Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-05-14

by universal judgment, rests upon
the living. and the laurel waves untarnish.
ed over the graves of our fallen.
He esteemed them fortunate in their
fame, fortunate in their lives, and fortu
nate in the time and manner of their
death-dying, as they did, when our proud
and immortal banner bid fair soon to wave
an equal among the banners of the nations
of the earth ; when their hearts beat high
with the hope and prospect of their coun,
try's independence p; before evil days had
come upon them, before our homes were
invaded, our rights trampled upon, oul
freedom violated, and our blood spilled
without form of legal trial before the
exactions and expressions of military law
and before corruption in high places, and
before, chiefest of all, dead comrades were
insulted in their graves by those who
should have died for them-before one
member of the band had yielded to the
pressure of the times, like a craven, and
betrayed the principles for which he had
SO often risked his life, and they had sacri
feed theirs. They died, and now
"on Fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread"
| These solemn ceremonies were not ne.
cessary to the repose of the dead, or to
complete the record of their glorious ser
| vices. No studied Grafton or marble col
! umn could add to the lustre of their fame.
But these ceremonies and that shaft were
indispensably necessary to express the
deep sense of obligation the dead had i'm
posed upon US, and to show that we were
not ungrateful, and to give proper direc-
ton to the sentiments of those who come
after us to create and foster a deep and
habitual reverence for those immortal
principles for which the struggle was so
gallantly fought.
And the ladies were urged to let nothing
hereafter prevent their annual pilgrimage
to the spot, to perseyere in their work and
build high their monument and make its
foundation SO broad and so enduring, that
it shall remain as long as Heaven permits.
With singular appropriateness the speaker
closed with the following peroration
And there is another sentiment, my friends,
which would like to have proclaimed by that
monument, because think it is due to the dead.
and will mention it here, even at the risk of mis-
representa- ton and detrac.ion.
In the pass of classic ThermopyIR, there ia 8
monumental pillar reared by the decree of :be
Amphictyonic Council to the memory of Leonidas
and his devoted three hundred 1t bears al liz
ypritf nv IF in n
style of true Laced;pmonian simplicity and yet
it is so touching and tender in its tone, and so
lofty in it's sentiment, that it appears to to be
sublime:
s. Oh stranger tell it to the LacedHmonlans
That we lie here in obedience to their laws
And SO would have similar inscription upon
this monument of ours; and would have similar
record to transmit to posterity the truth of the
history of our heroes. Let the stranger, whoever
liz may be, that visits this sacred spot, go and
proclaim it to all the world that these brave men
lie here in obedience to the laws Of North Caro-
lima.
such an inscription becomes necessary, my
friends, because Of the character Of the times,
because Of the character of the men who govern
u.s. because of tie malicious ISLANDERS which are
daily circulated in the public prints, and because
current through the land, and which find their
sources almoet always in the high places of power
Therefore, would have the truth ofhistory trans
mited in its most impressive form to put to confu
sion and shame the rank ingratitude and
the cowar1sg ISLANDERS Of those who-alas for
our state are now numbered among her very
highest officials. Revied, these brave mon
are daily roviled by those who misrepresent the
arair Nv 0rJ- toto ole
viliitied, denounced es rebels and traitors, held
up to the odum of all mankind, it is nevertheless
true, and / glory in the truth, and pledge
my name and fame to sustain it, they
died in obedience to the laws OF North
Carolina, and in defense of her honor
And true North Carolina recognizes the fact, and
glories in it, and has enrolled the names of her
martyrs among the brightest which sparkle in
the coronet of her glory. And all good men
throughout the whole country, at the North as
we'll as the South, even among those who were,
during the war, our most determined foemen,
while they dissent from the principles upon which
orr cause was founded, they nevertheless
admire and generously applaud the reso-
Lutte courage, and the infexible devotion
which maintained those principles. And
thus, it will come to pass in future times,
shall have passed away, throughout all the world,
wheresoever, among men, heart shall be found
that beats to the transports Of patriotism and
liberty, it's highest aspiration shall be to claim
kindred with that spirit hich rendered the pass
of Thermopyl@ immortal, and which was quite
sigually, and quite gloriously illustrated
upon ell the battle fields of the Confe9eracy.-
The heroes of Thermopyla and the heroes of
the South Let them be forever hereafter linked
together in the minds of patriotic men! They gave
to their foemen magnanimous example of the
spirit Of the people whom they had come to con
quer, and they died in obedience to the laws Of
their country.
After the Grafton the hymn Soldiers of
Christ arise" sung at the burial ceremo-
MES of the dead at Sharpsburg, one year
after that fatal battle, was given out and
sung with great effect by those assembled.
After this came the benediction and then
the decoration. The whole ceremonies
were most solemn and impressive through
out.-Daily Journal 11M.
Elections i'm Indiana.