The Portland daily press., 1866-10-20


crouyn the dead and the living make bare their
baads This is why the whole nation rises up
i'm reverence before her martyrs. This is why,
to-day the generosity of a venerated citizen,
spared beyond his allotted years, is proud to
link itself with the name and fame of those who
persisted before their prime. And it is for this
that We have assembled here at this season
when throughout nature the loving are wont
to gather.and give thanks--in these lingering
summer days when the heart calls home its
own-that we may consecrate this monument
as perpetual greeting to the brave and faith-
full who return no morew
1t is an instinct of the human heart 20 non
OF those who have overcome the fear u u1 n;nn
and especially those who have gwen tneli nfo'
for belief a sentiment an idea, RrinociPie
All nations have their treasured fois Vi mar nf
tyrs and heroes and it has been heIu wol'nS y,
the highest ambition 70 Ias deemed it high ne
cassitv To cherish the memory of tnose VINO
have fallen in its behalf. Art, eloquence and
| song philosophy and religion, nave conspired
| To ,,erpetuate the fame, and embalm the char
w II not the names of those who died for
4 the veal of others. Even they who profess to
believe that passing pleasure is the end of life,
are constrained to yield to the force of heroic
| examples and the responsive heart of man. and
| confess that it is "sweet to die for country
| There is something grand in overcoming the
| primal lnstlncts-tO be superior to hunger,
cold, fatigue-to rise above the care of self, and
the fear OF death-the soul subduing the sense;
ration of human nature. No matter what the
final cause or object may be, the Overmastering
| OF self is great, manness is noble, devotion is
| sublime.
SO those who brave suffering and death are
| held in honor, in whatever name they were
summoned to the strife. 1t is the nobility Of
| heroic souls which wins our worship. 1t may
be exercised for the divine right of kings"-for
| the balance of power"-for the conquest of
| arms-for the glory of a name, or the redemp-
/ ahra R1rfif yyia1 oI1r
admiration to the mere spectacle of heroism,
| what honor have we for those who are heroes
for the sake of right-the men who bear wit
ness to their faith by suffering for it-who go
forth in the full comprehension and commun-
ion of the TRUTH to stake their lives ON its vim
dication? To die in just cause, in attestation
of their faith i'll it, in consequence of their love
for it-this is to die gloriously-to die on the
| field of honor"
My friends, the men whose great sacrifices
we this day commemorate, were not lacking in
the commoner qualities which have won the
admiration of the world. They have given
proof of what is noblest in manhood. Selfsas-
rifice, patience, fortitude, courage, high pur-
pose and great resolve, strength of body, lofti-
: ness of soul had the heroic ages any more?
We are apt to think most of the battle as a
soldiers trial, the shock and clash, the hiss and
roar, waves Of blood surgng beneath waves OF
fiame-the Keeling lines the broken ranks, the
mad fever above the mangled sain-these are
the pictures of a soldiers hardships which rise
most wildly to the mind. But there are hard
er things to bear than battles In these there
is much to keep man up. Desperate as the
| strife may he, there is yet something within
which rises to the pitch of the occasion, and
meets the blow midway. But the wear and
tear OF campaign, picket duty in cold and wet
where neither fire nor light nor shelter must be
had, amidst lurking perils and narrowing res
ponsibilities-the hard march in extremes of
weather, with painful steps that must not slack
en-, and heavy burdens that it were crime to
throw aside, the hunger and thirst not easy to
be borne, and more than all to the ambitious
spirit, the most anxious endeavors seemingly
unappreciated, his brave bearlng-up against
discouragementS unnOticed, his heroic devotion
and effective service unrewarded--these are
the things that try the soul You remember,
comrades, the forced march the night before
the battle? the weary pain-crossed faces yet
set steadily towards the goal where only deep
er WEAKNESS and sharper pain awaited them
the over burdened frames still scorning to lin
. | ger lest they should miss the post of honor the
way worn feet still marching to death as to a
) festival sai enL
Tell me, for you have walked through the
wards of hospital, did you not see the soul
swaying up the body, brave spirits battling with
despair, eager to gain strength enough to 60
back and meet new wounds and sicknesses, the
| impatient patient dying to fight though that
We're but fighting to die. Remember Libby
and Belle Isle, with all their unnamed horrors
Dare to think of Andersonville-pit only for
the damned, where yet the gentle and true
Hedfbeu were pdck0u To SUl0e ana TO Starye,-
Think of the fortitude which rather than dis
honor could not choose death, but was forced
to suffer life which was more bitter! Then tell
me ii there is not still manhood which has
lost nothing of the old heroic cast-a valor
which is virtue. u II I'D il.F
When recall what has been borne and tri-
f umphed over by the sheer strength of a manly
spirit, feel new reverence for the dignity
and glory OF human nature, and that true man.
