Part 50

This scene, these tables so bountifully and so tastefully spread, was one full of beauty when we entered, but it seems now to have taken on some of that "dilapidation" which General Veazey ascribed to my voice. [Laughter.] I am sure that if the supplies gathered at Bennington to-day had been here in 1777 that struggle would have been much more obstinate. [Laughter.] But, my fellow-citizens, there is much in this occasion that is full of instruction to the strangers who by your hospitable invitation have the privilege of meeting with you. Wherever men may have been born within this galaxy of great States, which makes the greater Union, there is respect and honor for the New England character. It has been a source of strength to the Nation in its development in material things. It has furnished to literature and to invention some of the largest contributions; but, more than all this, it has done a great work for all the States, and especially those States of the West and Northwest, in which its enterprising sons have found new homes, in establishing everywhere a love of social order and a patriotic devotion to the Union of States. [Applause.] If we seek to find the institutions of New England that have formed the character of its own people and have exercised a stronger moulding influence than that of any other section upon our whole people we shall find them, I think, in their temples, in their schools, in their town meetings and in their God-fearing homes. [Applause.] The courage of those who fought at Bennington, at Concord, Lexington, Bunker Hill, and Saratoga was born of a high trust in God. They were men who, fearing God, had naught else to fear. That devotion to local self-government which originated and for so long maintained the town meeting, establishing and perpetuating a true democracy, an equal, full participation and responsibility in all public affairs on the part of every citizen, was the cause of the development of the love of social order and respect for law which has characterized your communities, has made them safe and commemorable abodes for your people. These migrations between the States have been to your loss, but there is now a turning back to these States of New England and to some of its unused farms, which I believe is to continue and increase. The migration which you have sent into the South to develop its industries, to open its mines, to set up factories and furnaces, is doing marvellous work in unifying our people. [Applause.] As I journeyed recently across the continent this oneness of our people was strongly impressed upon me. I think these centennial observances which have crowded one upon another from Concord to the centennial of the adoption of the Constitution and the organization of the Supreme Court have turned the thought of our people to the most inspiring incident in our history, and have greatly intensified and developed our love of the flag and our Constitution. [Applause.] I do not believe there has been a time in our history when there has been a deeper, fonder love for the unity of the States, for the flag that emblematizes this unity, and for the Constitution which cements it. [Applause.]

I believe we have come to a time when we may look out to greater things. Secure in our own institutions, enriched almost beyond calculation, I believe we have reached a time when we may take a large part in the great transactions of the world. [Cheers.] I believe our people are prepared now to insist that the American flag shall again be seen upon the sea [applause], and that our merchants and manufacturers are ready to seize the golden opportunity that is now offered for extending our commerce into the States of Central and South America. [Cheers.] I believe that conservative views of finance will prevail in this country. [Applause.] I am sure discontent and temporary distress will not tempt our people to forsake those safe lines of public administration in which commercial security alone rests. [Applause.] As long as the general Government furnishes the money of the people for their great business transactions I believe we will insist, as I have said before, that every dollar issued, whether paper or coin, shall be as good and be kept as good as any other dollar that issues. [Cheers.] The purity, the equality of what we call dollars must be preserved, or an element of uncertainty and of bankruptcy will be introduced into all business transactions. This I may say without crossing lines of division: How this end is to be attained I will not attempt to sketch, but I do not hesitate to say that I feel myself, in the public interest, pledged so far as in me lies to maintain that equality between our circulating money that is essential to the perfect use of all. [Prolonged applause.]

I have gone beyond the promise of the President of the day, and have been betrayed by your friendliness into speaking two or three words. May I, in closing, tender to these good women of Vermont my thanks for the grace and sweetness which their services and their presence have lent to this happy occasion? May I say to them that the devoted services of their mothers, their courage and patience and helpfulness shown by the women in the great struggle for liberty cannot be too highly appreciated? It was an easier fate to march with bared breasts against the Hessian ramparts at Bennington than to sit in the lonely homestead awaiting the issue with tearful eyes uplifted to God in prayer for those who perilled their lives for the cause. All honor to the New England mother, the queen of the New England home! [Applause.] There, in those nurseries of virtue and truth, have been found the strongest influences that have moulded your people for good and led your sons to honor. [Great cheering.]

