Morning journal and courier., 1884-06-19

an occasion, and the man was William A. | Buckingham.
 For three-fourths of 8 century prior to | 1861 the people of our State had been pass | ing their days in peaceful pursuits. No | great crisis had iEvoked their moral heToism l since the time of the Revolution; neither the | war of 1912 nor the Mexican war had deeply | stirred them. The martial deeds in which l they gloried belonged to the struggle for h.
 dependence. The heroes whom they revered | were the soldiers of 177G.
 Through two generations the energies of l it's citizens had been spent in the improve 1 ment of education, in the development of it's l resources, in the maintenance of it's social I system. Of the State it might with empha-
 sis be said, ''Her ways were ways of pleas
 antness and all her paths were peace"
 War was 8 matter of history; that strife | and bloodshed should ever again disturb it's quiet life seemed incredible. In these days, | with memories of great battles, of great vic- tories and terrible losses still fresh in our minds, it is impossible to realize the sense of peaceful security which had so long per ] vsded the State. When, on the very eve of | armed rebellion, men began to say that war 1 was inevitable, the prediction only excited an 1 incredulous smile.
 l But the men of Connecticut had a noble l percentage. Its history, eliminating iu con-
 stitutional government and complete inde- pendenee, had been one prolonged struggle pGESOuHA 1E60uOm hGO CAVA I4D-
 erty. The charter oak was a ''sacred
 tree," the exploits of the sons of liberty cherished memory. The
 heroism and sacrifice of it's founders and de- lenders had entered into the quiet and sedate men of 1860 and the ancestral blood in their l veins needed but the occasion to pulsate with the fiery throb of patriotism. Through ali
 those peaceful years men had retained the | great triune love of their fathers-love of | right, of freedom and of God. It was said
 of them that the heroic spirit was dead, that l they had become shop-keepers, dough | faces" towards. Those who thus sIandered | them forgot that the men from whose Joins 1 they sprung knew no fear but the fear of | God.
 | Such were the people of Connecticut when | called to meet the great issue forced upon ! them by the slave holding States.
 The speaker then further reviewed the
 events relative to tho conflict between slavery and freedom, and then reviewed the situa 1 tion of national affairs in 186O-61, up to the | attack on Sumter, in passages of much power, force and vjSor, and added:
 Fifty-seven years before this event, in I the quiet town of Lebanon, far famed for
 its natural beauty and the long line of it's
 noted and noble nnsu. William Buckingham
 was born. Who could have foreseen-as his
 early youth was developed, and his character moulded by the influences of the little hill | town iu eastern Connecticut-that he was
 destined, under the guiding hand of Provi-
 dence, to lead the good State, in the
 time of it's greatest trial, along the path of it's loftiest endeaVor? How little we
 sec of the highway of the Lord from it's en-
 trance gate! A Puritan ancestry, gentle and
 godly training amid scenes of rural loVeli-
 ness, the inspiration of patiotic history, the
 earnest, though limited, education of the
 village school and academy, constituted the foundation on which was builded the charac-
 q IHpr uh
 All Connecticut to day unites to honor A
 well developed, symmetrical character it was 80 full, so rounded out, that even after the lapse of many years one can scarcely say in
 what his greatness specially consisted Or
 what it was that specially endeared him to
 the people. He garnered physical strength and endurance by labor on the farm; he &C.,
 quired knowledge of business in mer-
 chants store; he expanded and enlarged his
 knowledge of affairs in the more widely ex
 tended business of 0 manufacturer. He im-
 bibed rigid morality from the example and
 preeept of 8 just and upright father. He inher- ited benevolence and kindness from generous and loving mother. Genuine obe dience and simple trust were wrought into his nature by Christian teaching; earnssO, unwavering devotion to duty came with his early submission to the will of an infinite Master. Emphatically he was ''diligent in business, fervept in spirit, serving the Lord"
  the war governor of the Revolution, fits equally the character of Buckingham. "He was one of those patient, true-minded men who hold an even hand of authority in stormy times and suffer nothing to fall out of place, either by excess or defect of ser vice.''
 The man thus trained in the school of Providence to become the representative of the thought and purpose of Connecticut, was first elected it's governor in 1858; reelected annually thereafter. he had, before the break ing out of tho war, thoroughly ac quainted himself with the State and its citizens, and secured in an un- usual degree the respect and confidence of all it's people. To know him was to admire and love him. He had foreseen more clearly than others the coming struggle. He had l earnestly appealed to the legislature and the l people to pat the militia on effective foot ing. On the 17th of January, 1861, by proc l Iamation, he urged the militia companies to l fill their ranks, perfect themselves in drill, | land be ready to render such service as any exigencies may demsnd;" and without 1 authority he purchased equipments for five | thousand soldiers. Nevertheless the crisis found the State unprepared for war. Its only preparation had been in the hearts of | it's sons-they were ready.
 The speaker alluded in eloquent words to the patriotic emotion which filled all loyal 1 mems hearts when the flag was assailed, to the grand uprising of the North in behalf of the Union. Connecticut bore it's part in the great tragedy. ''To lead and direct people | thus inspired William A. Buckingham was specially chosen. In his faultless character 1 one quality stood out strikingly. It was his l sublime religious faith. It pervaded and the whole man2 I know that the fervor of those days seems to have passed, so ! much so, indeed, that it may seem inappro priate to dwell on this controlling element in oI1 | demand 1t. Like Washington at Valley Forge, he met the crisis with prayer, and i from the beginning to the end of the trial went forward with 8 calm bearing born of the undoubtiDg faith that he was but an instrument in the hand of the Lord God Almighty to do his will, to preserve his chosen nation, to set his people free. Who shall deny even in this skeptical day that faith alone makes man truly greet? It made l great and we shall do but par l 'ial justice to his memory or his ability if we l le not recognize and honor this noblest, bearing in those years of peril cannot but eel that he combined in his character the tern justice of Israel's judge and the wrapt pirit of the Hebrew prophet His God dur ng the var was the God of the Old Testa- nent. He served Jehovah, the man of war 1 The army of the Union was the army of the Iord."
 |, lecticut's noble response to the call for roops and a quotation from Governor 3uchinghan's message iH May, 1861, finely of his noble purposes and lofty 'atriotism.
 Our present duty is to set forth the love nd reverence borne by grateful State for :; he man who, by his position, represented nd embodied the purpose, devotion and 'alor of all. Through the varying fortunes # the conflict he was the same active, faith ul, uncompronising patriot The people of he State acknowledged him as their lawful lead, listened to his advice with profound espect, obeyed his orders with perfect obe- fence, reposed in him a loyal confidence, ] nd learned to love him with rare love- No Iher man but Trumbull ever SO illustrated he rich meaning of the words we have chosen Q designate our chief magistrate he was 1ost truly and emphatically our governor. l The duties of his office were arduous and , rying, but he never seemed to feel wearinsss ] Ie was never content with the formal dis harge of official duty. He was the foremost itizen ss well as elected ruler of the State. nd his great heart gave character to his f ublic acts
 At the outset he pledged his private for une for the equipment and arming of the { roops. Whatever money could procure for I heir comfort and enjoyment beyond the : hlnqs authorized bv the Stata ha wnpDlind ok |