Juliet signal. [volume] (Juliet [i.e. Joliet], Ill.) 1844-1???, 1862-11-04
SUBSTANCE OF ADDRESS ny
IL EV e II Z ID JOHN KIDD
Afhe Funeral Of the late Captain d. G..
GToreT. TUESDAY, 2Isf Or,ober 1850

Al he Funeral Of the late Captain d. O.
GrOrer, Tuesday 2lst October, 1869.
How sad, how painful, how affective
this scene Oh, my friends, know not
IN what terms to address you. My heart
is wrung with anguish, which nv lips ara
unable to express. But If your boso,ns
throb with ono patriotic feeliog.-if the
memory Of departed worth can excite one
tender emotion.-if the thought of a bannv
household suddenly plunged into the deen.
est mourning. and the tears O. the widor
and the fatherless can awaken your svm.
pathies here let the fountains of sorrow
be unsealed, and here let chem flow. lis
no ordinary affection to which we are sinh.
Jected, nor is 1t slight and momentary
grief that should be ours in its endurance
IL victory has atteoded the march. and
crowned the arms Of our fellow-citizens.-.
desoiate homes, and streaming eses. and
breaking and broken hearts tell us n what
price that honor has been purct a,ed
and u We have had reason 10 exult ON ac..
coans OF 7Sher uchiesements. We have
reason also to weep. even in the highest
transports OF our joy. Not until now has
our ssy been cloudless and serene. AID.
verse and troublous times have passed over
Us. DARK providences have frowned upou
u.s. Calamity has followed calamity m
rapid succession. But few short months
ago, and We Uept around the bier of the
heroic Erwin, struck down upon the field
Of honor by the deadly bullet of the enemy.
10 MN soon succeeded the brave, youthful
Randall. thghted, like 60 opening flower,
oy me WiteerIng breath Of disease, aud
bearing with him to The tomb the dearest
joys the most cherished hopes. the fond.
est aspirations 9f bis parents hearts.
And now,-beho1d another for whom ne
are called to weep. The gallant Grover il
also numbered with the dead. lie too has
fallen upon bis high places" q sacrifice,
IKE the others on the altar of bis couutry's
freedom,-and that cold. Unconscious. in.
animate form, now lying before us in IN.
habiiments Of the grave, is all that remain.
on earth Of the dauntless patriot. the fond
and cOnfding husband, the induleent "a.
ther, the tried and incompatible friend.
Need repeat to you bel re the ssddenino
tale OF his deathl Alas my friends. il Is
only repetition Of the story so often t,ld
us IN these DAYS o. affection. Circumstan-
tIaly dInerent, IN substance il is tue same.
on the plains to the south Of Ccrintb. and
on the morning OF Saturday the fourth of
tue present month, while cheering on his
men to battle and to victory, Grover re-
ceiVeo the wound from which he was never
10 recover. For hours thereafter he Law
upon that "held Of blood" sccrcbed by the
burning rays OF the sun, and troddsn under
the ieet OF advancing and retreating foes.
on MS removal subsequently to the hospital
al Corinth,-with alterations Of hope and
rear In the minds Of his medical attend
ants, as the symptoms of bis case appeared
| more or less favorab!e,-he fingered a few
days longer IN gres: bodily distress. TO
/ winch, however, he submitted with ma
thence and fortitude; and OF last ON the
night OF the 10th, be received from the
last messenger the summons to d.nar,
VINO can listen to the brief but painful
narrative, without emotions Of sorrow ?
Oh death, deatb,-cruel and Unsuitable
ioe-was not one victim enough? The
young and the brave, of whom tbou badst
already tereft us,-could not they suf
hcer Thrice has thy dart been hurled .
and thrice has our peace been slain. Great
God, wilt thou be angry with US forever :?
Hast thou forgotten to be gracious? Shall
thy hand be stretched out still? Waters of
a iuli cup are wrung out unto us we yeen
like the daughter of Zion, and the tears
are on our cheeks: friend after friend is
torn from Gur embrace,-and one grief
blending with another is robbing us Of the
little JOY that life might yet have had in
store.
And yet, nv dear friends, why should
we weep? Why indulge in such sorrow
iui reflections? Why soil the splendor of
our brothers triumph by the effusion of
irultless tears? If he has submitted to the
stroke OF death,-he has only ANTICIPATED
by few years at the most that fate which
awaits US all, and which be should other
wise have undergone in the course of ma
ture. Death is what the posterity of Adam
have all meriied. The sentence has gone
forth against the whole human famiiy-
Dust thou art, and udto dust shalt thou
return. 1t was pronounced long ages ago.
IN the early days Of the world, and ever
since, with two solitary exceptions, it has
Deen carried into effect. The infant at the
breast and the man of hoary hairs, the
Patriarch, the Priest, the Prophet. the
Prince, the rich and the DOOR, the stronp
and the weak, the good and the eyiI-ail
have fallen, aid all shall continue 10 faU
until that great day which is to terminate
the resolutions Of time, and 10 wind nm the
business OF the world. Here there il no
exemption. cit is appointed unto men
once to die" Why then should We veep
1t be has submitted to the stroke of death.
what death could be more honorable or
glorious than his? He has fallen in the
arms OF victory, amid the acclamations Of
triumph and though once a private citizen
IKE ourselves, and like ourselves unknown
lame, his nameis now inscribed in thai
sacred and shining roll, on which we trace
the names OF the mighty heroes Of the past
OF the patriots who have falleo for the
liberties Of their country, of the MARTYR,
who have suffered aud shed THAR blood 10,
the Right. There it stands emblazonet
and iilustrious forever, to tell TO his couptr,
men OF his patriotic devotion, and to incits
the generations to come to initiate his vir
tues, and to emulate his fame WHY theu
should We weepf If be has submitted e
the stroke Of death,-the cause which bt
mas baptized with bis blood is sacred il
the eyes of earth,-sacred in the eve.
OF heaven. 1t is q cause that cannu
perIsh,-tnat must be triumphant. II i,
the cause OF righteousness cause O
human freedom; and
Freedoms battle once begun
Bequeathed by bleeding sire TO son,
Though bafned oft, is ever wonp
While We bow therefore with revsran.s .,
the appointments of heaven, amid Nh,
soiemnities of this hour we ought also I,
reJoice,-to rejoice and give thanks I,
Zoo Tor the example which Grover ha,
gisen us,-to rejoice and give thanks 70,
the record be has left behind,-to re
loiee and give thanks that the spirit Of the
Fathers survives in their children, that the
glorious achievements of the past are re
peated in the exploits of the present, snd
though we knew not Of it until our brotbe,
was snatcbed away, that patriot and q
hero has been our fellow-citizen al oul
friend. 1t is with sentiments like tbes,
that we should celebrate the obsequiee Of
the brave,-with sentiments like these tha
we should commit them to the tomb.