in vases. A number of the wives and daughters of members graced the feast and the tables were well filled by the officers and their guests, among the latter being some of the leading citizens of Middlebury. The menu bore a vignette of a war scene, and a tempting list of substantials and delicacies, and all the arrangements did credit to Mr. Rider, the host of the Addison House.

In due time Toastmaster Hooker rapped the company to order, proposed the regular sentiments and called up the speakers with apt and witty allusions. The toast to The State of Vermont was responded to by Lieut.-Gov. Woodbury, who spoke of the character of the people of Vermont in peace and war, and, alluding to the dangers which have been found to menace the purity of the ballot in other States, urged the duty of adopting here as well as there all wise safeguards for an honest vote and true count.

A sentiment to The Women of our Land was humorously responded to by C. M. Wilds, Esq.; one to Our Congressmen by Hon. John W. Stewart and Hon. W. W. Grout; one to The Grand Army of the Republic, by Department Commander Col. A. S. Tracy; one to Our Orator, by Chaplain Dayton, and one to The Sober Side of the Service, by Gen. W. W. Henry. The speeches sparkled with jokes and army reminiscences and were received with abundant laughter and applause. Letters were read by the secretary from Governor Dillingham, Senators Edmunds and Morrill, Gen. Schofield, U. S. A., Gen. L. A. Grant and Gen. T. S. Peck, expressing their interest in the society and regrets for their inability to attend the reunion. In "the sma' hours ayont the twal" the gathering broke up in excellent order. Though the attendance of members was somewhat smaller than usual, the occasion was a success.

TWENTY-SEVENTH REUNION.

MONTPELIER, OCTOBER 29, 1890.

The 27th annual reunion opened at 3:30 p. m. in the General Committee room at the State House. ·

Seven new names were added to the roll, and among the more than 100 members estimated to be present were ex-Governors Barstow, Ormsbee, Farnham, Proctor and Pingree; ex-Lieut.-Gov. U. A. Woodbury, Gen. W. W. Henry and Gen. T. S. Peck of Burlington; Maj. N. P. Bowman, St. Johnsbury; Maj. A. B. Valentine and Capt. R. J. Coffey of Bennington; Surg. Gen. J. H. Baxter of Washington, D. C.; Maj. Josiah Grout, Derby; Maj. L. G. Kingsley, Capt. J. C. Baker, Rutland; Capt. C. H. Benton, Minneapolis; Corp. Z. M. Mansur, Island Pond; Surg. J. C. Rutherford, Newport; Capt. F. D. Butterfield, Derby Line; Col. G. W. Hooker, Brattleboro; George T. Childs and Lieut. F. S. Stranahan, St. Albans; Chaplain W. S. Smart, Brandon; Lieut. A. C. Fay, Milton; Lieut. Hugh Henry, Chester; Adj. J. C. Stearns, Bradford; Lieut. F. E. Smith, Lieut. J. H. Lucia and Capt. O. D. Clark, Montpelier.

It was voted that the custom of sending to absent members at the expense of the society copies of papers containing reports of annual reunions should hereafter be discontinued. These officers were elected for the ensuing year:

OFFICERS FOR 1890-1.

President, Capt. J. C. Baker, Rutland.

First Vice-President, Surg. J. C. Rutherford, Newport.
Second Vice-President, Capt. C. H. Benton, Minneapolis.

Secretary, Col. Fred E. Smith, Montpelier.
Treasurer, Maj. L. G. Kingsley, Rutland.

Executive Committee, Josiah Grout, Derby, Z. M. Mansur, Island Pond, and F. D. Butterfield, Derby Line.

It was voted that the next reunion be at Newport; that the price of banquet tickets hereafter shall not exceed $1, and that a record be hereafter kept of members present.

The society then adjourned to meet at 7:30 in the hall of the House of Representatives.

At 7:30 the procession, headed by the Montpelier band, marched from the Pavilion to the State House, filling Representatives' hall to overflowing. President Stranahan presided, and prayer was offered by Chaplain W. S. Smart. The oration was delivered by Captain L. H. Bisbee of the Ninth Vermont, of Chicago, Ill.

CAPTAIN BISBEE'S ADDRESS.

LIFE AND SERVICE OF GEN. SHERIDAN.

