Copy of telegram sent on receipt of news of the attempted assassination of President Garfield. STATE OF VERMONT. HON. JAMES G. BLAINE, EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, Bradford, July 2d, 1881. Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. The deadly assault upon President Garfield and the cowardly attempt upon your life* have shocked and alarmed the whole country. The people of this state sympathize with the President in his suffering condition and desire through me to express to Mrs. Garfield the deep feeling they have for her in her great affliction. The hopes and pleasant anticipations of our people in meeting them both next week are changed to sorrow and sadness. The week will be one of mourning in Vermont rather than of pleasure. ROSWELL FARNHAM, GOVERNOR. *The first dispatch spoke of an attack upon Mr. Blaine as well as the President. STATE OF VERMONT. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. A PROCLAMATION. In this solemn hour, when the life of the honored Chief Magistrate of this Republic hangs trembling between time and eternity, it seems fitting that the people of every State should remember in whose hands are Nations and rulers and the lives of men, and turn to God and ask for that help and comfort which we cannot receive at human hands. Therefore, and in compliance with the frequently expressed wish of the people, and my own deep sense of propriety and necessity of so doing, I hereby appoint THURSDAY, THE 8TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, INSTANT, between the hours of ten in the forenoon and twelve at noon, as a time for humiliation and prayer by the people of this State for the recovery of President Garfield from the wound he received at the hand of the assassin, and from which he has suffered so many weeks of agony of body, and for the Nation that has been so long in painful suspense. During these hours I earnestly recommend that all people, refraining from their usual labor and business, assemble in the house of God, and in humility and contrition of spirit, unite in an acknowledgment of their sins and those of the Nation, and beseech the mercy of Almighty God in this hour of the Nation's affliction and threatened loss, and in sincere prayer ask that our beloved President may be restored to his stricken wife and children and to the performance of his public duties, with a measure of health and strength, and that the country be relieved from its burden of anxiety and sorrow. GIVEN under my hand and the seal of the State, in the Executive By the Governor, LESTER F. THURBER, Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs. STATE OF VERMONT. By ROSWELL FARNHAM, Governor. A PROCLAMATION. The entire country is in mourning at the death of our noble President, and it is fitting that the people of this State should unite in prayer at the time of the observance of religious ceremonies in the rotunda of the Capitol, at Washington, in connection with his funeral. In this day of grief and affliction, the people need to turn to the great source of consolation for support. I therefore recommend that the hour of three o'clock in the afternoon of Friday next, be observed as a time of prayer and contrition by the people of Vermont; that so far as it is consistent the ministers call the people together in their usual houses of worship; that places of business be closed during the hour, and that labor cease for a time. May this apparently great misfortune be blessed to the wisdom of the rulers, and the happiness of the people of this Nation. Done in the Executive Chamber at Bradford, September 21st, 1881. ROSWELL FARNHAM. By the Governor, LESTER F. THURBER, Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs. MESSAGE FROM SECRETARY BLAINE. WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. 22, 1881. To His Excellency the Governor of Vermont: JAMES G. BLAINE. THE GOVERNOR'S REPLY. BURLINGTON, Sept. 22. Hon. James G. Blaine, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.: STATE OF VERMONT. By ROSWELL FARNHAM, Governor. A PROCLAMATION OF THANKSGIVING. Although our country has suffered from disasters, both upon sea and land, and from disease, drought and tornadoes, and especially has been called upon to mourn the death of a Chief Magistrate whom all parties and all sections of our broad land unite in revering and whose death all alike lament, yet within our own commonwealth we have cause for thankfulness and gratitude. Here, plenty and abundance have rewarded the labors of the husbandman; business has been prosperous; epidemics and pestilence have not afflicted our people; the sound of hostile arms has not resounded among these hills; the comforts of peace and the happiness following contentment have multiplied; our homes have been secure; the blessings, declared inalienable by our bill of rights, of "enjoying and defendiug life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety," are