New-York tribune., 1870-05-31
DECORATION DAY.
can,innnh frnm First Page.

OF lulE. f,c ,bone6 crowded with incidents of self
sercns & deygG a1 Was @ the cause in which these
heroes died For the moral grandeur OF their acner1 %
mept those recondte principles of law and unity ana
nationality that are the very refinement on moHr CIV @
i"fio lie most subtle and yet most vital forces YET
reached In the development Of humanity ana pui % to
into The concrete Of living moving army, & anu hdo1 M,,
where an read Union, Liberty El9a1y' law ti
SVysGnfe fd HacIa thing Iet e aeeompShed s in the
t,iy of war the science of CoVernuient ,,o. ~
her training and institutions is known and read or % a.
We cease TO brag OF cotton ana cori oi m iGns Of
men, aud lead tue stranger in reveIeni3 senU is"Ted
uDJer stittona forms aud not at the caprice SI
dcS,t CT Of a mob: that the pohtcu an"A,' d ,,ot
PEOPLE should be regulated by Reason ana LW to my ,of
governing M he held sacred ad TIE &c'io m !thn 40
MT may change aud the Constitution itself nc
amended; tnat the GoYeIlf. S,, ai i in The i,ro
lotion of law ard administration OF justice aHo tIt
, Netir itsrf As am organic entity whose life Is unit
aud whOsc res rvaon is our sacred duty TO poSIcIl
rLef maXms Of the science OF government almost TOO
re1ouditc 20 hc stated in words, presenting othlg thc
taat are spirit aud life seized upon by t"e common
people a. bcttr than bread otttGr thll ,, a v me
common Consciousncss Nation the capacity 10 aIple-
hend truths such as these that there was latent IN the
he9rf az nroplc a vire capable of maintaining them
al cast Of every thing material and earthly lIs Ws @ e
product OF ages ot heroic discipline anu E'JSo III te
cause ~ free goycrmcut-Of moral FORCES Slow! Gli
ing plane of national life ana rolling tcN e euSU ,
OF anarchy of couIton, ana ol luxury ~ 'Hel IchVuP
but ~, xt u suishdlle lreS. ,, A., 49,, I'D
VIM drJ In is cause rise TO the magnitcence of that
,o"Ti couii,t whose Instruments they were Did they
apurchcud q al which, also, they were air hendtd
of CoIl 90 10 the village homes from which seven
tcuh OF the army came; 80 10 the sGhOols ana CEile
field; ~ to tLc homes of culture and refinement an9
equally tie homes of hardy oil 20 INTO te cilces O
trcs and tre walks professional hie 80 where the
soldiers IOm, and gather their treasured say Us
lu4Ny Wl I T.
tiers from c front 10 friends at home, the StlTr words
Of patriotism The proud devotion TO the ideal OF Liberty
and Union that blend with the messages OF Affection ana
the hurried farewell, aud you shall know Wlat th,se
fighting for Listen to The tax OF que camp
fires as tho from distant States compare notes on
the War and isSueshear the umbermen OF Maine ana
Michigan, and the farmer boys of Vermont aud WlscOn
SIN the factory hands OF Massachusetts, the mechanics OF
NcS-York the miner Of Pcnus lvaIm ana Illinois, teH
how ana why they came, ana 1t Jlt! @ .'d 10 ~ W az t
plish and shall learn that these men knew WHAT tty
were fighting for Read the records o the sanitary Com
mssion ia which the answers ofrcgiment upon eglneI
man hy mau given to these very questions: why d9
Do you believe republican government 10 pe the Dest
Aud from the simple mani! reSo.sf oi 'e Goi1Se ne S
emphasis Of tle Iri,hmau. Be lalels et Ia a gone
trauSb thirteen battles cf didn't think that"-thcre is
one unanimous testimony that these men knew Nhat
they were fighting for Go into the hospitals, where the
woGnded arr waiting the surgeons knife or expecting
fiat usecn hand that shall the last thread, eaten
the eager messages Of faith and hope they are
debating friends at home, or the brave fareWels that
euglc in the tuOat Of death, and by an tEat Is heroic III
suffering b. all that is sacred III natytdom by an tnat
what they were lighting for TEL lmy mother says
that diving boy mot 10 mourn udIIl HuIo
10 meet her in Heaven and hope MS wrttchcd rebel
lion riH soon De gut Go3CIS Would to God may
Sm0r as we WHAT they died for All! ,c6at they died
for! You shall 60 with me, if you WILL to battlefield
reach the field in the night but already before the dawn
the cannon and rifles have opened the work Of death As
