St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1915-06-02
WHEELOCK and BARNET
Each Dedicated a Soldiers Monument On
Saturday--In WheeIock The Gift of
Ferd w. Chase--In Barnet The Gift
of James w. Brock--AbIe Ad-
dresses and Large Crowds.
At Barnet

There was a large crowd in the
village Saturday to attend the Me
mortal and dedicatory exercises for
the monument presented to the town
by James Walter Brock of Montpe-
lier. The monument is a beautiful
tribute to the memory of the men
that enlisted in the Civil war. 1t
is of granite with a bronze tablet
on four sides with the names of the
men who enlisted from Barnet. 1t
is wonderful addition to the beauty
of the village and the gift is very
much appreciated by the people of
the town.
The dedicatory exercises were held
out doors about the monument, a
stand for speakers and noted guests
being erected for the occasion. There
were guests from Burlington and
Montpelier, and a crowd of several
hundred people gathered about the
stand to hear the addresses. DIR. H.
A. Elliott was the presiding officer
/ and music was furnished by the st.
Johnsbury Consolidated band and
the Weber Quartette from Boston.
Chairman Elliott first presented I'm
ion superintendent Harvey Burbank,
who spoke a cordial welcome to the
guests, speakers, members of the G.
A. r. posts. The posts represented
We're Col. Preston Post of Wells Riy-
er, Farnsworth Post of Lyndonville,
Chamberlin Post of St. Johnsbury
and Xerxes G. Stevens Post of Bar
net and Peacham. He also expressed
the thanks of the people to the Wo-
mans Relief Corps, the Village I'm
provement Society, the Odd Fellows,
the Boy Scouts, the school children
and Mr.. Brock for their labor to
make the gathering a success.
Prayer was offered by Rev. w. G.
Clark and the monument was then
unveiled. During the unwilling the
band played the Star Spangled Ban
ner, the school children scattered
flowers at it's base and the veterans
cheered.
Sen. w. p. Dillingham;.
Sen. w. P. Dillingham; was intro
duced as the orator of the day. The |
senator first spoke of the memories |
the day brought to him when the |
rooms in his fathers home were fill !
ed with boys enlisting for service at |
the opening of the war. He remem- /
bered the stunning effect the an
nouncement of the firing upon Fort
Sumpter first produced and how
three days later the people were set
tied in their determination and pa
triotism. Among those volunteers
was William Wells, Vermont's great
est cavalry officer, who rode through
so battles during the conflict
He then spoke of the history of the
past 20 centuries as a series of cycles
in which right has been triumphing
In all the conflicts good has been
more potent than evil and the world
has been approaching the ideals of
Christ. Previous to the 18th CEN
fury all governments had been by
reigning families and the people were
simply subjects. The United States
was the first nation to form a gov
on the principle that all men
are born free. Previous to this all
governments had been formed for {
he benefit of the government itself
1ut the United States founded a gov I
on principles Numerically j
opposed to this.
The Civil War was a war in sup {
port of great living principles. The !
people possessed the characteristics ]
If conquering and devotion to prin- &
,iples. That war was fought on
arger field than the battles of the {
present European conflict. Four /
million men were engaged in the t
lighting and the army of dead was t
our times greater than the standing /
rmy today. In it 100000 young c
men laid down their lives for their 4
ountry. The issue of this war was a
ational integrity and individual lib e
rty. a
Until the 18th century the worlds O
history was made up of warfare with f
ut principle in the contest. The
1hole idea of war was to suppress t
uman rights. Everywhere there
vas absolute authority on the part of a
governments. The art of printing t
7hich resulted in the great reforma- &
ion, a great movement in which the h
eople developed the power of think n
ng for themselves, Of their rights "
nd the peoples place in the govern n
lent. The people became conscious o
f their great power and old systems C
aSSed away AbsOlutism has never s.
covered from the shock of this con- S
ulsive movement towards freedom. a
In this awakening was the found Il
ton for the freedom that was Sc Fl
ured in the United States. The best /
antilles of England sought homes in Ii
Massachusetts,. They were seeking Ii
he liberty their souls craved and u
hitch we enjoy today without
bought. They recognized that all
overnment must come from the peo-
lie. They formed the best system of
republic in the town meeting. They
to act individually and col
actively. They became a cOnstruc-
i've democracy in contrast to the
estructive democracy of France.
While France established a democra-
y it threw away all the rights of
emocracy and returned to the en-
error but the Americans embalmed in
heir constitution all the liberties
hey had acquired. The people here
Mastered the principles of govern
lent. This enabled them to success
ully carry through the revolutionary
Tar.