St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-07-07
IN THE TENT.


nous tluttel of flags and bright with
bunting.
IN THE TENT.
After the procession had filled the large
tent to its utmost capacity. the eXer-
cises were opened 10y Il Centennial
Hymn by Whittier:
Our fathers God from out whose hand
The centuries fall like grains of sand
We meet to-day, united free,
And lOyal To our land and Thee,
| To thank thee for the era done,
And thank thee for the opening one.
This was sung by full chorus under
the direction of Mr.. Il. =. Ryder of Bos-
ton. After invocation 10y Rev. ID. f..
Miller, the Declaration of Independence
was read by Hon. l.. p. Poland, when
another hymn God Keep our Country
Free. Was sung, and then
THE GRAFTON
berlin of Maine. For an hour did Gen.
Chamherlin hold the vast audience
while he spoke to them. The following
brief abstract prepared for the Boston
JOurnai gives IL faint idea of this mas
terly address:
What il a century! \ throb of the pulse of
time, mere speck in the line of history. But i'll
human lives great things are wrought in century.
! What il this youngest Of nations that she pre-
sumed to invite the world that old nations of three
thousand years were glad to sit down with her and
compare achievements
| Philadelphia displays her wonderful advance i'll
the arts and sciences. But the things most won
deriul in the annals Of the world her political
ideas These ideas not the fruit of the centu
ry. They set before the people hundred
Years ago-imm"rtal ideas planted i'll the mind oi
man and he them advance as he rises t" the
consciousness of his brthright and destiny
Politics is the art nf living, the science by which
men through iati"n help each other Ia he free.
In truth finds his rights in -"cietN instead oi
losing them there. The flag Of a nation represents
the political ideas Of that nation Our hag is tn,
same old flag II was one hundred Years ago. Pnlit
zeal advancement does not consist III new Theories
OF human rights and duties The hag embraces al
these possibilities. All our fights under IT /,
realize these possibilities.
There are two things that ought To he, said When
We examine foundation principles "f government
First, Government is only society expressing lis
will III accordance with certain principles implant
ed by G"d f"r the regulation of human affairs
, hence We call government divine Institution, ant
that is exactly what marks political progress
Second. The question is not merely what Is
right i'll the abstract but how far abstract pI,n
ciple e" right can lie realized As legal right. The
measure at p"litclr advance is the degree To which
that liberty " hch is the effect of law conforms I,
that freedom which Is the birthrsht OF th, soul.
lin using Ireland illustration the spcak,i
referred I" the recent motion i'll the British Parlia
nent To rr--stablish the Irish Parliament whrrr
upon an lrishman rose and proposed three chrrIs
which heartily given. just then the chin,
of bells i'll the Roman Catholic church BEGAN lin.
ing Design could not have rquall-d impulse. AL,
chance in his
This advance is recorded in the constitution of :
nation. Constitutions grow up towards s"rn,
thing. 1t is part to look forward toward til,
realization of a true freedom. Our work IL all l.
fore The effect "f looking behind Is ia tn,
imm"bility Of Oriental civilization. Cur father,
fought the war of the Revolution simply taitl
between man and man. Their ideas uf the right,
of men gave them unity and strength. After
wards came the articles of confederation. whicl
failed because they did not express the people
true thought Then came the constitution that IL.
c"gnizrs the unity of the people. The law of tn.
nation = life is the adjustment of Interests in tn,
reg ulatinn Of the questions nf political economy
1t il our duty t" enter int" the spirit of these .
! and execute them farther along the line. Tn
, ideas which inspired fathers were immurta al
The realization of them belong Ia m"rtals more "
less imperfect. 1t is business To carry then
onward. We must hot be satisfied with the pas
100 Years We have much to do in the next ON
hundred Years We shall only hc III, worthy "f gu
fathers ii We cary forward their work and ideas
Great things are coming br steady ais" b
ready
After the Grafton, the audience jnine,
in singing "Amcrica." led hv the band
when the henediction WAS given hN
!, Rev. l.. q. Brastow. and the afternoon
exercises closed.
, THE CONCERT ILLUMINATIoN. ETC.
+. Before the hour for the evening con
cert, ii began To rain again. and rainr,
quite hard and steadily until after ten
O'Clock. Extensive preparations ha,
been made for Il concert in the tent. tol
| Illuminating the streets, and many pub
lie and private buildings. The concert
WIS had. but the rain nearly spoiled it
;iS the tent leaked badly. and the am
, dicnce becime RESTLESS and noisy. I
few people did not seem to consider
that the rain WAS something that neithe
the singers, the committee of arrange
ments, nor the citizens of St .Johnshur,
were responsible for. The rain mad,
the display of fireworks impracticable
: aud the illuminations were few.
f THE CROWD.
There was very large number of peo
pie in town, variously estimated a
| from ten to twenty Thousand Tn,
railroads brought in heavy trains from
the four points of the compass. and
multitude came IN carriages. The rail-
. WAS the only draw back. aud for it ".
| shall not apologize.
NOTES AND INCIDENTS.
The committee of arrangements wer,
interchangeable, working early and lat,
4 before. and also on the 4th. But few
| know how much work they did. but al
realize that the success WAS due the
+ efforts.
E The orderly state of the crowd wa
every where remarked. Had the da,
, been pleasant. the poor excuse for an,
, grnmhling would not have been though
. of.
q We have heard of no serious acciden
F from any cause. Two or three carriage
were broken in the crush of the pro
cession; one small boy was run owe