Idaho semi-weekly world. (Idaho City, Boise County, Idaho Territory) 1867-1868, 1868-07-08
Sen1i at'eekly Morld.
DECORATING SOLDIERS GRAVES.

DECORATING SUlADAENS VIVA y sSs
The Shenandoah (Va.) Herald Of
June 18th gives the following beautiful
sketch, of the decoration of the graves
of Southern soldiers in that place, or
the 18th of that month:
The citizens of the town and many
from the neigborhood assembled at the
Lutheran Church, at 3 o'clock, bearing
the beautiful wreaths of flowers and ev'
ergreens that had been SO tastefully
wrought by the ladies for the occasion
After an appropriate prayer by Rev. l.
Keller, Maj Uriel Wright, of Winches.
ter. delivered brief but touching and
eloquent address. He said that whatev-
er other rights people might be de-
prived of by the oppressive acts OF TYR
ants, no human power could deprive
them of the privilege of mourning for
the heroic dead; no power could cxtln-
guish the holS sentiment of alteration
and love for the memory of those who
had sacrificed their lives in defence OF
their country's liberty, their homes,
their property, and all that was dear
in their domestic relations. He hoped
the day never would come when the
mothers and daughters of the South
would cease to pay their annual visits
to the resting places of our heroic dead,
and strew upon their humble mounds
those beautiful and expressive memen-
toes. If we would, we have not the
means to erect costly monuments and
imposing mausoleums TO their memory
they do not need the marble slab or the
stately shaft to indicate where repose
their venerated ashes; such proud me-
MORALS might perish in the lapse OF
time; their heroic deeds, their patriotic
devotion to their country, and their vol,
lntary sacrifice of their lives upon their
country's altar, had embalmed their
memory in the hearts of the living.
Annually the earth will continue to bring
forth its beautiful floral fruits, with
their heaven-painted tints and delicate
doors, fit symbols of mortality and beau
tiful emblems of the holy devotion OF
an oppressed people, whose past has
been one of bitter disappointment, but
whose future is illumined by the cheer
ING hope Of delivcrauce from oppression.
let these teening offerings Of mother
earth be annually thrown upon the
graves of our loved ones, and let their
heavcn-given odors ascend as holy In
ccnsc to the Father Of Mercies The
grass withercth, the flower f<dcth," but
the crushed affections Of the heart shall
survive until its pulsations shall cease
and its vitality be cxtinguishcd.
At the conclusion Of Maj Wright
address, of which we cannot give even
an outline, he presented the ladies two
bouquets, which had been given o. Col
Withers and himself, on the previous
day. as testimonial on the part of the
ladies for the manner in which they
had defended their most cherished aud
sacred rights against the assaults of
their enemies, with the request that
they should be deposited upon the
graves Of some Of those whose slabs
bore the inscription, 'unkno,m' 1t
might cheer some desolatc mothers
heart, or afford some degree Of conso-
Eation to some Borrowing wife or sister.
to know that, perchance, these delicate
offerings decorated the mound beneath
which rcposcd q son, a father, or . he
loved brother 1t was a touchngly
Sublime spectacle to gee the grief-strIck-
en- mother, the bcreavcd wife. the low
ing sister, bearing the beautiful enblcms
vi crushed hopes knecling at the graves
Of their loved ones and dcpositing their
offerings, watering them with their
tears, while the solemn funeral dirge,
mournfully chanted by the multitude,
and the tolling of the bells foatcd upon
the evening breeze. The surcharged
heart sent forth its warmest devotion
TO the Great Giver of all good, invok-
ing His blessing on the afflicted and
oppressed ones, who survive only to
feel the iron hand Of an unrelenting
and implacablc foe.
RECOssTRuCTIoS.- Raleigh IN. O.