St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1890-05-29
MEMORIAL SERMON.
Rev. F. ID. BuckIey's Address to Cham
berlin Post.

The annual sermon to the Grand
Army was preached by Rev. F. d.
Buckley, rector of St. Andrew S
church, in Music hall last Sunday
evening Chamberlin post attended
in a body and the hall was filled to
overfowing. Music was furnished
by a mixed quartet selected from the
North, South and Episcopal churches,
scripture was read by Rev. c. M.
Lamson and Rev. G. M. Curl offered
prayer.
Rev. Mr.. Buckley took for his text
a part of the Goth verse of the 10Th
chapter of Exodus, "what mean ye
by this service?" and also Mark
3: 25, land if a house be divided
against itself, that house cannot
stand" He then spoke substantially
as follows:
= 1 am aware, veterans, that older
men, who stood shoulder to shoulder
with you in that mighty conflict are
WOl lily lllctlI ~ od-
l was but a boy at my mothers knee
when your armies were disbanded
and knew not the meaning of it all.
Consequently have not the military
record so essential to success in Yer
mont, but since you have honored
me by an invitation to address you
on this occasion, as a minister Of God
will do my best.
Ir 1861 ours was a great nation,
extensive in territory, and strong in
population. But it was divided
against itself Slavery, an institu-
ton of the South, was Odious to the
North. 1t was evident that this
division would last so long as slavery
existed Lincoln said that the United
States must be all slave or all free
and when the call came, two and
one-half millions of men quickly re-
sponded, ready to lay down their
lives for their country. War, at best,
is a dreadful thing, but this war was
dOubly SO. 1t was a strife with
brother against brother and father
against son. The events of the next
three years, veterans, must now seem
~ you IlhC q III JISSh clilOi
Roman literature are filled with he
rOic stories, but none excel the glory
of your brave deeds. Did the Roman
women strip off their jewels and cast
them into the common treasury
Aye, the mothers of America gave
more than this They gave hus-
band and son so freely that the
grandest army the world has ever
seen was marshalled for unity and
freedom That was the beginning;
it will take years to finish the work
that you begun. Yours were glorious
deeds, and, like the tumulus at
Mara thon, they stand a monument
to your memory. Abraham Lincoln
recognized this fact in his memorable
address at the dedication of the Get
tysburg battlefield, when he said,
1.-The world will little note, nor long
remember, what we say here; but it
can never forget what they did
here"
While | now see our country so
prosperous and formidable that no
foreign nation can cope with us, |
am reminded that nations, like men,
are immortal, and that our future
may not be as brilliant as our past
There are evils in our midst, such as
anarchism and socialism. We are
the dumping ground of the world.
A living torrent of iinmigra ton from
every hill and valley in the old world
is pouring into our land. How long
can we keep on digesting this hetero-
geneous mass? By digesting l mean
making American citizens of them.
When man cannot become American
lied, he is an object of distrust.
What shall we do with them? How
can they be put away before their
demoralizing influence again divides
our nation? These are national
questions and depend upon a nation
al social conscience. The social con-
science depends largely upon the re-
ligious training and education. We
ought now to fight, as earnestly as
you fought then, to make this coun-
try purely an American and Chris
tan nation. We must show all an
archism and Righteousness that this
land is the gift of God.
We urge you, veterans, to give us
your moral support for the perpetual
tion of this government. AS you
fought at Gettysburg, fight now for
the purity of the ballot, for the safety
of our homes, for the purity of man,
as he stands beside the chastity OF
woman, and for our God. In those
days of strife God gave you the vic
tory, not because you were the bet
ter man but because right was on
your side. So let your influence now
be for right and God will again re-
ward you.
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