Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1859-05-05
For the Monmouth Weekly Herald.
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH;
OR,
The Papers of James Careful, Esq,
NO. x.
THE CLOSING AN APPEAL.

Last week my readers and | stood upon
the battle field of our fathers. gazing
with vacant eyes upon the ground, the
Revolutionary tree stumps, the sky above
the little streams below, washing their
onward course, and numbering to the
o~verhanging willows, as they did centu
ries ago. These were all we saw, beside
the "Old Church" and its slables'
graves.
This chapter closes my History of Mon
mouth. l pass over the battle for sure
", lean add nothing to the honor O
brave men, by recapitulating that. which
has been taught in our schools for over
fifty years. With great pleasure have
we glided from date to date, noticing oc
c%urrences as they transpired, for nearly
two centuries past, until now, we stanc
il. our greatness and strength, a mighty
power, @and a proud one. We have
grown up from infancy to boyhood, and
from boyhood to manhood, a somewhat
clustering, fopish, and war-talking char
acter and | fear very much have for
gotten the tempests, aud horrible demon
starvation, that chased US all over the
hills and ~valIies. when we. in our youth
fought for liberty. [ fear very much
that this son of Samuel the elder, is by
far too refined in his sensitive nature
that he busters altogether too much
about strength and resources. If the
truth must be told, we do not like wal
half so much as W. boast of, and the fun
niest part Of it is, that the civilized worlG
are aware Of that fact. And now, in al
seriousness, let US compare the past with
the present, in a hurried synopsis of stir
ring events.
Many years have passed, since, in oul
weakness and poverty, we struggled fol
Liberty. The warriors who fought il
the battles Of Monmouth and Trenton
are fast leaving US now. and soon, nc
quiyering lip of age will speak, to tell O.
the victories won-of the sufferings en-
Gured.
It is melancholy to reflect, that those
who braved all disasters for those very
liberties we now enjoy. should pass away
and see no thought of them inscribed, nc
monument erected to mark the spot or
which their deeds of valor we're doue.-
Nay, it is sad even to think that those
heroic actions are not inscribed, SO thai
the youthful Of this age may read Of the
virtues o. those who are silent, and profit
by the significant lesson taught them. We
have fought other battles on the plains
of Mexico, but We can erect no pillars
there. We have won victories upon the
seas, but we can raise no speaking shaft
out Of the oceans bed, to tell the youth.
full mariner a tale of bravery and hero
ism ; but we can build upon our own
battle fields, now that our liberties are
ours-now that our strength is our own.
And shall we still lie ~listless, in our fat
ness and liberty, and refuse to bless the
cause of our abundance? We should
express our most hearty thanks while we
live, and raise to speak after
we are dead. Here was a struggle for
liberty" We have built up splendid pal.
aces ; all our great cities have piles of
chisled granite, and spacious proud edit
ces tower upward all over the land
Theatres and opera:houses glisten in the
broad American sunbeams, and the heav-
en- ascending spires Of beautiful carved
churches, pierce the lowering clouds, from
Mississippi to Northern Maine but our
battle fields are monumentless
In the hurry of our business, We have
forgotten to stand a rude slab over the
graves that once opened to receive the
CORY, SCARED bodies of brave old soldiers,
and yet we are proud Of our refinement
and taste. We have not enough true ma
tional pride, buster as we may at foreign
insults-boast as we may of our armies,
and n%ayies, and thirty-two States, and
star,spangled banner-the bones of the
harvest of men are lying yonder, crum-
bling to.dust, and no pillar or slab, or
rude stone, tells the stranger the time Of
their death, or the glorious cause that
they fought forl
Let the shame burn on every Ameri.
can cheek, as he reflects, that in view OF
our splendor aud grandeur, lie silently
oul warriors and battle fields, with 20
mark of national esteem, for all the suf-
fering, the youthful heroes, who fought,
and died, and are buried there.