In front of Gen. Robert E. Lee's old mansion at Arlington, underneath a modest little monument recently erected, the remains of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan rest. It is a beautiful spot, in sight of Washington, and overlooking the Potomac for many miles east and west. At Nonquit, Mass., our hero breathed his last. A braver soul never passed the gates of paradise. As brave in the last evening of his life as he ever was in the front of battle, he passed away in hearing of the roar of the ocean's surf, 'mid the weeping of a devoted wife and loving children. Extreme suffering made him long for rest. For eight months he had endured much from a difficulty of the mitral and aortic valves of the heart, or heart failure, an illness which he bore with great heroism.

In May, 1888, when told that no hope remained for him, he coolly made his will and prepared himself for the great ordeal of death. June 30, with the hope that the vigor of an ocean breeze might help him, he was removed to a beautiful

cottage on the sea shore, seven miles from New Bedford. Here, willing hands administered to his every want, sympathetic friends cheered and encouraged him but were unable to check the progress of a disease, the seeds of which, sown by exposure in campaign and battle, had grown into his very vitals. At twenty minutes past ten, on the evening of August 5, 1888, his heart ceased to beat forever, and the life of the gallant general of the army of the United States was ended. His military coat which bore four stars upon each shoulder, he wore only in death.

In June Congress had conferred upon him the highest honor it had to give. Though but 57 years of age, he had reached the summit of an earthly ambition; and when he died a grateful people mourned his death. Every visitor to Washington climbs the hill to Arlington to look at his last resting place. Sixteen thousand of his comrades in arms are buried in the same cemetery, many of whom fell in battle while following him to victory.

That evening, a few friends, after hearing of his death were speaking of him and Gen. John M. Schofield, a classmate of Sheridan, said: "The victories in the Shenandoah Valley were not only gained by his military skill, but were due in a great measure to his soldierly qualities, his personal · magnetism and his electrical influence over his troops. He was a soldier of heroic mould. His fame will last as long as the nation exists, and then it will not die." Said another: "Philip Henry Sheridan was the Ney of our late civil war, always ready to lead a cavalry or an infantry charge. He was equally the man to overlook the operation of a vast army, and move its parts so as to achieve victory. In fact Sheridan, impetuous and apparently rash when necessity called for vigorous action and daring deeds, was cool, calm, collected and prudent when overlooking a field where an army was employed. No one sooner saw a flaw in the enemy's movements, or was quicker to take advantage of it. Besides the education, Sheridan had the instinct and genius of a true soldier." The New York Herald the next morning said: "We feel as he goes to his grave, as if with his going the war becomes a memory." Emperors did him homage abroad, and a grateful country mourned his death at home.

Philip Henry Sheridan was born in Albany, New York, on the sixth of March, 1831. Soon after, his parents moved to Somerset, Perry County, Ohio. In childhood and boyhood he was guided and directed by a mother, of whom in later years he said: "Her excellent common sense and clear discernment in every way fitted her for such maternal duties."

He acquired such an education as the common school could give, until the age of fourteen when he became a clerk in the village store, with a salary of twenty-four dollars a year. Here, however, his education did not cease. He found some time for reading history and studying geography, and more than this, for who can fathom the possibilities for gaining knowledge afforded by the village store of forty years ago? Not only was it the chief mart of the town, it was as well a social rendezvous, a sort of club without any dues, a forum, where, when the work of the day was done, were gathered the neighboring men, and with them, the farmers from the outlying districts who came to the village to get their mail and get the news. Seated round a large stove, they passed the long winter evenings in discussion of the current events of the times. They took up all subjects, schools, politics, religion, in fact everything, from the domestic arrangement of each and every household to the weighty affairs of the nation.

During the period of young Sheridan's clerkship the Mexican War was in progress. This was interesting matter of conversation to the inhabitants of Somerset. Sheridan listened, and as he listened he became imbued with an ever increasing desire to be a soldier.

Being too young to enter service, he turned his thoughts and aspirations toward West Point. In 1848, sooner than he had hoped, came the opportunity for him to enter the military school as a cadet. First to the life in the village store which inspired the ambition, then to the Hon. Thomas Ritchie, who furnished the aid necessary to gratify this ambition, are due the credit of having given to the United States Army, a General Sheridan. He graduated from the Academy at West Point in June, 1853.

Among his classmates were James B. McPherson, who commanded the Army of the Tennessee, John M. Schofield, commander of the Army of the Ohio; Gen. George B. Hood,