The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-06-12
SOLDIERS BUDGET.
An Eloquent Memorial Address,

o"uiSSSOej tue ieu1dIkS Vi Elk UOVeTnOr
Long at Dalton, Mass, have a pecul-
iarly fine and delicate strain of real
elcquence. Governor Long said:
- gratefully acknowledge your
courtesy in inviting civilian to speak
to you this day. l accept with added
pleasure because | can renew my ac-
quaintance with my old friend, the pre-.
siding officer, who has won equally
honor on the field and in civil life. l
rejoice with you all in this sacred hour,
because it teaches the lesson of this en-
larging life which in our poverty of lam
guage we call death. The full leaves
are bursting to give the day welcome,
and the dead in the graves are not
there; they are with you again.
1t were very poor occasion if il
were but the sound Of trumpets and the
psgeantry of an hour. 1t is great &C.
casion because it stirs the soul to higher
flights. 1t is sacred to the dead and
also to the stimulation of patriotism
among The living. 1t commits us to free
dom, law and love of country. The
time will come shortly when none of
you will remain to observe it, and when
the last comrade will lie down with
those who have gone before. But the
services these men did and their exam
pie are immortal They shine like the
stars in eternal glory. With the lapse
of time, Memorial Day gathers about it
tenderer and dearer memories. The
wheels of time roll back, and behold a
miracle of the imagination. Lincoln is
again at the helm, the boys are march
ing to the front and the air is full of
patriotism. Sheridan is making his
ride. Sherman is marching through
Georgia. Hooker is above the clouds,
and Grant is throttliDg Lee with grip
which never loses its irmness nor its
magnanimity. Then comes the great
review, and the boys are marching
home.
"We gather to-day to deck the graves
of our patriots with flowers. The SOL
der of the war of the Union! Recall
him, you who remember him. He had
but turned twenty years of age. The
exquisite tint of youth was in his
cheek. His fine hair clustered from
below his soldier cap. The doorway of
his home was brilliant with flowers as
he went in and out on beautiful spring
day like this. Discussion had nodded
him into champion of freedom. By
the students lamp, or perhaps in the
shop, he had passed the novitiate of a
sacrifice of life itself if that should be
necessary. He cared nothing for mil
itary glory. His ideal was Philip Sid
ney, not Napoleon. Some Of you re-
member his early letters, his eagerness
to meet the enemy, his sensations in
his first battle, fear and then courage
when the charge began; of the distri-
button of delicacies sent from home.
They took him prisoner afterward. He
wasted in Libby and grew gaunt and
haggard. He saw his old schoolmate
shot like dog for inching across the
line to drink from stagnant pool that
a dog would scorn. He tunneled and
escaped, and tottered in the dark over
rivers, and slept in swamps. He knew
the bloodhound was on his track. A
negro guided him. He had reached
the lines when they caught him and
took him back. But he was exchan ged
at last, and went to the front again.
His comrades recall him now with
tears and pride. He fell by sharp
shooters bullet in a forlorn hope Some
of you who saw him that day fancied
that he felt like one who foresaw the
end But he did not finch. He had
turned to give cheer when the bulle
struck him, and he fell dead. Home
they brought him and buried him in
the village church-yard. His picture
tie children love to hear his story. His
face is so fair and young that you can.
not believe that he was the veteran of
thirty battles. Do you ask who he was?
He was in every regiment. Why was
such promise cut eff? Sacrifice is the
SC ed of progress. Through the blood
of human hearts it is that the great
gains of human freedom have been
made. The republic has ever been
grateful to her sons. But why do we
recall all this? Because death was
swallowed up in duty. 1t was not a
bud nipped; it was seed of greater
things.
elf we undertook conquest it was
worse than time wasted. 1t was no
fight of men with men, but of right
with wrong. 1t was, to use the words
of Scripture, the chastisement of love
that overthrow not them, but the false
gods they revered, and gave us a repub-
lie founded for the first time on equality.
Our heroes died that all their country
men might live life of freedom. 1t
were an easy thing to say that the war
demonstrated that we are nation of
soldiers, but l prefer to say that it
demonstrated that we are united
country, that regards as nothing its abil-
ity TO fight the world, but as everything
it's ability to lead the world in the arts of
peace. We have destroyed the doctrine
of caste, and made our people all of one
birth. We have seen a source of great
danger in the accumulation of wealth,
but if the rich have grown richer, our
poor have grown better off too. Wealth
is not the possession of those who won
ii, but reservoir for the common USE
If you want an example look to your
own town. Look to its growing indus
tries and the employment for more peo-
pie. If | cannot have wealth in my
hand, it is still of vital Importance that
it should be in some ones hand, for the
life of the nation depends upon its ac-