we go ont toward the hospital tent come up
to siX stark forms in blue, lying in row, then
upon thrtcc-all gastly witnesses that the fighting is
begun We moment by little group and utter
brief prayer they drop into hurried grave, upon
bare board boy OF 49, His father sobs - can bear
this for hc fought my side and know how he died
but what viii they 90 al hOnet heie Il tI IlS IG n
low wounded IN the thigh nope ~ Is not mortal nc
SAYS then adds with SMILE "6W Il as G00d cause TO
be rounded in" number of wounded men are lying
the straw, in pain and blood Wahg loi the surgeon
We tell them the of Grants first success i'll Virgin
ali we've suffered" Well might the heroic Ransom say
'when field, with my brave comrades around ne,
thrown-tha the nation will live" Oh, could summon
here the dying soldiers to whom mnStered upon t1at
the three hundred thousand dead an assembly hlng
hundred academies such thsthe silent presence of
of they fought for and the resolve to preserve un
Tell me- ye Braves, was it for this ye died THAT this
commercial metropolis Of the nation might become the
yercSt den OF political HaVeTy, the NelleSt SINK OF
social corruption, where Judgment Is turned
a%aG nb ff s fallen in the srect and eqatv cannot
enter and he that depareth from evil IL accounted
above the t star! & Of the Nations was it for
ms ye died to keep that constellation i'll its integrity
strife of factions contendng for the prize of Office and
revenue and even for the bibes Of the traickers in
Was 10 that corruption might sit shameless i'll the
halls Of legislation, and luxury vaunt itself of the spoil
Of yiruei Nay nay won would "a not rot dshon9r even % the the
apOstasy from their patriotic faith, their Baptism of
answer they defended Greece from the invader that
che might become IeS or bTlgandh, with the rODDer
accOmpiiccs in her judges!
Al shall the land forget
How gu'led tie ufeblOod Of her brave,
Upon soil they fought save.
rupon and intrigue have Infested her polls and deled
her high places tine heart OF the people IS yet true to ne
But the victory Won by moral ideas must be held by
Who would be false to liberty by being false to virtue
He who would buy your votes would sell your victory
he would sell his honor would sell the dead bodies of our
her0es The Nation must purge itself of SUCH need be,
by another migatiOn Of fire and birthstone Already
into the National Constitution the doctrines OF unity Of
equality OF justice that the war established as alike the
viii of Prov dCucc and Of the People. But have
amended the Constitution itself, even while main
tainug at the canuOns mouth that the principle Of
Constitutional Government shall NOT he violated nor I'M
paired let rest in the Constitution as
once We suffered fungus TO grow upon il till il had
well nigh blasted with is smut let us now be vigant
larmOuize fully with the spirit and aims Of constitutional
liberty be suffered to fdseh ltse upon the pOcd or
gauisn of the nation. We have not driven sectionasm
Gcd ha. setygafst may now tamper with gisation
til ii shall compel another appeal TO arms No property
IN man. priesthood in the state, no corruption at the
81 liberty whose foundations laid in the faith and
hcTo.u of fathers, and within whose walls We have
nov cnsrincd 800 900 martyrs Here at Their tomb let
us swear loyalty TO Truth, to Virtue, TO Free
dom. 70 Justice 20 Humanity, TO God As We BRING now
els 10 deck their graves let pluck from those
fIcsh inspiration for the for which they died These
memorial for the living than for the
adj rather they altogether for the living; since
tle-c green ard fragrant memories testify that the dead
I'll live and the flowers that gather draw their life
aud beauty fIOm life beneath the sod. All, how much
tic life Of the nation shall henceorth be fed from
tlat manly heroic tide Of life that there dis
appeared 10 view, hut flows on in deeper
cJulc pure, cOusccraed, and perennial! In the wids
ot ,n te q that running jOyOusy over its
clear s he'd, suddenly disappears and can no longer
Il. traced upon the surface. But following the general
direction, miles and miles away, far down the valley