Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1894-09-21

GEORGE FITZGERALD.

bl tut i1lu INST. ne WIS uuiH III ran %
field, Me, August / 1911, and was mar
ried at the same place to Miss Betsy Nye
Rolic in 1895. who with a son, George
II. Fitzgerald, and daughters Emma
(Mrs. John II. Gerrishl and Evelyn Mrs
William Il. CauSehrookl survive him.
In early life he taught school, was a
surveyor, and finally engaged in the lum-
Der business. During all his life in Fair.
field, Canaan aud Island Pond he held
various town Offices. He was Of that
peculiar, candid class of men whose ad-
vice and counsel was much sought, and
whose couCiliatory Offices were most
highly appreciated. After living i'll UNI
usually harmonious marital relations
his golden wedding was celebrated May
2lSt, 1885, four generations OF the family
being present. His is the first death
which has occurred i'll the family.
lie was a member of the masonic fra
tcrnity. and had that calm, consistent.
yet deep veneration for its principles so
characteristic OF all his relations i'll life.
That considerable kindness with which
he viewed and treated the tendcrrst fam
ilv associations went with him in his
more formal relations to the outer circle
and into his sterncr duties to the public.
He was administrative but absolutely
fixed in his notions OF personal conduct
and public policy. unobtrusive, he was
never influenced in his action in respect
to his treatment of any subject or situa
ton. His kind approval OF the right and
just condemnation OF wrong were
equally marked, and wcrs expressed
more by his actions, micn and living
than in words. He had that peculiarly
iudescribable influence which warmed
and cheered his surroundings without
noise or apparent contact. An influence,
the subtle workings of which no one can
explain. In the vain attempt to do SO
some call it that character or presence
W hich always bcgcts esteem. respect aud
confidence HIS condemnation OF 4
wrong course of action was stclnly vet
kindly severe for he had no personal en-
w or malice that would exceed that OF n
child So the thought is i'll every soul
that a kind, good old man has gone.
When death comes to one on the angry
/ Il a,I Of
its victims, when it hovrrs above them
enclosed i'll an immense cavern with
monstrous swelling waves below and
blackncSs above; when it comes to one
in the freshness OF life by means OF sud-
den and unexpected violence, or through
cold, or by hunger, want or dcsertion, 1t
is terrible But when it comes rs If gen
tie and considerable to an aged man, who
has gone through n long life Of probity
and industry, successfully accomplishing
all the plans conceived by him i'll early
lite, and who has enjoyed a calm reflect
i've old age, and is found sitting in a glor.
ious country amid the comforts of home
the deep respect and good warm friend
of all around him when it comes to such
an one who sits in patriarchal grandeur
the first of four links in the endless chain
that binds generation to generation i'll
| the everlasting march OF life, it hardly
| seems like death
How happy is the lot Of him whose lite
in our too nomadic land and age cumi
mates in such good and pleasant surround.
! ings. Four generations, though linked
together By closest, tcndercst ties. are not
rudely disturbed by gently dissolving the
foremost link and uniting it TO the chain
that reaches TO the bank of the river on
the other side. Such lives as those do not
seem to go out, but Just to 90 on in
their preappointed ways in the tulhlInent
of all human dcstinics, calmly consistent
with the great plan which has in it the
Common fathcrhood of Con, and tho
universal brotherhood of man" In Ell,
tertaininE these sentiments friends arc
not unmindful OF the sad features OF this
sorrowful event; of the venerable old
man going out from the midst OF those
clustering homes SO rare in these times oil
family separations and wanderings, and
of the joys OF well placed love cultivated
many years, and ripcning in bright au-
tumnal days, then vanishing like dream
leaving her, the most dependent one, to
travel in the stubbe of the harvest
field-alone All know that as the bright
est days of autumn cannot furnish com.
pensation for the loss of n seasons Ia.
Dor so the boundless kindness which her
friends are sure to bestow cannot fully
compensate her for such a loss.
But as the aged man turned his last
lingering look upon the generations
moving in grand procession, and saw his
own marching in such unexpected pros
perity and comfort he died content, the
envied father of so long a line. All the
world is covctous of such coming and
going. Then what cause for mourning
Nor can she, the beloved mother Of liv-
ing generations, complain, because after
such peaceful happy life she is asked to
wait amid those scenes little till the
appointed time Tor the two to sleep side
by side. C. d.
Grand Trunk Railway.