still assured to us in a higher degree than ever before; and, not least among the causes of thankfulness in our State, as well as throughout the country, we have been brought to the observance of the centennial anniversary of the last great battle of the Revolution, in the midst of prosperity, and have seen the constitutional successor of our deceased President enter upon the duties of his high office quietly and without shock to the country or the government. Therefore, for the observance of our New England festival and in compliance with a custom long observed and now national, I appoint Thursday, the 24th day of November, instant, as a day of thanksgiving, prayer and praise; and I recommend that all persons, refraining from their usual labors and employments, devote a portion of the day to the observance of such devotional exercises, public and private, as are due to the Creator of the word and the Redeemer of the race, and as our own sense of thankfulness and gratitude for life and happiness prompt us to offer. In the midst of our enjoyment at the fireside and in the family circle and amidst not unseemly amusements may we remember the poor and needy within our borders, and by our charities fill their hearts with thankfulness and praise. Given under my hand and the great seal of the State in Executive Chamber at Bradford, this eight day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one, of the independence of the United States the one hundred and sixth, and of this commonwealth the one hundred and fifth. By the Governor, LESTER F. THURBER, ROSWELL FARNHAM, Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs. Telegram from and to the "Sons of Vermont," assembled in Chicago to celebrate the anniversary of her declaration of independence Jan. 17th, in response to an invitation to be present. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, January 17, 1882. HON. ROSWELL FARNHAM, Governor of Vermont, Bradford, Vermont. The Vermonters of the west are gathered in large numbers upon this anniversary night, and are now enthusiastically sounding the praises of their native State. It would rejoice your heart to be with them. NORMAN WILLIAMS, President of the Illinois Association of the Sons of Vermont. TO NORMAN WILLIAMS, BRADFORD, VT., January 17, 1882. President of the Sons of Vermont, The heart of every Vermonter is with her sons assembled on this anniversary of her declaration of independence. As an independent ally she aided the thirteen struggling colonies to achieve their independence. Without the Green Mountain Boys the victory at Bennington was impossible, without Bennington, Saratoga would have been a defeat. Without Saratoga the French alliance would have been fruitless and Yorktown a failure and the independence of the thirteen colonies long and perhaps forever deferred, To the Green Mountain Boys, unrecognized by the colonial congress, is due the credit of having struck the blow that secured the victory. In the revolution, as in the rebellion, they acted from the purest motives of patriotism. Her stalwart sons at home send greeting to her enterprising sons abroad. ROSWELL FARNHAM. Governor. STATE OF VERMONT. By ROSWELL FARNHAM, Governor. A PROCLAMATION OF FASTING AND PRAYER. In accordance with a custom so long and scrupulously observed in New England that it seems almost a part of our religious faith, I, ROSWELL FARNHAM, Governor, hereby appoint FRIDAY, THE 7TH DAY OF APRIL, NEXT, as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer, and I urge upon all good citizens that they regard this day not only by refraining from their usual employments and improper amusements, but also by such religious observances in places of public worship and in their homes, as are befitting the day. GIVEN under my hand and the seal of the State in Executive Chamber at Bradford, this thirteenth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two, of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and sixth, and of this Commonwealth the one hundred and fifth. By the Governor, LESTER F. THURBER, ROSWELL FARNHAM. Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs. STATE OF VERMONT. By ROSWELL FARNHAM, Governor. A PROCLAMATION. WHEREAS, The Legislature of the State of Vermont at its regular biennial session of October, A. D. 1880, enacted as follows, viz. : "AN ACT FIXING THE TIME FOR THE NEXT ELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS." It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont : SEC. 1. The first Congressional District of the State shall be composed of the Counties of Bennington, Rutland, Addison, Chittenden, Franklin, Grand Isle and Lamoille. SEC. 2. The second Congressional District shall be composed of the Counties of Windham, Windsor, Orange, Washington, Caledonia, Orleans and Essex. SEC. 3. Sections thirty-three and thirty-four of chapter one of the General Statutes are hereby repealed. |