Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1869-06-11

We have met to sfrew beautiful AM
fragrant flowers on the graves of ou
soldier dead to-day.-uof as an unmean
ing ceremony, hu as a three-fold trib
ute a tribute to the men who fell.
tribute to the cause for which thev fell
and a tribute to the.r Immortality.
Who were these men ? Soldiers III
; hut not reared from childhood to tht
profession Of arms. Not one of then
could say,
since these arms Of mine had-seven year
pith'
They have us'd
Their dearest action IN the tented field.
War was not their trade. They wer,
no -fighting for gold in
cause they did not Inve.
Nor were they Eoldiers for fame, seek
ing the bubble reputation even in th'
cannon's month.
No no but they were our brothers
our sons, 0ur fathers men reared tC
the peaceful pursuits of hnsbapdry ol
merchand Sc or to the uneventful walks
If professional life. Aye, among then
were beardless haYs, unskilled iT
manly tolls, drinking delightful
edge, and looking vss-7ll xEaElsieTing and
eager. ewes np"n the Y3Stss OF are open
ing in bewildeFing Eeaufy before them,
/ These were they vvit01 WhEn the fOcSin
i
! furrows, their goods On their shell yes,
their hooks and napars in their cases
snatched a parti g kiss from loved
! ones, and hastened 10 othrow themselves
Between their loved homes
! And wars desolatiOn.
Oh how you watched them praying
the while, and fearing. and trembling
and hoping. And they were not for
getfu1 nf you. Yonr prayers were their
4 Inspiration your loving sympathy a
| b 4pCsm of hope and courage for Their
! hearts; your p 4rting benedictions, per-
/ petual blessings. Benediction for Dene-
| diction, sympathy for sympathy, and
prayer for prayer, they gave you back.
/ Thoughts of you we're their cnmPau-
/ ions by day, and in their dreams they
were with you again at night. Breath
ing an atmosphere of affection for Won
/ and love for their country, they march
/ ed, camped, and drilled and fought, and
suffered and died. Such were the men
| whose memory We honor to-day: men
/ whose accomplishing endurance OF
! hardships, whose patient suffering,
/ whose dauntless courage, whose heroic
| exp otis, were the admiration al ke of
! friend and foe men, soldiers from
! principle, patriots from every instinct
of nature, heroic by birth men who
/ loved life as fondly as we, but who
! preferred death-to disgrace either for
| themselves or their country. Such
were the men to whose worth we pay
our floral tribute to-day and whose
names and de- eds we haliow within the
inner shrine of our hearts.
| Though foul are the drops that oft distil
/ On The field of warfare, blood like this,
For Liberty shed, SO holy is,
| ItWould not stain the purest riIl,
That sparkles among the the Bowers OF
Bliss.
a boon, an Offering E3t.aVen holds dear,
| 'Tis the last libatioI4 liberty draws
/ her cause
But our Offering is not only a tribute
/ 10 the men who fell, hut to the cause
| for which they fell. it vast TO maintain
| the Union, they fell. And dare we be
/ faitbless to the c4nse baptized and hal
| lowed with their blood
! The ghosts of all our ntartyFed dead
Would haunt as 70 our graves,
i And every drop Of tslood they shed
! Would Whelni Us in thr- waves
OF black despair
d Is there one among US, who, even in
/ his most secret tthollg & hts, coquets with
imperialism is there one who favors
and other form OF government than
! the glorious democracy bequeatbed us
/ by our fatheEs 4 sl1S. e served as by the
I vaI8r Of -s4rs IITcEi h5fI6r to-day, III
| there be, then rusty bayonets, TnaTched
! by fesb1sss hands from every grass
! grown battlefield 1of the war, from
| Manassas to BenfonFilIe, from the Will
round and brand him with eternal in
/ fanny! But we who remember the
! dead to love them, remember the cause
! for which they died to love IL, and to de-
| lend it, God helping US, with vaIor akin
! to theirs, and if need be, to die for il
willingly and gloriously as they. And
we do here avUw before the living and
! the dead, and in the sight of an ALL
searching God,
On mounds which are wet with the weep
Where a nation has bowed to the rod.
! Where the noblest of martyrs are sleeping
In the arms of their loving God.
| The flag of the old Revolution
Swear firmly to serve and uphold,
That no treasonOus breath Of puIlution
Shall tarnish one star on its Iold
But we give tribute not only to the
4 men and to the cause, but also to their
/ immortality. This is not the festivMi
of death is is the festival OF life.
/ We scatter flowers on these graves. re-
/ membering the eyer-6OWering fields OF
! the spirit world whittier our brothers
have gone before US, and the form in
/ which iaIr fingers have wrought these
floral offerings is not without IT'S signi-
| ficance. Why the cross rather than
i wrt aths I6 was the cross that broug ht
life and immortality to light. This is a
sacrament of faith IN iutnOrCality. Our
| soldier dead shall wake again. The re-
| veiIle of an eternal day shall call them
muster again, but not for mortal cnm-
nat. They shall march in review
| again, but not in the streets of WASH
tngton, before a triumphant president.
! greeted by the cheers OF Il delivered and
| rejoicing people. They shall muster
| under the standard of the cross and
| through the streets of the New Jsru-
salem march IN review before their rr-
deeming Lord, surrounded by glOrified
'hrougs shouting them welcome to Iht
skies
Then as we go to their graves TODAY
| let US remember not so much our NOR
alty asOur Immortality, and be led t..
| prepare, by the assistance of the SDirit
and through the merits of Christ. moi
so much for death, AS for the Iif9 after
| death. AS we go 10 their graves to-day.
let US also, renew The fires of devotion
burning upon the altars of patriotism ;
and let us remem Der that the best proof
.ve can give Of our love for the dead i
our love f5r the living. God forbid that
we should ever suffer their surviving
| comrades,
I'm battle lopt away with half their limbs,
To beg bitter bread through States theii
ValOr saved"
God forbid, that By any neglect o.
ours, the widows and orphans, and
| help esS stricken parents of these dead
/ nprOes, snuuld be caused to weep bitt+-t
tears above these green graves and
pour into the ears of sleeping grave
dust tue story of suffe ring aud WTroBgs :.
Let US go to the RISING places OF thes e
4 Hobls men with heaIts td love for the
dead, ana leave them with hands OF
charity for the living.
| Wish solemn mien and revere mt tread,
/ And hears thatsoften while we weep,
! We sdther round each lonely bed,
Where our brave dead in silence sleep.
From homes whose peace their valor bot
And helTthStOnes halloWed by their love,
- GnAGEgneQ
fraught
Unto these sacred shrines we move.
No costly gifts of gold we bring
Nor gems fresh glitterIng from the mine
But dewy blossoms of the spring
Above these storied urns we Lwine.
Rest, flowers, rest, a fragrant crown
On brOWs once red with glory's scars
II And banners folds wave softly down.
Ger forms that fell beneath your stars.
sleep! till the arehangel in the skies,
Shall bid all strife and tumult cease,
And we with you rejoicing rise
To realms of everlasting peace.
The Enquirer is inconsolable because
President DAVIS" IS not the recognized
ifficial nomenclature of JEFF. in For