Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1883-06-06

greatness Of this accomplishment. What his
tory these men have madel They have refash-
Toned and rehabilitated nation They have re-
glorihed a continent, They have reconeccrated
a civilization Here, after quakings that threat
ened direst disruption, we stand firm. Because
OF these men, country, loyalty, law, liberty right,
duty, manhood, home, friends, civilization will
have new and perpetuated Significance. Their
work Is In possession OF the great forces Of the
political and moral world But let me emphasize
two particulars They have given us govern
ment. Thanks to them, there Is no contederdcy,
but Ndtion. authority as well as hbertg Is vim
dictated. There Is a patriotism that IL lodged In
the conviction Of political authority. When man
made holiday with treason, we came with a jolt
and shock upon the Issue OF authority We asked,
Is republicanism anarchy L. II nation or
mob2 Enthusiasm initated the answer. From
seventy.fve thousand bayonets hearts went
forth the cry We come TO defend govern
ment and ~ perpetuate nation But there
was more than enthusiasm. There WINS convlc-
ton. And conviction settled II with martial logic
The declaration In the light OF this logic can now
be better interpreted Our soldiers shot dead the
compact the state right theory. The ghost OF still
stalks abroad and may sometime fit through the
halls Of congress. But only the power that raises
the dead can restore II TO supremacy The confed-
crate theory OF the American republic surrend-
cred at Appomattox court house. But they have
given us liberiyas well rs authority We come back
to the first foundation and begin new ported OF cit
zenship. The triumph Is not personal nor sectional
1t Ia the triumph OF n cause for which loyal men
have been willing to die. 1t Is not sectional
vndcation. Perhaps the average virtue Is better
ON this than on the other side the line. But
there is nothing in our success to prove II, and
very little In the sequel Of tho war. II II was
question OF sincerity and purity OF motive and
OF average individual virtue the case were very
likely good for the southerner as for the north
erner. We should have had hard chance il our
success had been made dependent on our virtue.
good cause Is sometimes In the hands Of bad
men, and a bad cause In the hands OF good men.
Hall .saN Ia La ola
tion of its personal supporters of the party that
supports 1t. This sort of Pharisaism has been
corrupting the party that calls itself the Nations
deliverer. No party can thrive on the righteous
ness OF the cause IL once represented The con-
nict was one Of principles. We have no quarrel
with southerners as such, but with their political
heresies We do not hate them, and never have,
but their pestilent theories We have not borne
ourselves remarkably well since God gave us de-
liverance. Let us remember that the Almighty
has not endowed any particular party, or given 1t
unlimited tenure OF power. And 1t Is an insult to
our citizenship and to our manhood, for men to
manipulate unscrupulously for with their polit-
ical machinery and undertake to override our
judgment and principles, and then turn upon us
and undertake to dragon us into acquesence by
appeal TO the cause which. not they, but our
MANNED and dead soldiers have fought into sue
cess, and which only God has vindicated But
let not forget that the cause Is vindcated and
has triumphed. Let us have no weak sentiment
here. They were Urong and we were right. We
fought for a cause which had inherent righteous
ness ant, therefor, strength in It, They for q
cause that WAS inherently vicious and weak, and
they went down because they had no right to
stand. The southern cause WAS self-destIuctive.
There was time when it ought to have destroyed
u.s. 1t will be endless wonder, humanity,
that 1t did not. 1t had the will the power, the OPP
portunity 1t had almost every advantage, but
righteousness. IL lost opportunity; lost power
because 1t had a fatal element Of weakness. Let
hope that now 1t has forever lost the will. The
ideas and moral impulses that control men, at last
determine success. 1t is not wholly question OF
material but OF moral force as well. A people
like the,people of the 10 colonies be carried
into revolution by the sheer force OF mental and
moral vitality 1t carries the necessity OF SUCCESS
1t Is In line with the worlds progress. But the
southern movement had no such initiative. We
could not have conquered the South II their cause
had been as good as ours We did not conquer that
rebellion. We held on til ii collapsed. There was
nothing left, and there is nothing smouldering
that we need greatly fear; The two postulates on
which it wa, grounded, the right of property in
man and right Of the state to destroy the Nation,
are 30 inherently weak and so hostile TO history
and progress, that there Is no chance for them in
the blazing light Of this age. They can not stand
that light. They are hostile to all the elements
Of modern civilization.
And now, finally, let me bring to your remem-
brance the philanthropy OF the conflict. The work
OF our soldiers reaches beyond the cause for
which they died. 1t takes us into the broadest
scheme OF philanthropy. The government was
founded on the basis Of manhood rights We
come back to the first foundation, aud begin
new lerod OF citizenship 1t is for us 10 encourage
and protect whatever honors manhood, broadly
and generously, Negro or Indian or Chinese
manhood no matter what 1t is for us to know
that the nation is great only because humanity is
greater that the citizen Is great only because tho
man Is greater. Humanity Is more than the Ma
tion andthe man more than the citizen. The state
WAS made for man, not man for the state 1t will be
the browning honor of our patriotism that it loves
the government for what it is to man. 1t had its
origin In faith in the love for man, and it is this
that lifts men up and brings out what God
lodged in them. love this government for what
1t Is TO me. Its history awakens my enthusiasm.
| bow in allegiance before the majesty Of its au-
thority. But | love 1t more for what 1t is and
shall be to unblessed millions who here find be-
meath its sheltering wings refuge and a home.
And | love it the more still because this
blessedness hassbfen purchased by the blood of
the men who receive to-day from our hand the
tokens OF affection and honor
The men who died for us did a work that
reaches far beyond the limits Of this northern
section. They died that united nation may
live. 1t was not that government Of the NORTH
by the north and for the morrill, but that govern
ment Of, by and for the whole people, north and
south, might not perish from the earth Let
us, In the words OF the martyr president, in a
sense which could not have been foreign to his
thoughts and purpose, highly resolve that so
far as depends on u.s. they shall not have died
in vain. Come, citizens, and let us with loyal
hands push on the work they initiated, and may
this day of memorial honor enlarge our vision and
| strengthen our purpose. OF the flowers with
which we decorate these graves no atom shall be
lost. They go into natures guardianship, and
with them they viii enrich their resting place May
our guardianship Of the work OF our benefactors
be as sacred and as sure And may the remem-
brances. the thoughts the emotions OF this hour
rich the heritage they have recommended for us.