Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1868-06-11

IN ktN. H. NJ hhNN T.
S.sGtrS Gllo,s-cia.eHs dHd fCeads s.
We are here, by beautiful scrcmony, q
do afseotionate honor to our soldier dead
The spirit Of the service We can trace, in
various customs and rites, almost as ta
hack as We can trace human history al
all. The ai,ectionate and grateful hear
everywhere delights 10 adoru, with that
which is beautiful and fragrant, the la,
resting places of those they have honored
and loved, We do il, to-day, with tender
and loving heart; bat no, alone for thos,
who rest beneath the shadow Of this
graceful monument; we do ii, in spirit
and loving remembrance. for those com
rades who are not here, but whose name
YOU have heard from the roll Of honor
aud who sleep on the fields where they
fell. or beneath the long lines Of elevated
sod which mark the soldier cemeteries in
distant and too lately rebcllious States.
Some Of US will join in this service with
trimming eyes, and hearts still burdcued
with great sorrow There are tens Of
thousands, all over the land, in Whose
hearts will be renewed, by this occasion,
the anguish of those dreary years, which,
We thank God, are past years when the
brave mother choked down her forebod-
ings to bless the departing son, and the
brave SON knew that to answer an imper-
lied nations call was TO lay life an offer.
ing at her altar; years OF wcarisomc
marches and perilous exposures; of hard
fought battles and prisons with scanty
food years when the wall Of sorrow, 4
from hundreds and thousands Of boref, /
households, went up on the same brcezes
which waited the shouts that hailed the /
glorious victory
And yet think may say we are not
here in the spirit of hmentation. The
cause, in which these men went, was a
noble and worthy one. II was not mere
ly the nations best prosperity which was
at stake, it was her very existence The
questions at issue were not some local or
transient ones, but whether this free. !
Republican government, with all her gar.
nered wealth Of blessings for waiting
world, should prove success or an igno-
minous failure. We said then that the
cause was worthy and noble. We say
this, to-day, with convictions which
times flight has only decpencd, No there
IL not a soldier here, who drew his sword.
or bore his rife or lifted the old flag, or
made the long march, or faced the Shot
and shell of battle, who is not glad that
he went Who is not proud of his perils
If he wears scar, it is badge of honor
AS bitterly and fondly as she mourns
her dead, there is not a mother here that /
repents that her brave boy had it in his .
heart to go,
In the round of flying years, when this /.
generation shall have passed not quite
away, there will here and there be left a /
soldierly form, with whtened head, to
tell the thrilling story of strategy, and
battles, and personal adventure, to which /
ehildren's children will listen with bated .
breath and moistened eyes. The man /
who fought in the Great Rebellion, and
on the loyal side, will be the man whom
a gratified country viii delight to honor
The graves and monuments at which the
stranger will longest linger to read and to
ponder names, all alike unknown to him
self, will be the graves and monuments
which We honor this morning.
We may mingle some rcjoicings, then,
with our tears to-day. But, above all, as
we silently pass these mounds and cast
upon them the fairest and sweetest flow
ers, which our search has found, or fingers
have culled, making these graves all
bright with beauty and redolent with
odeos, let uilift upprayer to God that He
will make us, who remain, faithful to the
heritage, of which they paid, in part, the
price.
1t is for us to keep, with ceasclcss vigil
lance and fidelity that which they, with
peril and blood, helped to save
Soldiers, fellow-citizens, and friends
We do honor to those. whose graves we
visit to-day, just to that extent to which
We cherish 4 patriotic devotion To those
principles OF union, freedom and right for
which they died. Let it be our solemn
purpose to do this To do this, let US
teach these children who mingle. with
US in these scenes, and who are so soon
70 take our places.