Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1900-12-28
FOREFATHERS' DAY.
Continued from LIST pdqe.

ueldlcdliOns emOeIIlcmenls, fraudulent
failures, wild speculations, the deacon
cornering the market, the Sunday
school superintendent fleeing to Canada.
Instead of showing degeneracy, he
pointed out that when we consider the
immensely of modern industrial enter.
prises, the %infrequency of such breaches
of trust is one of the most splendid
triumphs of Christianity.
In the same way the speaker showed
that the great primary virtues which GO
to make up character hold their own
against the seduction of a luxurious
civilization. The public conscience in
its relation to great questions of public
interest was dwelt upon, and Mr.. Buck
ham sounded a warning of the dangers
of Indifference to public affairs being
shown by business men, bur sho wed
optimism in the assertion that when some
great crisis comes, when some of the
great primal, fundamental interests of
society or humanity are at stake, then
the public conscience will rouse itself
and the people will ride down all opposi
ton and carry the cause of truth and
right to victory.
The question which is paramount to
all others and In a sense includes all
Does religion keep its rightfu supremacy
III Ut tSlllhtilt VI llt people --IDt
speaker answered in the affirmative.
He said: While | think there is cause
here for sOlicitude, | believe there is
cause also for thanksgiving and congrat-
ulatiOn. The facts are certainly not all
against the pessimist, but the most sig
nificant facts are the statistics of church
membership, the multiplication and
activity OF church agencies, the compar-
alive silence of infidelity, the zeal in the
home and foreign missions, interest in
eVane elistic work, devotion TO philan
thropic enterprises, the conservation of
so much of the best talent to distinc-
lively religious work. the amount of
wealth. poured into the churches for
pious and benevolent work, all these
and many other facts show that religion
still holds the first place in the thoughts
and affections of the people.
The speaker then proceeded to show
how prosperity could be tiken advantage
of. First, he said, we must have IA cur
rent-day theology, secondly, our Christ
ianity must carry into the future an
ampler and a more adequate conception
of humanity and of human life, and
finally there must be preserved and if
possible intensified the sentiment of pa
triOtism perpetually fed by religion.
These requirements all were amplified
by the speaker, and he closed as follows:
IF Thy presence 90 with us'-that j.
the condition on which all else depends.
Ii we continue to he in the Scripture
sense Il God-fearing people; if God is As
real TO US in prosperity as He was to
the fathers in adversely if lie who was
with his people at the Red Sea and in the
Wilderne.s-and no less at Plymouth, at
Valley Forge and on the Peninsula
Will be with Us amid all the coming
s%plcndorS of the 20th century, when we
need His presence fully a. mnch.
then no temptation of wealth will be too
strong Tor u, and no opportunity of
blessing Will be lost by Us. Then
whenever the annals of mankind shall be
closed and the verdict of eternity
passed upon our people and their work,
Ii will be sa d of u that because Gods
presence went up with Us into the land
of promise we knew as well how to use
prosperity as to conquer adversely.
The supper in the lecture room, fol-
lowing the exercises in the church above.
was one of the %pleasantest in years, as
well as one of the most successful in
point of attendance and in the high aver
age grade of the speaking. The room had
been tastefullv decorated and the walls
hung with portraits the tables had been
rendered most attractive by the hostesses
in charge; and general good fellowship
" as the order from first to last.
President Brainerd served as toast
master. The first speaker was President
Buckham, who referred most interesting
ly to his recollectjoDs of the celebration
extending back through the years and
enlarged on the sound answer of a little
girl that the Puritans came tothis country
that they might worship their own die
tates." He was followed by DIR. Phillips
OF Rutland, h declared that from 1929
until now, and from the Massachusetts
grims have been landing on successive
Plymouth rocks. Doctor Smart of Bran !
don delighted the gathering with that
charming combination of humor and elo-
luence which those who listen to him
always expect and always hear. State
superintendent Ranger spoke well, his
best point perhaps being the expression
the belief that the American people,
With their Puritan character, Will find
ne proper tnlng TO do ia the difficulties
hat now confront them, and having
it can be relied on for its doing.
MIR. Dutton of New Haven spoke
of the trials and the tested
worth of the Puritan mothers, and Pro-
lessor McGilton closed the speaking in a
vein. Ii was a matter of re-
yret that Mr.. Edward l.. Temple of Rut-
and was unable to be present, but the
plea for ideals which was received
rom him and read was instinct with the
spirit of the occasion and a valued con.
to the ~fter.dinner program
The interspcrsed music was a very
feature, those contributing be-
ng Miss Stevens, Professor Henckels,
md Miss Dustin, soloists, and IA ladies'
luartett" composed of Misses Cornish,
Dustin, Htusman, and Salisbury. Mrs.