At the conclusion John B. Carney, Chairman of the Citizens' Committee, presented General Harrison with a gold medal bearing a likeness of the Bennington Monument. As the medal was pinned on the President's coat he remarked: "It needed not this memento to remind me of this auspicious occasion."

MT. M'GREGOR, AUGUST 20.

President Harrison and his party arrived at Saratoga on the morning of the 20th, and were heartily greeted. He immediately embarked for Mt. McGregor, where another large gathering welcomed him. After visiting the historic Grant cottage the President became the guest of W. J. Arkell, at the latter's cottage on the mountain. In the afternoon the party partook of a "country dinner" at the Hotel Balmoral, given by the Hon. James Arkell in honor of the President's fifty-eighth birthday.

About 120 guests participated. Senator Arkell presided. Among those present besides the President's party were: B. Gillam, Capt. John Palmer, Commander G. A. R.; Hugh Reilly, W. H. Bockes, M. L. Staver, P. Farrelly, J. S. Lamoreaux, J. M. Francis, William Barnes, Jr., and William Whitney, of Albany; Edward Ellis and Samuel Insul, of Schenectady; John W. Vrooman, of Herkimer; J. Y. Foster, C. C. Shayne, Spencer Trask, John A. Sleicher, J. H. Breslin, W. A. Sweetzer, S. E. May, and Marshall P. Wilder, of New York; D. F. Ritchie, W. T. Rockwood, H. B. Hanson, J. G. B. Woolworthy, W. Lester, C. S. Lester, W. W. Worden, E. H. Peters, J. M. Marvin, E. C. Clark, and T. F. Hamilton, of Saratoga; J. A. Manning, of Troy; D. W. Mabee, Frank Jones, and S. C. Medberry, of Ballston, and John Kellogg and W. J. Kline, of Amsterdam. Mr. Arkell paid an eloquent tribute to the memory of General Grant and congratulated his distinguished guest.

President Harrison arose and amid great cheering began:

_Mr. Arkell and Friends_--It was a part of the covenant of this feast that it should be a silent one; not exactly a Quaker meeting, as Mr. Arkell has said, because silence there is apt to be broken by the moving of the spirit. That is not a safe rule for a banquet. [Laughter.] I rise only to thank your generous host and these gentlemen from different parts of the State who honor this occasion for their friendliness and their esteem. We are gathered here in a spot which is historic. This mountain has been fixed in the affectionate and reverent memory of all our people and has been glorified by the death on its summit of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. [Applause.] It is fit that that great spirit that had already lifted its fame to a height unknown in American history should take its flight from this mountain-top. It has been said that a great life went out here; but great lives, like that of General Grant, do not go out. They go on. [Cries of "Good! Good!" and great applause.] I will ask you in a reverent and affectionate and patriotic remembrance of that man who came to recover all failures in military achievement, and with his great generalship and inflexible purpose to carry the flag of the republic to ultimate triumph, recalling with reverent interest his memory, to drink a toast in silence as a pledge that we will ever keep in mind his great services, and in doing so will perpetuate his great citizenship and the glory of the Nation he fought to save.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK, AUGUST 21.

