Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-04-15
LOCAL MATTERS
[FrOm Last EEenIng's EdItI0n.l

pital on the Heights. 1t was the presenta-
tiOn of flag to the Hospital by the Ladies
Temperance Soldiers Aid Society, (auzillhry
to the Cleveland Soldiers Aid soeiety.) The
flag was presented on behalf Of the ladies by
Prof Humistou, Of the Cleveland Institute,
who spoke as follows:
SURGEON McC1URG.-In behalf oflthe Ladies
Temperance Soldiers Aid Society, Of the city
Of Cleveland, have the pleasure of pre-
ssnting to you and through you to the Hos
pital, over which you have the honor to pre-
side, this flag.
The significance of this occasion is not in
the fact that q few yards of bunting are
stitched together and brought as an Offering
to this Hospital, nor in its tri-colors, nor in
the arrangement Of those eolors, nor alone in
/ the fact that the colors, proportion and gen
| eral arrangement eOnstitnts the flag of our
beloved country SO dear to every true Amer
lean heart.
But Sir, that which interests US most at
this hour, is the source, the sentiment and
design Of this fag. 1t comes from the noble
women Of our city who have freely offered
their husbands and fathers, their sons and
/ brothers, their friends and lovers unon the
altar Of cur beloved, though distracted and
bleeding country.
The great demand for the present hour
is patriotism that is taHgible-patriotism that
may be felt-patriotism that we may take
hold of and hold on to, with the assurance
/ that it will never fail US in the time Of need.
Thank God, through the many thousand
Soldiers Aid Societies, that have sprung up
in every city, village and hamlet in the
North, the women Of our cO7ntry are honor
ing this draft.
Through their auspices Florence Night
I - i
They dy to every battle field and gather in
every hospital.
The soldier dying in his gore on the field
Of conflict, penitent and forgiven through her
prayers and ministrations, passes away with
sJngs Of cheer, and words ofoomfOrt and hope
in his ear, from the angels of earth, to the
angels of Heaven. s
From our earliest childhood we have read
Of the noble deeds and heroic sacrifices Of the
women Of Sparta. Their praises have been
sung " in every land by every tongue. "
But with al their virtues, they lacked one
of the MODEST elements OF WOman's eharae-
ter-sympathy for the afflicted and unfortu-
nate. And in destroying their own feeble
and crippled infants, they sacrificed to pat
Tiotism WomanhoOd and humanity
We also point with pride to the women of
the revolution. We love to rscite the hard
ships, self-denial and fortitude which they
cheerfully endured for their love of liberty,
and far be it from me to abate a jot or title,
Of the paeans that have been sung to their
memory they are worthy Of them all But
do say, that in all the history of the past,
in all.the bloody conflicts which the world
has witnessed in the human family, never
has wOman's character in all that pertains to
true Wonanhood, shOne out with more lustre
and heavenly beauty, than we find at this
hour in our own land, in our own city, and 4
here in our own community. Never in any 4
department of charity, benevoIence or indus 4
try, in any form, has labor been applied 4
more Systematically, earnestly and success
fully, than by the ladies Soldiers Aid Socie- /
ties all over our country.
And when We compare the Aid Society of /
Cleveland and its branches with those in
other parts of our land, think we may all
truthfully say in the language Of scripture,
f Many daughters have done virtuousiy but
thou excelIest them all. I"
Sir take this flag from these fair hands,
from these warm, true, patriotic hearts and
with it accept their prayers for blessings up
on you, upon your associates, and upon all
of these sick and disabled soldiers.
But, Sir, this flag is presented by Ten
peranee, as well as a Soldiers Aid Society,"
The greatest evil that has cursed our officers
and soldiers, in the army and in the navy, is
iHfemperanee. It is the almost universal vice, !
from the soldiers in the ranks to the Major
Generals al the head of the army. There is
no position in the world where it is more i'm
portant that men should have the full com
mand of all their faculties than that of com
mauder on the battlefield And yet, Sir,
believe that more mistakes have been made,
and more battles lost, because of drunken
officers and men, than from all other causes
combined. Our wives and sisters, our moth
ers and daughters, have seen and felt the
evils Of this terrible curse, and they recog-
nize it as the demon Of the domestic circle
and the universal bane of society.
In presenting this flag to you, Sir, the fair
donors are happy in their confidence that you
fully sympathize with them in their views
upon this subject that you are equally, in
public and private life, a fearless, outspoken
advocate Of temperance. And as you raise
this flag to-day to float over this hospital,
they rejoice in the belief that as a Christian
man and a lover Of sobriety, you will never
ALLOW this beautiful banner to be disgraced.
| Sir, this is not battle flag. 1t is not to
be rent with balls, nor to be bathed in blood.
Its mission is peaceful, and yet in its proper
.tions and general features it is our national
flag. We all love te look upon it as it floats
in the air. It is to us as the " bow of prom
| Use {" spanning the heavens. But to the sol
I u
slaughter-whO has offered his life and freely
poured out his blood in its defense-it is al
most thing of alteration. It is for their
benefit that these kind ladies present it to-
| day. Raise il above these brave bows
let it cheer the sinking, fainting war
rior; let the dying soldier look up to it and
bless it, and thank God that it still waves
over him; let the morning sun gild it with
his rising beams, and parting day linger and
play ia its folds and may the day soon re-
turn when We shall all again rejoice in {. One
Country, one Constitution and one Destiny"
Colonel MeClurg responded as follows:
MR. HUMIsTeE, AND LADIES OF THE TEN
PERAHcE SOLDIERs' AID SocIRTY With deep
emotion and the most lively satisfaction, we
accept of this beautiful gift-your token Of
respect for us, and of love and loyalty for
our country. And in these dark hours Of na !.
tional aflietion, when our sky is clouded and
murky mist like the blackness Of the grave
is hanging over part Of our land, when
Columbia has robed herself in sable gar
ments for the death of her sons, your gift
our country's hag--is doubly dear, and with
gpeatful hearts we thank you. This flag is
the standard, the war ensign of the United
States of America, and beneath itj folds at
this very hour over zoo, 900 soIdiers-Ameri-
can freemen-are marshalled in battle array
to protect and defend it from the rude grasp
Of traitors, whose hands are red with blood.
This flag has history, 4 birthday, if you
I please, of clouds and sunshine; when hun
cry and shoeless in winter, our fOrefathers
pressed it to their hearts, and bravely fought
and conquered foreign enemy; then came
Its childhood radiant with joy and dancing
in the light, succeeded by boyhood, and rev
cling in boyhOod's happy hours, with wide
outstretched arms prsteeting four millions Of
square miles of the most beautiful country
on earth; of deep dark forests of lakes and
, mighty rivers of prairies of untold magni-