The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1907-06-07
:. MEMORIAL DAY,

, hOOIs lhC We as In WI luCu III ILL
and led by the Corinth Drum
Corps. marched to the hall. Her
a goodly crowd awaited them
Capt. Chamberlain, the officer o
the day, introduced Rev. ]. A
, Dixon, the orator of the day, wht
delivered a strong address to tn,
old soldiers and the younger gen
Grafton in attendance. The fol
lowing is a synopsis of the ad
dress:
(l) The war was unique.
When on the 18th of April, '61
that cannon shot of devilish ma
Lightly speeding from Morris Is
land, South Carolina, toward
Fort Sumpter, slapped the face
of the United States, we realized
that we were beholding the open,
ing of great door, out of which
were to come the sound of trum-
pet, and lightn1ngs and thunders,
and voices to fill the land with
misery; that 2,500,000 men would
march forth to their baptism of
blood; that the hour of atonement
for century of wrong has come.
The boys doubted their own
strength but they did not stop to
ask questions. War never saw
Drawer soldiers or more terrible
battles. It was the cause. They
forsook trade, thrift, sweethearts,
wives, life's ambitions for the
cause. They forgot political diff
ferences, UNCONVENTIONAL dist1nc-
tions, race preiudices. It was a
cause of which we may say what
Emerson said of the Revolution,
1T was spotless cause" When
did men ever go to war for a
higher, d1v1ner cause. 1t stands
alone among wars IN that it ac-
complished fully, completely, en-
tirely accomplished what the
friends of the Union sought when
they were compelled to take lip
arms. 1t is now to be counted
good fortune to have fought for
the flag in the great strife. The
inheritance which that service
permits you to leave to your chill
dren is more precious than any
success in achieving wealth or
place.
~. In the cause of Humanity.
The call of Abraham Lincoln
was the call in tones of thunder
to do battle for the right and
save not only the union of the
states but the government of
mankind for man. The result
was worth the sacrifice. If the
cause for which these men laid
down their lives was right. the
cause which brought about the
struggle and against which they
fought must have been wrong;
and it seems to me that the drift
of years we have, IN cvndoning
individuals who took part IN the
wrong, fallen into hhe mistake of
condoning wrong itself. l can
the spirit that under
lies what I believe to have been
this mistake on our part. The
spirit of fairness
teaches us to raise up and help our
defeated foes, but the distinction
between right and wrong should
be maintained. Old animosit1es
have died out. There is no ques-
ton concerning the loyalty of the
South at the present time. But
so long as treason is treason and
loyalty is loyalty, Davis and Lee
can never stand on the same plain
as Lincoln and Grant.
g. Some of the blessings that
come from it. At such times of
war the noblest as we'll as the
neanest qualities of human ma
lure have found expression; the
highest as we'll as the basest
;auses have been defended. Evil
las been overruled for good.
Constitutional government in
the recognition of the
lights of the citizens were secured
~ civil war. The long struggle
against Philip the Second of
Spain, secured the freedom of
Holland. Even the meteoric Ca
eer of Napoleon obliterated feu-
lalism. The revolution of the
American colonies against British
established our free ,
Iom and made us a nation. The
treat Civil War relieved us of the
urse of slavery and cemented /
more strongly the bonds of ma
ionality. 1t is something to re-
member that in other countries
have frequently been s
to Cypress the people, t
o accomplish the designs of un-
crupulous despots and ambitious !
but in our wars with
England and the great Civil War l
ur soldiers fought for the estab- q
ishment and preservation of the t
government for the rights of C
ian and to maintain the princi- |
les that the will of the ma ority 1
hall be the law of the land. Why
ehearse the memories of that v
rolonged and bitter strife. They J
annot be forgotten. They have t
cen burned into the national
lind. So, - ----.--1.. r
The civil war served as a reve- S
alton. 1t called forth into fullest
e l.,