The President left Mt. McGregor the afternoon of the 21st, and reached Saratoga at 4 o'clock, where 50,000 people joined in an ovation to him. It was the largest gathering ever seen in Saratoga, and the town was resplendent with colors. The Chief Executive was met by a reception committee composed of Hon. John R. Putnam, Hon. A. Bockes, Hon. Henry Hilton, Hon. H. S. Clement, Hon. James M. Marvin, Hon. John W. Crane, Hon. J. W. Houghton, Gen. W. B. French, Hon. John Foley, Hon. D. Lohnas, Col. David F. Ritchie, Hon. Lewis Varney, Lieut. A. L. Hall, Edward Kearney, John A. Manning, George B. Cluett, Prof. Edward N. Jones, and J. G. B. Woolworth. Wheeler Post, G. A. R., acted as an escort of honor.

Arrived at the Grand Union Hotel, the President was greeted with great clapping of hands and the waving of 10,000 handkerchiefs by the ladies. He reviewed the procession from the piazza, and, on being introduced by Village President Lohnas, spoke a follows:

_My Fellow-citizens_--The greatness of this assembly makes it impossible that I should do more than thank you for the magnificent welcome which you have extended me to-day. I have great pleasure in being again for a few days in Saratoga--this world renowned health and pleasure resort. It gives me great satisfaction to witness, on the part of the citizens of Saratoga and of the visitors who are spending a season for refreshment or recuperation here, the expression of kindness which beams upon me from all your faces. I am sure the explanation of all this is that you are all American citizens, lovers of the flag and the Constitution [applause], and in thus assembling you give expression to your loyalty and patriotism. [Applause.] It is not, I am sure, an individual expression; it is larger and better than that, for this country of ours is distinguished in naught else more than in the fact that its people give their love and loyalty and service, not to individuals, but to institutions. [Applause.] We love this country because it is a land of liberty, because the web and woof of its institutions are designed to promote and secure individual liberty and general prosperity. [Applause.] We love it because it not only does not create, but because it does not tolerate, any distinction between men other than that of merit. [Applause.] I desire to thank those comrades who wear the honored badge of the Grand Army of the Republic for their escort and their welcome. I never see this badge anywhere that I do not recognize its wearer as a friend. [Applause.] Survivors of a great struggle for the perpetuity of our institutions--having endured in march and camp and battle the utmost that men can endure, and given the utmost that men can give--they are now as citizens of this republic in civic life doing their part to maintain order in its communities and to promote in peace the honor and prosperity of the country they saved. [Applause.] Thanking you once more for your friendliness and cordial enthusiasm, I will ask you to excuse me from further speech. [Great applause.]

FROM SARATOGA THROUGH VERMONT.

The last day of the President's stay at Saratoga Springs he was tendered a reception by Mr. and Mrs. J. S. T. Stranahan, of Brooklyn, at the Pompeiian House of Pansa. Admission was by card, and several hundred well-known people paid their respects to the Chief Magistrate. The wives of Governor Jackson, of Maryland, ex-Governor Baldwin, of Michigan, and Hon. George Bliss, of New York, assisted the host and hostess in receiving. Hon. David F. Ritchie introduced the guests.

On the morning of August 25 the President, accompanied by Secretary Proctor and the other members of his party, left Saratoga on a journey through the Green Mountain State. They were accompanied by Vice-President E. C. Smith, of the Vermont Central road, and Superintendent C. D. Hammond, of the Delaware and Hudson.

WHITEHALL, NEW YORK, AUGUST, 25.

The first stop was at Whitehall, where the party was met by Hon. H. G. Burleigh, Gen. J. C. Rogers, William Sinnott, Luke H. Carrington, A. J. Taft, and Maj. John Dwyer, President of the Washington County Veteran Association. A train containing several hundred veterans, on their way to a reunion at Dresden, was in waiting, and a large crowd assembled around the President's car. The Burleigh Corps acted as a guard of honor. Ex-Congressman Burleigh, in a brief speech, introduced the President, whose remarks created much enthusiasm. He said:

