Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-06-07
our natchlcss institutions-and this. my

our flatchlesS lnStItutlOnS-hnu TINS, my
friends, is no small work.
Ii Is easy to speak of grandeur and glory
to the Republic easy to recount hel
friumphs in war and in peace and ossv
too, to raise the curtain upon brilliant
, future but this covers only one side of the
, picture Tho other embraces the vlcissi-
tudcs and trials of popular government, in
which the theory is, that each man is, at
the same time, both a sovereign and Sub
jeet Though We all believe that a govern
ment of the people is the only one under
which man can best reach his highest
earthly estate. yet it must not be forgotten
that it is all full Of peril-iull OF incendiary
clements which the slightest cOmmOtiOn
may kindlc into a spontaneous cOnilagra.
ton. Our own government, strong As it
has proven itself to be, is by no means free
from these disturbing influences. They ex-
is, IN the very immenSeness OF our domain !;
in the variety of our climate and produc-
tons in the diversity of our interests and
pursuits and more largely still. in the ig-
nOrant masses of that heterogeneous pOpu
lation who are il0cking to our shores from
every quarter of the globe, and are. to-day
tramping up and down the country hungry
as an army of lOcu-ts. Add to this the
vague rumOrs of armed men already organ
ized and othcered for the purpose OF settling
|
Dor, and making things right between the
rich and poor, which means nothing but an
equal distribution of property. Remember
also the millions IN the South still in ignor
ance. and n yet but poorly qualified for the
| exercise of this double duty of sovereign and
subject.
Then add to all this the rancorous party
spirit of the day, which seldom in our his
tory has appeared more violent, and then
tell me, Exists there no chance for a jar
among these strange and incOngruous ele-
mont,? Though perhaps not imminent. it
lies among the contingencies OF tho future;
and as against that time when civil tumult
shall again light tho fires OF intestine war,
methinks hear the soldier-doad calling out
to the living, "llave charity" and not the
dead in blue alone. but the dead in gray as
well-for the ground has bleached their
treason and smOthered their resentment
And as by thar mortality we arc reminded
| that these institutions and this government
of which We are so proud is not ours that
| We, too, must 90 hence-that for the time
| only we hold them in trust as charity fund
| for the orphan wards. methinks | hear the
sodier-desd again call out, in the language
of that sublime truth which comes down to
US through eighteen centuries, Now abid
eth faith. hope and charity, these three ; but
v.
! then urge upon You the exercise of charity.
not alone a. an individual virtue, but a. tho
true alchemy for transmitting into har-
mony the many differences which al
ways will arise under government
of the people. And especially in these
Strengthened times lot broad charity
be exercised towards the poor. Letcapital be
charitable towards labor !; indeed capital
ought to know that therein lies its only
safety. for the history If the race plainly
shows thar capital i never sale when in the
presence OF empty stomach- and idle hands.
II capital. then, would look well to its own,
it should provide some plan by which the
hungry should be fed and the naked cloth
ed. Then IN turn will labor no longer
takc counsel from those twin apostles of
communism, hunger and cold, but will go
merrily forth. clearing up our forests. culti-
vating our fields, developing our mines
and quarries, building our railroads and
canals, constructing our breakwaters,
building our ships ard clearing ont our
rivers; in short. pushing forward those
great physical enterprises which constitute
the national wealth OF people, and by
means OF which capital again III turn doubles
itself. Meantime under such regime good
order would prevail. and the public mind
thus engaged would naturally become less
partisan in its methods, and that good time
celebrated by the balladist migh be reached,
"when no one would be for party.
When all would be for the state,
When the Iich man would help the poor,
And the poor man tuld love the great
But, comrades, We have not yet reached
this political millennium; and rs you jour
ney thither you will encounter many obsta-
cles, and will need all the hope which the
future promises. all the inspiration which
the past alIurds-and the past is full of in
spiration.
When Napoleon led his army into Egypt,
he cxhorted his battilions to deeds OF yalor
against the Mamelnkes by appealing to the
past. Said he: ''SOldiers, forty centuries
look down upon you from these Pyramids.
To the same end, the hero Of Trafalgar.
on the morning OF that historic day, stimu
lated hrs men to duty hy reminding them OF
Westminster Abbey-the place where rest
the ashes of Eng iamou, dead.
In like manner you also have Westminster
Abbeys. and what comes nearer stall to you,
because filled with those men who stood
shoulder to shoulder with you in the red
glare of battle, you have the numerous Ma
tional Cemeteries, and the known and un-
known soldier graves scattered all over the
land
You have, also, all the unconscious infiu-
ences OF the great deeds OF your Anglo
Saxon fathers, from AgineOurt to Apo
mattox-irom Runnymede to Independence
fall. You have. also, all the precious
memories of your own experience In II war
that will make bright its place
in history. You have beneath your
feet Gods green earth; above your
head HIS bending sky and surely with all
these things to nelp you. holding an
honorable discharge As soldiers. you will
never finch nor falter in the discharge OF
whatever duty may fall to you as citizens /;
ever maintaining ~ the rampant OF y0ur
Liberties, the Union Of these States, and ths
supremacy OF the constitution and the laws
under that Union. You will in tho work still
lett you to do. be true in oil things. true to
God, true to your neighbOr AMI true to
yourselves.
Keler's American Hymn was then rem
dered by the quartette, and. after the Dox-
ology. the Benedictlon was pronounced by
the Chaplain. The procession then reform
ed and marched through Monroe, George,
Pearl. Church and College streets to St.
Paul, where it broke up.
Altogether. tho celebration WAS crafty
in.ly successful. The auspicious weather
the imposing procession tho remarkably
large number OF Veterans the fine Grafton,
and the great assemblagc, all rendered the
Memorial day Observance of 1878 one long
to DO remembered Everything passed oil
without hitch OF II ar and the utmost
good order was observed throughout the
day. NJ was lehttIng its solemn memories
and ITS honors to the Patriot Dead.
The Forenoon Exercises
were as follows At s o'clock committee
consisting of Comrades 4. ). Peck. William
Smith. Pomeroy Loomis aud VIM. Schroeder
placed flags on the soldiers graves in Lo-
Gust street and Green Mount Cemeteries,
each ilig bearing tho inscription POST
Stannard Memorial Day This occupied
an hour and half. At TO- 30 Il committee
consisting of Comrades T. s. Peck. W. II.
Root. q. +. Morse, W. W. Henry. q. |.
Ilagar. q. ii. Bigelow and A. N. Merchant
went to Green Mount Cemetery in the six
horse team Adirondack, stopping on the
way at the residences Of Messrs. l.. NJ. and
George |. IIaear and L. &. Loomls. who
made lavish and elegant contributions of
flowers. Arriving at the cemetery, the
Memorial service was read. The comrades
then doployeI as skirmishers, and, guided
by the old battle flag Of the Ninth Vermont
Volunteer, bornc by Comrade Pasha, a vet
oran Of the old Third Vermont passed
through tho cemetery leaving tho floral
offerings On tho graves marked by flags.
The exercises closed with the singing OF tho
Doxology at tho base of the Ethan Allen
Monument.
Gsnesni Notes
At the conclusion of the public services
friends. accompanied by tho orator Of tho
day, repaired to Grand Army Hall. whore