St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-08-23
The Aferdfnuer Speeches.

The afternoon exercises opened
with an anthem followed by remin-
sciences of father Worcester by his
son Rev. Dr. J. H. Worcester. Mrs.
Fred Stoddard then sang a solo. the
music being composed by L. 6. Blake
of Worcester, Mass, a native of
Peacham
Principal Bunker presided at the
afternoon exercises and there were
two hours of speechnaking from
former residents and invited guests.
The first speaker was Rev. J. Board
man of Barnet, who responded to
the toast, LAS the Lord leads me-"
He said one could see the drift of the
day from these high mountains.
Peacham has had its share OF great
men. He praised Congressman
Wilson for standing up for what he
thought was right, though the
speaker said he did not believe in the
Wilson bill. The church is standing
up for what is right and the in
huence of the churches in the hill
towns of Vermont is far-reaching.
H. P. Moulton of Washington, D,
c., responded to the toast Our
| LAWYERS" He is a native of Con-
cord and made the most eloquent
speech of the day. If l am asked
where l may find the handsomest
young woman, should reply Go to
Peacham.' Where may 1 find an
academy to educate my children, Go
to Peacham? Where can find the
beginning of theological thought,
| Go to Peacham y Where can I find a
bright lawyer, Go to Peacham and
get another Thad Stevens The
brightest, purest and noblest in
Vermont, if not a Peacham boy,
was Matthew Carpenter, and Sena-
J tor Edmunds is the peer OF any man.
the grandest of the grand and the
noblest of the noble" In closing
/ Mr.. Moulton made a strong plea for
temperance, pointing with pride to
the record in that line of work that
the Peacham church had made.
Leonard Martin of Canada was
introduced to respond to the toast,
The old meeting house on the hill. p"
Mr.. Martin is 90 years old and
was present when the meeting house
was raised in 1906. AS he was only
four years old then, his "reminiscences
were very interesting to those that
could hear the venerable speaker.
Arthur F. Stone of the St. Johns
bury CALEDoNIAN responded to the
toast, Influence of the Press" He
spoke of the fact that the news
papers of the land followed all the
religious movements, that the
metropolitan dailies always had ex-
tracts from the sermons in their
Monday papers, and that DR.. Tai
IMAGES sermons appeared every
week in hundreds of papers and were
read by thousands of readers. He
said that the account of this day s
exercises would appear the next
morning in all the New England
dailies, as the newspa per's function
was to publish the news of this
notable occasion.
Mrs. c. A. Bunker then gave the
following clever poem:
Is Peacham Dead?
Peacham dead Why, they say,
Soqldn't hold on like the one horse shay
Something over one hundred years.
Used to be something long ago
Once in vigorous health, you know,
After fever and cough,
Old age set and took her off.
She was handsome when young, they say,
But there! beauty's only day.
They We dug the grave to put her in,
A narrow one, for she was thin
AS rail before she died
And all the doctors winked and cried
Heart failure made this patient go
Medical skill could not avail, you know.
& And so the cry has gone around,
But, like the ship She seems is1 to feel
{ \ thrill of life along her keel
And if you watch her, you will find
. That blood, good blood, of healthy kind,
Is flowing round from head to heel,
And she can see and think and feel
And like plant, so often found,
Whose rootsta1<, buried in the ground,
, Shows every year of growth scar,
She here is left. her sons afar.
! Peachams not dead. Her pastures green,
As fair any seen,
Are not things only fit for sheep,
But herds of cattle fat and sleek.
She is not dead, but quiet dame,
Is still alive and minds the hame,"
Tho winds may blow and breakers roar,
5 Tho storms arise and clouds downpour,
Tho strikers all the railways tear,
And miners let the CRATES go bare,
{ Tho "scabs" are marked and unions rule,
She rarely ever plays the fool.
, Her sons are strong, her daugt tiers pure,
Her hills are high but they'll endure
AS long sun its course shall run,
: Or mortals try to earn well done
Why, bless your heart, she is not dead
But hale and hearty and we'll fed.
Don't you see it in her cooking,
} Don't you see how we'll she's looking?
Rev. NJ. S. Dudley of Nantucket
r Mass, was introduced as a forme
pastor and very cordially greeted
He was pastor OF the church from
December, 1870. until August
1873. His opening remarks wer
addressed to the committee of ar
engagements and he urged them mos
strongly to have all the exercise
and addresses published. 'Th
ocean greets the mountains ant
many times down by the sea 1 hav