ments of success, such master minds, such energy, such enterprise and industry as has produced what you see, there is abundant promise for her future rapid growth in all that is good and great.
Fifth toast. The Orator of the Day-Emi- nent alike as a scholar and divine, his emi- nence, honorable to him, has honored us.
In response the orator, Prof. James D. But- ler, spoke :
Mr. President and Townsmen: " Emi- I nent alike as a scholar and divine !" What a non-committal toast ! Its language is as ambiguous as the utterances of the political candidate, Mr. Facing-both ways." A man may be "eminent alike " who is not eminent at all. The sentiment reminds me of a horse- dealer who flourished of old not far from Rutland, and who, wishing to get rid of a
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vicious animal, advertised him as " equally kind in saddle and harness,' and warranted him to be up to the recommendation. Nor did he long lack a purchaser. No sooner, however, did the buyer harness his horse than he was run away with and his wag- on broken to pieces. Thereupon he called on the horse-dealer and demanded damages. But the dealer said to him, ".Have you tried your horse in the saddle ?" " No ; " said the buyer. "Why," returned the other, if you had mounted him he would certainly have thrown you off, aud so I hold that the beast is everything I warranted him,-that is, 'equally kind in saddle and harness.'" In calling one "eminent alike as a scholar and divine," your toastmaster seems to have shirked responsibility noless dexterously than the horse-jockey did. On the whole, however, I am inclined to think the words " eminent alike as a scholar and divine " were intended for a compliment. But viewed in that light they force me into a difficult dilemma now that I am called up for a speech. For how shall I speak? Suppose I try to prove the toast a truthful assertion, and that I am an " eminent scholar and divine," then you, and everybody, will say, " Thou bearest witness of thyself, thy witness is not true," and you will charge me with forgetting Solomon's in- junction, " Let another man praise thee, and not thine own lips."
But, on the other hand, suppose I prove by all manner of logic that I am no scholar, and no divine. Then, while you would admit that I made out my case conclusively, you would compare me to the most beautiful belle in Rutland, who, when she would rouse her admirers to double raptures in her praise, glances in a mirror and exclaims, " How like a fright I look ! was ever any being so hor- rid ? "
My words of self depreciation, one and all, would be set down as prompted by " hopes of contradiction." Accordingly, whether I speak for or against, the toast proposed, I should myself be tossed higher than any bull- fighter I ever saw in Madrid, on one or the other horn of a dilemma.
But in my despair how to meet the de- mands of my toast a hope rises upon me, for I have been invited to say a word as a substi- tute for Col. G. A. Merrill, whom his duties in the State Senate prevent from meeting with us at this table. And yet the idea of
serving as a substitute is not altogether Hat- tering. Only a substitute, only a substitute, -substitute for George A. Merrill !
Yet who'll my claims to thanks dispute As an unflinching substitute! For of all heroes new and old,
Where can be found a chief more bold
Than he who on this speaker's block,
As gazing-stock and laughing-stock, The gauntlet for his brother runs And braves the blows that brother shuns ? Who'll then my claim to thanks dispute As G. A. Merrill's substitute?
[Here runs at length in rhyme and humor the olden story of Ethan Allen's offering to be hung for a man if he should not be hung. Centennial pamphlet page 90-92 .- ED.]
Townsmen, in Allen's shoes I stand, For,G. A. Merrill's flod the land, Yet shall not you, as critics, lack A victim now to hew and hack.
While Merrill then at large may roam, To execution, Lo! I come!
Who'll then my claim to thanks dispute As G. A. Merrill's substitute?
Col. Merrill as a railroad superintendent was expected to speak in the line of his pro- fession, although those of us who have ever heard the car whistle are ready to think that the locomotive may be left to speak for itself.
Regarding railroads, few men have had more experience as travellers than has fallen to my lot. My first car ride was 32 years ago, and I have been riding ever since. My journeyings have been as a preacher, a lect- urer, and a tourist in search of knowledge. In 1843, I traversed most of the European roads then in operation, and a quarter of a century afterward was not only on the new European lines, but on others in Asia and Africa. Last year I swept the whole length of our trans-continental line to the Pacific.
If one should praise the bridge that carries him well over, then I ought to praise railroads for they have never harmed a hair of my head. In my Oriental travels I became con- vinced that in the material force of steam there lurks a tremendous moral power. * My conviction is firm that steam will carry Christendom,-and that as a Christianizing conquerer,-through and through the Moslem world.
If I were the only speaker, I would de- light to expatiate on railroads in their diversi- fied influences,-and especially as just now, and notably in Nebraska, preceding settle- ment and quickening its pace a hundred fold, -but I can only allude to a few facts in this
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our home field. The earnings of all the roads centering in Rutland have been tripled during the last six years. Forty-eight trains now enter or leave Rutland every twenty-four hours, and some one of them is passing over its line during every minute of every secular day. Arrangements have been perfected for building a new railroad west of Lake Cham- plain, which will within two years insure Rutland an additional line of steam commu- nication with Montreal.
Believing that this progress in railroads and these prospects are due as largely to my friend Col. Merrill as to any other man, I beg leave to close my speech with a senti- ment in his honor :
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