St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-05-31


feature of the parade; Chamberlin
Post, in full numbers, led by hand
some colOrs and emphasizing the
special meaning of the day; disabled
veterans and clergy, president of the
day and orator in carriages. Bunt-
ing and flags and other patriotic en-
blems were displayed here and there
along the line of march and in other
parts of the village.
At Music Hall.
Long before the Grand Army had
finished their impressive rites at the
monument Music Hall began to be
filling up and when the exercises be-
gan there, many were unable to find
seats. The stage was appropriately
decorated With the colors of the
post, while in front was a picture of
Col. Chamberln.
After the band had played areveille
the meeting was called to order by
Col. Franklin Fairbanks, the presi-
dent of the day. Col. Fairbanks
paid an eloquent tribute to Col.
Chamberlin, and in the course of his
remarks said the two oak trees at
the head of Arnold park were plant
ed by him. He hoped they could be
marked the Chamberlin trees. He
said there was one school that we
needed very much and that was the
school of patriotism. He also re-
joiced that we had a president who
inaugurated the raising of a flag
over every school house in the land.
1t was through President Harrison
that the schools of learning became
the schools of patriotism.
Prayer was then offered by Rev.
Edward T. Fairbanks, after which
the band rendered an andante from
''Soldier's Life
Miss Nellie NJ. Harvey then read
the poem "kenesaw,' 4 patriotic
account of the battle of Kenesaw
Mountain written by Rev. DIR. S.
Graves of Atlanta, Ga, a native OF
St. Johnsbury.
Rev. D. J. O'Sullivan of St. Albans,
the orator of the day, was then in
trOduced
Rev. Fr. Sullivan is an eloquent
speaker and has a fine command
OF the English language. His ad-
dress was frequently interrupted by
applause. He spoke somewhat as
follows:
Here is a gathering of men, women
and children which can only be seen in
free America all enjoying the bless
ings of freedom purchased by the battles
and blood of heroes whose memory we
celebrate today. 1t is almost impossible
not to mingle shouts with our prayers
and our tears. We gather from this day
lessons most conducive to citizenship.
When the God of nations established a
new nation he impaired to that nation
a mind and will appropriate to its high
destiny. The mind of a nation is its
principles and convictions. The will of a
nation is the enforcement of those prin-
ciples for the attainment of its nation
al DESTINY When in the first throes of
the birth of this nation our fathers pro-
claimed TO the world one of the first
principles ofthe nation, that "all men are
born free and equal" l believe that
divine inspiration was not far away.
We beheld the will of this nation when
it girt itself for battle, conquered 4
powerful and tyrannical foe, freed itself
from the English yoke and proclaimed
Justice and liberty to the world. Here
was viudicatiOu Of the principles of
this country.
Even before the birth of this nation the
love of greed and the lust of power had
introduced an element foreign to its ma
ture. refer to that lOathsome, incOn-
ceivable and appalling thing called
human slavery. Our nation came into life
with this fungus on its body polite. At
first our lawmakers gradually admitted
that the slave trade must cease, but the
monster was still allowed to exist. They
compromised With the enemy that was
threatening the power OF the nation.
1t was only after an empire OF ariS-
tocracy and conceit had established it
self wit h slavery as its very corner stone
that the people arose, like one man, to
eXtirpate root and branch that foul tree.
You veterans remember how the clarion
voice rang throughout the land. 1t was
a time to do and time to die. You re-
call the sad partings, the stern call to the
front, the awful prison pens and finally
the mourning and shedding of tears.
Now that it is all over, was it worth
what it cost? A thousand times, yes.
Would it not have been better to have
argued and compromised with the other
side until the bondsman had learned
how to use his liberty2 No. One mo-
ment of liberty is a thousand times bet
ter than centuries of even intelligent
slavery.
In the proClamatio of human equal
ity and human liberty and in the patri
otic efforts of our countrymen in two
great wars the principles of our country
have been established. These principles
should be taught to the young people.
There exists today some anxiety about
our citizenship. This is due in the first
place to the general unrest in our coun-
try and the occasional disregard of pro-
prietory and personal rights. In the
second place thousands OF people are
coming annually from other lands who
have yet to learn the blessings and priv
ileges of liberty. There are many means
Of teaching patriotism. l agree with
your honored chairman about having
schools of patriotism. There is no more
practical way of teaching Americamsm
than to celebrate year after year those
grand anniversaries of our nations
birth and redemption. the Fourth of
Tulv and Memorial Dav. Let rs have a