Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1868-06-03
STREWING FLOWERS ON
SOLDIERS GRAVES.
Ceremonies at lakewood Gem
q. etery.

w NtAAAA
to strew flowers over their graves, and b.
q other appropriate exercises homo. thei
: memories, q large number of the citizen
of Warren participated in the solemn anc
: impressive services of the occasion.
! About >, P. NJ, a procession was form
ed on the Public Square, under charge o
Col. H. G. Stratton, marshal, and heade,
BY the Warren Band, proceeded to Oak.
wood Cemetery. On arriving there tht
exercises were opened with prayer by the
Rev. Benz. st. John Page, after which
, Rev. George Pierce delivered a brief ad
dress, substantially as follows:
Abiding TO the fact that great events in
history were imperfectly ~aPprehended by
) the actors in them and their cOtempora-
ries, ard illustrating it by reference to the
experience of the last ten years in our
country, he said We are all too near and
too much moved by our personal interest
20 form any comprehensive judgment on
them. But we know enough already to
fill us with q profound sense of gratitude
TO the living and dead soldiers of the Re-
public.
The condition of the country in the
winter and spri5g of 1861 was described.
State after State seeded. There was ex-
u~ltation and confidence at the South. The
government was controlled BY imbecile
and ~treacherous hands, that i~nterposed no
obstacles TO the disIntegration rapidly
going on. The loyal states were divided,
Its leading men were prophesying peace
and trying 10 patch up some form of com
promise. Il makes ones ears to Jingle TO
think Of the deep abasement to which we
submitted TO avoid a conflict The loyal
people seemed to be fifty represented by
Ezekiefs vision Of bones that were every
dry"
And then came the great awakening
that followed the assault and capture of
TT. Sumpter. Then our people received a
new baptism, and we had a Pentacost of
patriotism. President LinColn's Procla-
nation and call for 75 900 men, was like
the prophets call upon the dry bones, and
we found an exceeding great army ready
to suffer and die for the father land. Then
all divisions ceased, all loyal lips were
~outspoken, all loyal hands were sctiVe,
treasure flowed into the national Golfers
with unparalleled liberality. Then, and
all through the weary struggle, we sent
into our armies our choicest treasures
Our fathers and sons, husbands and lovers,
from every department of life, from farms,
and shops, and schools, rich men and
poor men IN n frsternal band of as
noble men as ever breasted the dangers of
war. We sent them forth with our ben
.edictions and promise of everlasting re-
membrance. We cheered them with the
assurance that every scar they received
should be badge of honorable distinction,
that if disabled be made comfortable by
a grateful country's bounty, that the
names OF the battle fields on which they
should fight should be associated with
their own, that on our gala days ard ma
uOnal festivals they should be honored
guests. And we promised that if they
should fall in the service they should not
be forgotten, that places stained with
loyal blood, and graves Of fallen braves
should be shrines of patriotic pilgrimage, I
that it should be a patent of republican
nobility TO the son that his father died If
his country's defence against rebellion
The val was fought, we all remember
through what delays, discouragements and
difficulties to q triumphant Issue. ltraged
over an unexampled extent of territory,
between immense bodies of men, in in
Vulnerable engagements until the last
strong hold was captured, and every enc
my was subdued. The strife cost immense
treasures, sacrificed q multitude of lives.-
Hardly q home but has had its dead from
the camp or battle field. But we can al
ready see in part what compensation it
has brought. We have an established
government, We have a government purI-
ned and freel from the curse and stain of
slavery. Aristocratic hopes have been
forever crushed, democracy has triumphed
over its enemies at home and abroad, the
Declaration of Independence can be read
by US without suppressing any part of it,
and embodying its glorious truths in our
national life, we have promise Of a future
of greatness and glory such as even ecllps-
es our wonderful past.
In view Of our solemn promises in the
past, in view of the wonderful achieve
ments of our citizen soldiery, in view of
the precious interests they have defended
and secured, in view of the glorious future
they have opened to US, we do well to no.
nor the living and tenderfully and CRATE
fully remember the dead. Most fitting is
it that to-day, all over our land that sur
viYing comrades, loving relatives, and
earnest patriots should visit the graves of
the fallen braves, and recalling and re-
counting their acts of virtue and noble a-
ring adorn the mounds over the silent dust
with Springs choicest flowers. So shall
we make. them live again in the character
and spirit of those who come after them,
and help form a generation worthy 20 en-
joy the blessings they have diedto secure.
at the conclusion of Mr.. Pierce's re-
marks, the procession was reformed, and
proceeded to the several graves to be dec
GRATED. The wreathes were placed in the
following order, BY the persons named,
who upon depOsiting the flowers on the
last resting place Of their fallen comrades,
pronounced brief but eloquent and beft-
ting eulogies:
GAYLORD B. HAWKISs.-REMARKs
By REV. r. NJ. WARREN.
The peculiar glory of our country
is its christianity. The most powerful
element among u Of true prosperity
and progress is the christian elenent.
recognize this as the corner stone
of all that is virtuous in our national
life. Are we as a people becoming
proficient in the study of human rights
ARE we learning the great lesson of
.justice-the text book is the Bible ;
the original code of moral ethics is in
the hand writing of God. Hence to
and protect u fellow men
in the enjoyment and exercise of their
inalIensble rights, and to defend from
every foe q government founded in
such principles of equal justice, is the
manifest and positive duty of every
christian man.
Nobly was this responsibility met by
the churches of our land in the recent
war
The brave boys at the front heard
from our pulpits no uncertain sound.
They felt that behind them was a power
all Divine; the prayers of christian
men and women. And the thought
that loved ones we're praying for them,
many an arm in the day of
battle.
While members Of our churches by
went forth at the call of
duty to die for truth, the pulpit had
also its representatives at the front.
Christian ministers were at the head of
regiments and companies, in the rank
and file of our armies, and as chaplains
of regiments and agents of the Sanitary
and Christian Commissions they every