Weekly Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1919-1920, 1919-04-02
PAYS HIGH TRIBUTE
Rev. Edward N. Chairman Paws the
Following High Tribute to
Rev. T.. T. Fairbanks
The following depreciation of Ed

The following depreciation Of Ed
| ward Taylor Fairbanks" appeared in
q recent number of The Congrega-
aionalist and Advance, from the pen
OF Rev. Edward Chapman, d. D., now
; OF New London, Conn, formerly pas
!, tor of the North congregational
| church here:
Edward F'itzGcrald once wrote to
! Carlyle Of the funded virtues OF
| many good men gone by as q chief
/ constituent III the worth of the vii
! lagos he knew. The man whose nans
stands at the head OF this article
| and whose death was lately recorded
here illustrates the saying. He
thought himself to be an inconspicu-
Gus country minister So in the
worlds eye he was. But he was also
a man of r'----''o' +~1ort. genuine
learning, unfailing piety and no.
a..o u'"quc p--~o..,.- tnarll--all Of
which with untiring industry he
ploughed into the soil of his native
town. He was born in St. Johnsbuly
IN 1886; educated at St. Johnsbuly
Academy, Phillips-Andover and Yale;
taught for a time; returned to An,
dover for theological course; trav-
cicd widely in Europe and Asia; came
home to Vermont; was ordained the
minister of Il small church in st.
Johnsbury Center on Jan. 1, 1868; mi
grated to the passionate of the South
Church in 1874; resigned in 1902;
served as Librarian of the Athenaeuln
and died, as he had lived, in his ma
tive town, in January, 1919.
He thought his life to be incon-
splcuous, as | have said; and al
stranger, reviewing it's outward
events, might have called it humdrum.
In point of fact, to all who knew
HIM it was like the shining light that
Evangelist pointed out to Christian
when the latter could not sec the
wicket gate; it was a beacon at the
entrance TO the Way And so far
from being humdrum, | have rarely
known Il life that seemed to be so full |
OF high and enchanting adventure.
His body, to be sure, after its days !
OF travel in the East, kept steadily |
at home; but the mind ad soul Of
the man always extraordinarily alert
and active, seemed to have the Uni ,
verse to work and play in. The
common day" was never worn in .
the icast thrcadbarc by his use of it, /
Birds sang, flowers bloomcd, cloud |
foatcd in the sky, rain watcred and |
sno" mantled the earth, Spring was
born and Autumn bore its fruits as
though all were done in his behalf I !
do not mean that he was selfish or
,if-centcl'ed; but these beings and
toinGs Of the world spoke to him.
Scarce Il wind blew by that did not
whisper in his car some message to
feed his soul and help him feed the
souls Of others.
| should have called him especially
shreWd in his judgment Of other mon.
Gu;lelcss himself, he was slow to dis
Germ guile, though his very high ord
e. OF intelligence forbade the success
Of any extended attempt to deceive
MIN. But set him on horseback among
the fields and hills he knew, or let
him walk up the village street where
ali recognized and loved him, and
YOU found him so wise and clear-eycd
that shrewdness seemed but u sham
wisdom after all. For he could read
the face of the world and see into
the hearts and high destinies Of
men. And when he came to put his
wisdom into words they developed a
SAVIOR as pungent and haunting as the
breath of the pines that he loved.
1t is difficult to suggest on paper
the quality of his style. 1t was un-
conventional but with the unconvcn-
of u man who was at once
highly cultivated and deeply in earn
est. 1t was often epigrammatic, too;
vet you could not suspect him Of the
dreadful business of fabricatng cpl
grams. Here for instance, is Il com
mon houschy which one day broke
in upon hi, scrmpn-making. "a fly
just alighted, ruba his antennac sleek
ly, drops his fore paws, desires to
know what l ain writing about. Coco
fly, I was just this moment saying
how impossible it would be for God to :
explain to me the high mysteries Of
His thoughts"
From his horses back he may very
likely have looked over an orchard
wall at the broken branch of a fruit
tree and caught the talk Of the
apples. GLOW nice we are" said the
Young apples dangling on Il broken
branch: $50 much better than pota-
,oesw "a mistake, silly apples; you
ire Off the tree where all your good
ness comes from; you will never rip I
~" Here is a pregnant question
based on some incident of travel, ,
showing with what aptness he could {
,elatc the little and the great. 'Why {;
IAN you not pocket the advantage !
when the conductor forgcts your tick
It? Because of heavenly vision that ,
paints honor in more radiant colora
han profit and holds the least item ,
n each days duty sacred as it were !
he jewel of an angels CROWN
His humorous and kindly eye not
,nly looked into but saw his very G
mirror. "Thcrc is no sense" he once
o,,,, al, oil Uip po1f ip,r nt tbn r1ivrn,. ,c