Vermont hasn’t the wherewithal tongovern itself as a nation. During ourndebates last year Justice Dooley madenonly one argument that rankled me.nHe claimed Vermonters were incapablenof governing themselves. You thinknWashington is bad, went the argument,nyou ought to see Montpelier.nThe judge said that to become anRepublic again Vermont would have tonamend its constitution and, worse, givenup elements of the federal Constitutionnthat protected our civil rights andnliberties. God knows what would happennin Vermont, he said, if we dependednon ourselves for these protections.nSuch a conclusion is not only hopelesslyncynical and pessimishc but it flagrantlynignores both our history andnour present situation.nI find it remarkable and even amusingnthat Justice Dooley, himself anDemocrat and a former working membernof Democratic Governor MadeleinenKunin’s administration, wouldnclaim that recent events (among thenmost prominent of which is the com-nREFLECTIONS ON THEnFRENCH REVOLUTIONnA HILLSDALE SYMPOSIUMn”Tie bicentennial of the French Revolutionnproduced hundreds of articles and books,nbut none more penetrating than this.”n—Forrest McDonaldnUniversity of AlabamanWas the French Revolution a victory fornhuman rights or an ominous extension ofnthe centralized state? Essays on thenreligious, economic and political legacynof 1789 by Kendall Brown, ThomasnConner, Richard Ebeling, Russell Kirk,nSam Knecht, Erik Ritter von Kuehnelt-nLeddihn, Peter Stanlis, John Willson andneditor, Stephen Tonsor.nHILLSDALE COLLEGE PRESSnby arrangement with Regnery GatewaynVisa / Mastercard Ordersn1-800-837-4247nFor discount information,n(517) 439-1524,next. 319nFREE SHIPPINGn$17.95 hardcovern160 pp. 35 photos $2.00 off cover price!n48/CHRONICLESning to power of the Democratic Party)nhave rendered the most liberal (smalln”1″ please), democratic, and politicallynethical state in the Union incapable ofnprotecting itself from its own darkernside. Perhaps Justice Dooley has morenfaith in the U.S. Supreme Court as anprotector of his civil rights and libertiesnnow that it has named a New Hampshirenjudge to its ranks.nSure there are too many lobbyists innMontpelier. But at least we know whonthey are. Sure there is waste in government,nbut at least we have a betternchance of knowing where. Sure therenare jerks elected to public office, but atnleast it becomes obvious to us verynquickly who is one of them. Karl Hess,nthe Goldwater-speechwriter-turnedradical,nsaid it best. “Adolph Hitler asnthe Chancellor of the Federal Republicnof Germany was a horror. AdolphnHitler in a neighborhood would be an’bully.'” We might well add this;nAdolph Hitler in a town meeting is andead duck.nLet me close these remarks as I didnat the First Congregational Church atnBennington on the occasion of Vermont’snfirst debate on the secessionnquestion:nThere comes a time, mynfriends, when the old ways arennot enough. There comes antime when responsibility cannonly be served with frontalnaction. Whether it be anworkplace, a private club, orneven such sacred institutions asnfamily or church, there comes antime when the cry “workingnfrom within” becomes a hollowntestimony to fear and apathynand yes, immorality.nThere comes a time whennseparation is the only actnconsistent with conscience.nThere comes a time, too, whennleaving carries with it annenduring hope — the hope thatnwalking away will convincenthose who stay behind of thendegree to which the crisis is real.nThere is a hope, in other words,nthat Bob Dylan’s haunting lyricsnof leaving, “There ain’t no usento sit and wonder why, babe”ncan be revised: there is a timento sit and wonder why.nFor Vermont the time fornnnleaving has come. Let themnspeak of us in the future in anway similar to the way thatnRobert Frost, former Vermontnpoet laureate now buried nearnthis very church, spoke ofnhimself “I had a lover’s quarrelnwith the world.” Let them saynof us, “They had a lover’snquarrel with America.”nLet our leaving be then annact of deep caring, even ofnlove — a positive affirmation ofnour dreams for the UnitednStates.nWe have only to summonnthe will that still winds throughnthe hills of Vermont; thenwill that bade Ethan Allenn(when lawyers from New Yorkntried to buy him out of hisnleadership of the GreennMountain Boys) to look hisntempter in the eye in Albanynand proclaim, “The gods of thenhills, sir, are not the gods of thenvalleys” — the will that badenhim reply when asked thenmeaning of his words: “Returnnwith me to Bennington and Inwill show you.”nThe gods of the hills are innthis great meeting hall today.nLet us cry out in peace. Wenoffer not the shot heard roundnthe world, but the vote heardnround the world. Let it be saidnof Vermont by the historians ofnthe year 2091: “More thannanything else it was thensecession of Vermont from thenUnion one hundred years agonthat shook America to its verynroots and caused the revolutionnin federalism that saved thenRepublic.”nI ask you, therefore, to standnand vote for the secession ofnVermont from the UnitednStates of America.nThey did.nÂ¥rank Bryan is a professor at thenUniversity of Vermont and author,nwith John McClaughry, of ThenVermont Papers: RecreatingnDemocracy on a Human Scale. Inn1990 he stumped around the statenwith Vermont Chief Justice JohnnDooley, debating the pros and consnof secession.n