illness is only little less than godliness.
, E,.44 II, xxrtI
not to the men of other chimes or ages in the
spirit that will kindle at the name of Country
Is it not a strange thing, and full of some vet
f unfathomed meaning-this fascinating esprit de
corps-this spirit OF membership and utilization?
inc we are b"t a viii ule los COUNTY, e see
| What ia thar W0ndrOus in a waving ban
ner, that it should beckon the ewes where thew
shall close on it forever? Why thould the idea
OF Nationality so thrill that each man thinks
it nearer to him than life? seeing that beyOnd
there is one tongue, and neither Parthian,
Meade, Elamite nor jew? LIS it not because
these things are the emblems and foreshadow-
ings of the great Ideals which man most loves
the end Of all his longing and striving Free
dom, peace, protection, home, love, the Joy of
high activities! And i'm the idea of country
and nationality is the shadOwing and si1nili-
itude of these immortal resting places of the
SOUL Organized society secures these to u.s. in
some small degree suited to our transient es-
tate, but the best we can look for here. SO one
|
not for himself-oh glory of manhood--but for
| others hold it no less than an argument for
/ future existence that man will give his life
for his friend when by that very act he loses
him here forever-that one will suffer gladly
| that others may be free from ill-that one will
| die painfully that his countrymen NAV live
| happily. So unselfsh-so little looking for re-
ward-so trusting to the final good-so ventur-
ing Tor the brotnerhood OF man, on the Father
hood of God! Surely otherwhere than here
must we look for the just balance of things
| elsewhere and not here can we fathom the deem
significance of patriotism and martyrdoml
And it was for this sentiment of country
and nothing else that they who sleep in these
ed themselves as martyrs. "My country and
the old fag'-how the thought quickened the
elastic step which bore them to the frayl how
1t fingered on dying lips when the bloody strife
| was over. Tell her L die for my country
how many such message has been sent from
neids OF glory! PRO patria" murmured with
failing breath your own heroic boy, Horatio
Smith. PRO patria," the language of the
scholar, the soul of the patriot. Do any doubt
that we know what love of country means?
In no time or cline has there been more ready,
cheerful, noble devotion. This, too in period
and locality in which men were taught that
war was wiekedness, and were peculiarly
taunted with self seeking, with mere meehan-
lcal enterprise and barrenness of cbiyalry.-
But those gravely mistook who presumed that
| we would prefer peace to honor private wealth
TO puDllc veal, and comfort to country. The
new world has witnessed to a patriotism wor-
thy OF the golden ages of the old.
But this was not ALL Those who responded
to the call of the constituted authorities sprung
| up as If by instinct. 1t was we'll 1t showed
that Law was at the bottom of our Liberty.
and Night the minister of Right. But the
sky grew dark-the struggle deepened Men
were forced to think. They grew to clear
Intelligence of the question: to a complete COM
prehension OF the vastness of the issues, and
| they accepted without murmur and without
hesitation the great responsibility the hercule-
| an task. 1t was not simply country restored,
but country regenerated. And broader yet
the struggle was for the vital interests of man
kind and was ordained by Providence to mark
a tide in human History and an epoch in Time
So starting from this rallying point of country
and the honor of her flag, impelled hV manly