_Comrades and Fellow-citizens_--It is pleasant to come this morning upon an assemblage of comrades gathering with their families to a social reunion to recall their services and sacrifices and to bathe their souls in the glory of this bright day and of this great land that they fought to save. [Applause.] Such assemblages are full of interest to the veterans, and they are full of instruction and inspiration to those who gather with them. It is our habit in the West, as it is yours here, to have these annual meetings, and it is always a pleasure to me when I can arrange to meet with the comrades of my old regiment, or of the old brigade, or with the veterans of any regiment of any State who stood for the flag. [Applause.] There is a pathetic side to all this. We gather with diminished ranks from year to year. We miss the comrades who are dropping by the way. We see repeated now that which we saw as the great column moved on in the campaign of the war--a comrade dropping out, borne to the hospital, followed to the grave--and yet these soldier memories and thoughts are brightened by the glories which inspire and attend all these gatherings of the veterans of the war. We see the old flag again, and I am glad to believe that there has never been a period in our history when there was more love for it. [Applause.]

It is quite natural that it should be so. These veterans who stand about me have seen many days and months in camps and battlefields and in devastated country through which they marched when there was on all the horizon one thing of beauty--that glorified flag. [Applause.] They brought home the love of it in their hearts, wrought in every fibre of their nature; and it is very natural that the children who have come on should catch this inspiration and love from the fathers who perilled everything that the flag might still be held in honor, and still be an emblem of the authority of one Constitution over an undivided Nation. We see to-day how worthy the land was for which our comrades died, and for which you, my comrades, offered your lives, in its great development and its increasing population, in its multiplying homes, where plenty and prosperity, the love of God and social order, and all good things abide. In this great Nation, striding on in wealth and prosperity to the very first place among the nations of the earth; in this land, in truth as well as in theory the land of the free, we see that which was worthy of the utmost sacrifice of the truest men. [Prolonged Cheers.]

I recall with pleasure that some of the New York regiments, coming to the Western army with Hooker and Howard and Gerry and Williams and others, served in the same corps to which I was designated during the great campaign upon Atlanta. Some of the comrades who made that march from Chattanooga to Atlanta and the sea are here to-day, survivors of one of the greatest, in all its aspects, of all the campaigns of the war. You came from those bloody fields upon the Potomac, and struck hands with us of the West as brothers. You helped us in the struggle there to cut the Confederacy in twain, and, lapping around by the sea, to strike hands with Grant again near Appomattox. [cheers.]

I thank you again most cordially for your friendly demonstration and presence. If I had the power to call down blessings upon my fellow-men, the home of every comrade here would be full of all prosperity. [Applause.]

FAIR HAVEN, VERMONT, AUGUST 25.

At Whitehall the party was joined by Adj.-Gen. T. S. Peck and Col. M. J. Horton, of Governor Page's staff. When the Vermont line was reached General Peck, in the name of the Governor, formally welcomed the President to the State. Fair Haven was reached at 10 o'clock. The Reception Committee was Hon. Samuel L. Hazard, Andrew N. Adams, George M. Fuller, and Wm. V. Roberts.

Mr. Hazard introduced President Harrison, who said:

_My Fellow-citizens_--We have already lost some minutes at your station, and it will not be possible for me to hold the train longer. I thank you for this friendly greeting, and for the kindness which beams upon me from the faces of these contented and happy men and women of the good State of Vermont. I am glad to see about me the evidences of the indomitable pluck and successful enterprise which characterize so highly all of your New England States. When you found the stones too thick to make agriculture profitable you compelled the rocks to yield you a subsistence, and these great slate and marble industries have become the centre of wealthy and prosperous communities. You are here, each in his own place; these good ladies in that supremely influential position, the American home, and you, my countrymen, in the shops and in the fields, making contributions to the prosperity and glory of this great Nation. It is pleasant to know that the love of country, stimulated by the teaching of the father and of the mother, revived by these recollections of the first struggle for independence, deepened by the sacrifices which were made in the Civil War to preserve what our fathers had purchased for us, are still holding sway in the hearts of our people. [Cheers.]

