The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1876-06-03

jestlc rivers, Its towering mountain rang.
es we love it fos the free institutions,
civil, educational, religious, commercial,
which have elevated it 10 its civilization
to such height of national grandeur
we love il for the price which has been
paid for it; for we have it az the dear
purchase of our fathers. and purchase
which we have enhanced by our own
prcciou, contributions towards it; we
love i, for what it is to US as the
land OF cur birth. our education and our
homes, and all we hold precious 10 this
| life and we love it AS M inheritance
which. having received sod enjoyed we
are 10 ttansmit, enrche! and improved
by W., to succeeding generations As the
nation ehall assemble during this ceuten.
nisl year, in aud around Independence
Hall in the City ui Brolnerlg Love, and
amidst the memorials Of the past aud the
symbols Of the worlds advancing civili-
zation, and thus imbibc more aud more
the spirit of national unity. so may the
services to-day 10 thousands Of cemeteries
throughout the land bind the nation
together 10 the common tributes Of respect
which they lavish upon the graves of the
-honored dead. For let US remember
that we owe our liberties not more to
Independence Hall 10 Philadelphia, than
to those multitudes of subterranean halls
where the purchasers Of our independence
sleep. 10 deeper and profounder
sense, then, our country is full of Inde.
pendence Halls. | repeat it then: let
the sentiment of patriotic devotion burn
warm in our hearts today. If the Car.
thagiuian general, dying. could require
his youthful son to swear eternal enmity
to his foes, much more can the occupants
of these Revolutionary and honored
graves require from US to-day fresh
oath Of allegiance to be truo to our
country, jealous of her glory, and ready
to defend her at any moment against
intestine feuds and foreign enemies.
But | am sure that there is another
than the distinctively patriotic sentiment
which anima.es our hearts to-day in this
service. This noble sentiment is inter-
fused aud conjoined with certain relig.
ious emotion. We are not pr gans this
is not pagan cemetery; nor do we
engage in a pagan service We are
within the precincts Of that sacred en-.
closure which our Anglo.Saxou fathers
deDominated Gods acre'--a plot of
ground devoted to divine husbandry,
and whence will be produced a harvest
to wave in luxuriance in the autumnal
breeze, and whence the angels who are
the reapers with glittering sickles shall
gather in the golden sheaves Within
this "acre" it was the custom of the
Christian fathers to locate the sanctuary
and hence it was called a oaNrel.yard, as
being an enclosure which embraced the
house Of public worship. Nor is this
strange co nbinaton---a Christian sanctu.
cry among human graves; for it is the
glory Of our faith that it erects the tro.
plies Of victory over the tomb and pours
its Examinations into it. As standing by
the side of Niagara Falls, we observe
how God has planted his bow of promise
in the very depths of the awful abyss, so
the custom of our Christian fathers loca.
ted the temple of worship in the midst of
the cemetery, despoiling it of its terrors
and its gloom, and irradiating it with the
light Of heaven. They tell us Of pagan
tribe whose custom was the very opposite
of this. They buried their dead in secret
by heartless officials No grassy mound.
no memorial stone, no tree with grateful
shade, marked the resting place. Rather
than this, the grave was loaded with the
soil and herds Of cattle driven to ard fro
over the spot till every trace of the burial
had been obliterated. Butt repeat it
we are not pagans, and this is not a
pagan service. We obliterate not these
graves, We decorate them. And we do
not alone in patriotic, but also in Chris.
tian devotion. Our patriotism is involv.
ed in our Christian faith. If we love
our country to-day, there is yet another
country, that is an heavenly, which we
love better. And it is because Of it and
the treasures which it contains that we
are reconciled to the sacrifices which the
prosperity of the one VIC are 10 involves
A certain confidence and forecast Of i'm.
mortality sustains us in the midst of our
fragmentary homes and demolished hopes
Happy the tempest that casts their wrecks
on the shores Of paradise
Commiugliug with these sentiments,
the patriotic and the reverent, there is q
third, the affectionate remembrance which
we cherish of the lamented dead This
ia no heartless service it is no simply
formal routine, full Of pomp and parade,
but empty OF all true and genuine emo.
ton. II is an observance in which
thoughts take hold upon US as profound
as the grave, as solemn as eternity. and
as dear as the memory Of the loved and
lost How many Of you, who are here
asst mbled, have been personally bercaved
| do not know; how many hearts are
here bowed in sorrow | cannot tell; but
be your number more or less, be you
father or mother or orphan child, We ex.
tend to you our sympathy, and cast our
flowers with yours upon these honored
graves
And now, soldiers and friends, as We
close this grateful service and dispense to
our homes, let us retire stirred anew by
the sentiments of Christian patriotism
Let high and noble purposes inspire US.
Let our lives be elevated, philanthropic,
useful, bene6cent. Thus may We all
$50 live, that when the mighty caravan,
Which halts one nighttime in the vale pf Death,
Shall strike its white tents for the morning march
We shall mount onward to the Eternal Hills,
Our foot unwearied and cur strength renewed,
Like the strong eagles, for the upward fight"
AT the close of the address the Choral
Society rendered The Star Spanged
Banner" and Rev. F., p Hooker pro.
nounced benediction. After depositing
their floral tributes upon the graves the