The Portland daily press., 1869-09-02
Terms $500 per annuns, in adrance.

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anu giow In the armament of remembrance
SET there by the fierce ordeal of battle-of
Stlnson at Bull Run-of Brown and Bean.
Bailey ana BIann at Fredericksbure, of Heath
and Gilman, Morrison and Adams. bradbury
aid GoWen, Collins and Pennell, Heryey.
Hildreth and Merchant at Gaines Unl 9f
Bryant, Oliver and Chalbourne at Sonth
Mountain, of French, Tubbs, and Pratt AZ
Rappabannock, of Stevens, Clark, Lemont.
Lawrence, Leavitt and Lyon at Spottsylya-
mia, of Goldwaithe and Mitchell in the valley
of Paradis at Cold Harbor, of Spiller and
Seaman and the good Chaplain Adams who
have passed on since they left the tented
field, and of other names with which may
not now be familiar-of those who in the in
iernal prisons of the South, away from home,
friends or even companions to soothe the last
moments of their earth life. these rise I'D be-
lore our remembrance, each radiant in the
light OF faithful duty, and we ascribe to each
and every one the well earned tribute of NO
BILE.
Long might dwell upon the scenes of the
past. Long might my fancy picture before
me the scenes of yore, of marches and coun-
ter-marches, of hunger and thirst and fatigue,
of midnight watchings and morning conflicts,
of camp and of field, of the picket and the
bvouac, of the hospital, the battle and the
carnage, of hopes and expectations, OF trials
and disappointments, of long weary nights
and longer days, of sea and land, of prisons
and liberty, and of deaths when some of the
bravest fell into an untimely grave. Looking
back upon the past we behold inscribed upon
your banners the race of Bull Run, the haz-
ard of West Point, the fearful conflict of
Gaines Hill, the bold move of Golden Farm,
the heroic daring of Charles City Cross Roads,
the bloody fight of Malvern Hill, the famous
contest of second Bull Run, the splendid vic
tory of Champion Pass, the desperate strug-
gle OF Antietam, the slaughter Of Frederics-
burg Heights, the forlorn hope of Salem
Church, the furious war trumpet of Gettys-
burg, the glorious achievement of Rappahan-
mock Station, the struggle at Mine Run, and
the splendid SUGGESTIONS of victorious achieve
ments from the Rapidan to Petersburg, while
many remained to behold the proud and de-
fiant enemy humbled in the dust, Well in
deed may you assemble in annual convOcation
and experience an honest and honorable
pride in recalling the events of by-gone days
and the part each occupied in their execution.
But it is not my purpose at this time, TO
speak so much of the military soldier as such
and his exploits, as of or to the civilian sol
dier; and by civilian soldier 1 mean the hon
orably discharged soldier, who having been
once in the military, has entered and is in
civil life. As soldiers in the military, your
service has long since ended. The cause
which called you to the tented field, and
some of our number to the deck of the bold
vessel of war, no longer exists. The Ameri-
can fag-the flag which you loved so dearly
the stars and stripes now wave over the en-
tire land. The long roll no longer sounds;
the weary sentinel no longer treads his beat;
the cannon's roar has died away in the dis
tance; the camps are deserted, and the ar
mics have departed to their quiet homes.
The gunboat and the man-of-war lie idle at
their moorings, and the bold, hardy seaman
treads the deck of the peaceful merchantmen.
The uniform of the soldier is exchanged tor
the humber garb of the civilian but garbs
and apparels cannot hide the steady martial
tread of him who carried the musket o. the
sword upon the battle-fields of the sunny
South. The war has passed as some fearful
dream; and now we all stand, even as we did
eight years ago, peaceful inhabitants of quiet
communities. Yet the remembrance of your
work is not to die with the cause which in
augurated It, Healths destroyed, constitu-
tions broken, limbs torn from their sockets in
the work which was not only for your own
defense, but also for those who preferred the
quiet of home to the field of duty, these give
or should give passport into the favor OF the
world, such as may compensate, in degree,
for such a sacrifice. And while communities
owe debt of gratitude TO their military sol
diers, let not the soldier forget that he must
himself so labor as to impress a realizing
sense of that gratitude upon the community.
