St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1890-04-17

| 1SI ilS eioSuil pllOliS vi SlllNSlilS civ
devotion are so proclaimed that the
world accepts it as the fourth
estate; the four great powers OF
government are the executive, legis-
lative, judicial and the newspaper.
Our editor regarded his profession
as a calling" but a calling from
| above, not from beneath. Nothing
could tempt him to sell his ideal. So
jealous was he of its purity that in
questions of doubt he would decide
against his interest. My paper, he
would say, is myself; what it says, |
say. There is no editorial abstrac-
ton that can do no wrong. print
for mems eyes what | would say
to them if l were in their presence
and III the presence of their wives
and children. Here in a small field
he held a light that shonc afar. AS
an editor he has entered our homes
each week and has made that name
a good one While his paper was
not his charity, but his business, he
so trusted the finer and more perma-
nent apprecia tons of men that he
put into his work his conscience and
his heart, and his faith was JUS
| titled by his success. In his address
on 1.-The Country Newspaper-what
it was, what it is and what it
should be- at the Thousand Islands
July Is, 1856, he says: as it not
under any circumstances a pitiable
| spectacle to see a man surrender his
individuality You can but answer
yes, and may add by way of pallia-
ton that as a rule he has only him
self or his family to be responsible
| for. Consider, then, how much
worse it is in an editor of a news
paper of whatever dimensions. The
circumstances of life have placed him
where his utterances are bound to
have some weight with large num-
Der of people The smallest viola
| ton of the instincts of truth and
manhood in the average citizen be-
comes in him a mountain of culpable
wrong"
How warm and unanimous is the
| honor which other editors now give
him for the earnest and self-sacrificing
spirit that SO long and SO faithfully
sought to make the name, ''editor,"
a good name. While by his paper he
was to get a living, he made it first
something that would help men live.
That was his mode of service, to be
ennobled as the appointment of God
for the good of men. His faith as
sumed that his business was part of
religion; it was religions hand and
voice In the tender and sincere
tributes to this Christian editor from
those who knew him through his
ha fon OF.
In the paper they saw the man, and
in the man the spirit of God. He
has done good work i'll making the
name, editor" a good name.
He chose for the community what
he chose for himself. He had that
genuine public spirit that sought to
make society honest and pure. When
men with an easy faith in the self
perpetuatlng power of goodness
pointed to our fame as model vii
lage, he would answer, fame has no
power to enrich the soil out of which
it grows; there are bad growths here,
let us together with watchfulness
and force cut them down; let us work
for that which has made our fame
and let our fame take care of itself.
In his love for the village he pointed
out with fidelity the misbehaviours,
the dishOnesties, and tore away the
cloak of those who would make our
youth gamblers and Incorporate.
He was critic He had the critics
eye and the critics sorrow. He saw
the seamv side of life and told with
distinctness what he saw. When
men said the seamy side is not the
side to be looked at, he answered,
it is the side where much of the work
in life's tapestries is to be done. He
was part of the town, he had grown
with our growth and so felt the Sc
cret of our power to be purity and
truth, that he was as sensitive to any
wrong here as to personal wound.
With what jealous fidelity helabored
not that we might have a name to
live but a good name. That name
he has elevated and sustained, not
by praising the public nor magnify
ing his services for the public, but by
that modest and wise fidelity that
watched for the evil while it aided
the good. More than we know his
life is part of that public spirit which
we breathe like the air and which
gives to ourselves and the youth
who are to follow us health and
strength of soul. To those who now
with earnestnesS preach q material
advance, the need of more industries
and more men, his spirit very much
alive today SayS,-We need first more
man, more conscience, more charity,
"a good name is rather to be chosen
than great riches
But we remember most tenderly
his love for us as q church and his
strong desire that we should wear a
good name as the fitting garment
for a pure heart and life. This love
was one of the deep permanent atfec
tons of his loyal heart. 1t was not
exhibitory, not often spoken, but it
was declared by his patient fidelity in
many years OF constant presence and
service. Every appointment of the
church was regarded as his own
positive engagement to which all
other claims must yield. No private
convenience put aside the claims of
worship. BY this constancy he has
taught us the worth of constancy
and the blessed truth that love new
er faileth." For "a years, from 1861
to 1885, he was the assistant super
intendent of the Sunday school. For
16 years, from 1874 to 1890, he was
clerk. For eight years, from 1873
to 1881, he was deacon. For many
years he was q teacher of the
Scriptures binding his class in close
affection to himself and to the Word.
AS music committee he filled a place
wisely, that demanded delicacy and
sympathy. He was really in this
a member of the body. He was felt