Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1866-06-02

! prints on the sands of time; dead and bu-
red, they were followed by shower OF
stars, and as long as the heavens beam with
sparks OF light, so long will they live and
shine.
But fellow citizens, there is another way
IN which we can revere the memory of the
dead
1t is by a strict observance of the grand
principles for which they died. The public
tllno is much exercised about monuments
ana memorials to our deceased warriors.
IL IS not IN me to say aught against it ;
but the greatest honor that can be rendered,
TO their memory, is for those who revere
them, to stand by the grea. principles for
WHICH tney dled. other monuments will
perish. The memorials constructed of na-
lures elements will pass away with natures
wastes. At best, they are but mute thipas
the meaning of which may be lost, even
while they yet stand. But sublime princi.
pies, practically brought into immortal
minds, and lived into the histories of
mankind, will endure through all the
ages, and keep telling their impressive story
forever We shall be recreant to our duty,
we will defile the Goddess of Liberty
we will fling contempt upon the graves of
our worthy dead, if we depart from, and
disregard the great principles for which they
fought.
Our marble mementoes will be mockery,
and their blood will rise in judgment against
us, If we in theory or in practice adopt the
very policy, most adapted to the selfshness,
and in complete harmony with all the de-
sires of those, who though claiming to be
our friends, are our secret and dangerous
foes.
When I think of the bilowed graves of
the martyrs of Constitutional Liberty, when
remember their unparalleled suffering and
cruel deaths, my soul burns at the thought
OF any divergence from the sublime and
God given principles, the salvation of which
cost so much blood and treasure. In view
of the dead mighty responsibility is bound
upon The soul ofevery American citizen, and
woe to the man, who from merccnary ends,
or the qualification of evil passions, utterly
repudiates these principles and frowning
upon men Of sacred memory, throws up a
high way of his own; better for such an one
that he had not been born.
All such must fall under the avenging arm
Of justice. No my friends, if we would give
that honor to the departed soldier which he
has bought with his life, we must stand up
for, and maintain to the end of time, the
great principles which God has approved,
and which the true patriot loves. Nobly
the brave battled and died, the Republic
lives-Esto Perpetua,-let this be our motto.
AS you journey to this marble pile, think of
the words.of the immortal Lincoln as he
stood by the graves of those who had fallen
on the memorable field of Gettysburg. "Let
us resolve that the dead shall not have died
in vain that the nation shall, under God,
have new birth of freedom, and that the
government of the people, by the people,
and for the people, shall not perish from
the earth'
call you to-day to look upon that flag,
the beautiful emblem of this free and happy
land. Emphatically that banner Is ours. Its
whole history is sacred. In every sense it
is a banner Of beauty. 1t Is studded with
stars, crossed with stripes, and varigated
with red, white and blue. 1t is the banner
of sef-government. "Its red symbolizes the
blood shed to secure it; its white, typifes
the purity of the principles on which it is
based, and its blue signifies the favor of
heaven which has rested upon it. 1t is the
banner of our country, the representative of
its Constitution, the ensign ofits government,
the bond of its Union, the embodiment of
its power, the shield of its protection, and
the standard of its army"
1t is the banner of triumph. 1t was bap-
tized with the blood ef victory at Bunkers
Hill, confined by the hand of victory, at
Yorktown, and it has maintained its pro-
fession of faith in victory, at home and
abroad, by land and by sea, during three
wars, and on more than a hundred battle
fields. 1t is the banner of glory. 1t was
crowned with glory in the war of the
revolution, gem after gem has been inserted
in that crown, until now it is all studded
with glory" And as it to day floats more
triumphantly than ever, charge you to re-
member, that it has been re-baptized with
blood and to save it from being Gesecrated,
tramped forever in the dust, to revenge the
infamy hurled upon its precious folds, thou
sands bled and now sleep the sleep that
knows no waking. The grave Of every dead
soldier should make the banner doubly sa-
cred. Thousands have died in its presence,
have been wrapped in its folds, and now
sleep in its embrace.
If you would appreciate and honor the
soldier, then, you must regard invlolably
the.principles on which our beautiful flag
rests. The revolution could produce but
one Arnold to betray it, the subsequent age
but one Burr to conspire against 1t, but the
nineteenth century more than one Davis to
dare its destruction, but all IN vain; and
now God grant, that while time rolls away,
no one mean or low enough may be found,
to insult that banner, the pride OF the ma.
tion the shroud of the dead and they JOY OF
the living soldier. | call you to look upon
the colossal proportions of our maghanimous
government and then remember you duty
to the nation, for the life and immortality
of which the brave have died. call you
to anticipate the great blessings of your
children, and your children's children, and
then remember those who falling in the
smoke of battle, have found a martyrs grave,
Let us to day rise to true sense of our ooli-
cations as citizens of this mighty Republic
and In respecting and acting upon the prln-
cipes for which we have triumphantly Dat
tied, we will eXalt the name and character
of the departed more than if we raised over
every grave seperate cenotaph, richiy car
we'd and all covered with inscriptions oil
gratitude. Let the nation majesticaiiy move
on in her conquering path our brave SOL
diers in the hands of just Cod nave re,
deemed her, and if We are faithful 70 our
trust, nothing can hinder her from ineIeas-
ing more and more in power and glory
until like the prophetic church OF God, she
is beautiful as the morning, bright as tue sun,
fair as the moon, and terrible as an army
with banners - ..1 Flo. 1896. ..i.
She is now the cradle of religious freedom,
| loo.a. of civil Eharty the