You each and seyerally had duties in the
military. In the present relation of civilians,
can it be said that any are exempt? What
gave men success as soldiers in the field, be
they officers or priyates? The same agencies,
bravery, perseverance, an unhinching deter
mination to discharge every known duty
these will give one success anywhere. 1t is
then rather as civilian soldiers that l address
you for a few moments.
Entered as we are into civil life, yet bear
ing the prestige which soldiers work throws
around one-it should be the desire of every
man to have and to retain consciousness Of
what he has done. Not that his work is to
be thrust forward upon every occasion, or
that it should be an instrument to effect sII-
periority over those with whom he NAV be
associated but as an agent to inspire him to
establish such self respect as shall prove to
man, that the associations and contamina-
tions of some portions OF army life, has not
affected him; and that he is entitled to the
esteem which was given him in years gone by;
and also an instrument to aid him in the es-
tablishment of his rights. The soldier is, or
should have a consciousness that the work
which he has done, was aud is noble one;
that it involved the awakening of some OF the
noblest faculties of his being; and that the
faithfulness with which he accomplished that
labor, gave deeper impress to stirring man
hood than ever before. The occupation-the
name of soldier has not wrested from you all
that was noble in manhood ere you donned
the blue, but rather has added to it. Man
hood shines the brighter from the fact OF its
having passed through contamination, and
come forth brighter and stronger. You felt
strong, eight years ago, in a consciousness of
your manhood. The honorably discharged
soldier Cor sailor,) should feel even
stronger to-day than then; for all the ele-
ments which enter in and constitute the true
man, have been tested and tried, and are in
active power to continue the labor of materi-
al and spiritual elevation. Show to the
world that the wreath oftrue manhood, beau
titled by noble service in countrys behalf,
rests upon and adorns the brows. Make
men feel, by self consciousness of power,
that the honorably discharged soldier is
worthy.of any place within their gilt. Make the
community reiterate the expression of the
gallant and fighting Joe Hooker. When a reg
iment OF Maine boys was reported to him for
duty by their Colonel, he assigned them to a
responsible position upon the right of the
army. The Colonel rather objected to the
place assigned-remarking that it was very
responsible place-that his troops were raw,
and that he did not feel the regiment compe-
dence for the place. Says Hooker, "your reg
iment is Maine regiment is it not?" "Yes,"
replied the Col. swell then," quickly an
swered Hooker, stake your regiment to the
place assigned, lknow its responsibility; but
we can put and trust Maine boys any lohere."
That is the idea-to be trusted any where =
gather around yourselves now in civil lite,
such nobility, such manhood. that it shall
be the universal expression of community
1--WE can trust the citizen soldier any where"
There is power in a conscious manhood,
which sweeps with lightning velocity through
the fabric of human intelligence, quickening
opinions into recognition of its merits; and
when it accompanies such a service as has
been consumated by the boys in blue-a SER
vice in which self was forgotten and ignored
and all concentrated upon and consecrated
to a country, its honor and its integrity;it
should shine in the armament of individual
character like the sun in the armament of
the natural universe, animating beneath its
inspiring beams, every energy to make the
entire life a continual embodiment of new
beauties, grand efforts, and glorious results.
1t was for your country's good that you left
the peaceful employments of civil life, and
took up the sword and the musket. With
that and that only in view, you fought, and
suffered, and endured. Does not the memo
ry of noble comrades, who offered up their
lives upon the bloody battle fields, cut down
in the bloom and pride of life admonish you
to be faithful to your country's good today?
Does not the recollections OF the tales OF
tales of horror which reached your ears, per-
haps by some of your experiences, OF LIBBY
and Belle Island, of Salisbury and Macon,
and Andersonville, OF our nope heroes, eA-
posed by rebel fiends, day after day to the
fire of onr own guns at Charleston, and hosts
Of other nlaces. speak in thunder tones to
oooL -aIlior and sailor to-day-fEMark we'll