We are conspicuously a people abiding in respect and honor for the law. The law, as expressed in our constitutions and in our statute-books, is the sovereign to which we all bow. We acknowledge no other. To the law each and every one should give his undivided allegiance and his faithful service. There is no other rule that will bring and maintain in our communities that peaceful and orderly condition, that good neighborhood and kindly intercourse, which is so essential to the happiness of any community. I am sure that these things, now as of old, characterize these New England communities, where the strife which your colder climate and your soil compel you to make for your subsistence has bred habits of thrift, economy, and independence, and the love of liberty which I am sure is as fadeless as the stars. [Applause.]

Thanking you again for this pleasant morning reception, I will bid you good-by. [Applause.]

CASTLETON, VERMONT, AUGUST 25.

At Castleton there was a large crowd, including 200 pupils of the Normal School, who pelted the President with roses and golden-rod. The Reception Committee comprised Hon. Henry L. Clark, A. E. Leavenworth, S. B. Ellis, and A. L. Ramson.

Judge Clark introduced the President, who said:

_Ladies and Gentlemen_--It is very pleasant to meet here, mingling with the citizens of this neighborhood, the pupils of your Normal School. One of the most influential characters in the history of the United States is the New England school-teacher. If we could follow the track of these intelligent men and women who have gone out from the New England States into the West and South; if we could trace those strong, yet slender and hard-to-be-discovered, threads of influence which they have started in the communities to which they went; if we could know how they have impressed on the minds of the pupils brought under their care the great lessons of self-respect and love for free institutions and social order,--we should have a higher thought than we have yet had of the power and dignity of these pioneers of education. [Cheers.]

BRANDON, VERMONT, AUGUST 25.

Brandon gave the travellers a hearty reception at 11 A.M. Ex-Gov. J. W. Stewart, of Middlebury, Hon. Aldace F. Walker, of Chicago; G. G. Benedict and C. S. Forbes, of St. Albans, joined the party here. Ex-Governor Ormsbee welcomed the President on behalf of the residents of Brandon.

General Harrison said:

_My Fellow-citizens_--The kindly pelting which I have received at the hands of some of your ladies and of these bright children reminds me of a like experience on the California trip, when we were so pelted with bouquets of handsome flowers that we were very often compelled to retreat from the platform and take cover in the car. These gifts of flowers which you bring to me here are the products of your fields and not of your gardens. The beautiful golden-rod! It is pleasant to think that in this plant, so widely distributed, slightly diversified in its characteristics, but spreading over nearly our whole country, we have a type of the diversity and yet the oneness of our people; and I am glad to think that its golden hue typifies the gladness and joy and prosperity that is over all our fields this happy year, and, I trust, in all your homes. I thank you for your pleasant greeting this morning, and bid you good-by. [Cheers.]

MIDDLEBURY, VERMONT, AUGUST 25.

On the arrival of the train at Middlebury at 11:30 A.M. another large and enthusiastic throng was on hand. The President was greeted by ex-Gov. John W. Stewart, Col. A. A. Fletcher, G. S. Wainwright, Judge James M. Slade, Charles M. Wilds, E. H. Thorp, E. P. Russell, B. S. Beckwith, E. J. Mathews, John H. Stewart, A. J. Marshall, Col. T. M. Chapman, Rufus Wainwright, and Frank A. Bond. The veterans of Russel Post, G. A. R., were present in a body, also the Sons of Veterans.

Governor Stewart introduced the President, who said:

_My Fellow-citizens_--Though I have not before had the pleasure of looking into the faces of many of you, Vermont has for many years been familiar to me, and has been placed high in my esteem by the acquaintance I have formed at Washington with the representatives you have sent there. It has been a great pleasure to me to know your esteemed fellow-citizen, Governor Stewart. Your State and district and the Nation at large have had in him a most able and faithful champion of all that was true and clean and right. [Three cheers were given for Governor Stewart.]