The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-06-05

By all their country's wishes blest,
When spring with dewy fingers cold,
Returns to deck their hallowed mould ?
She there shall dress fairer sod
Than fancy's feet have ever trod;
By fairy hands their knell is rung
by forms unseen their dirge is sung,
There honor comes pilgrim gray,
To dress the turf that decks their clay;
And freedom shall awhile repair,
To dwell weeping hermit there"
Comrades and Friends: We meet to,day,
under circumstances combining elements Pc
culiar, painful and to certain extent, of plea
ing interest. We have consecrated this day to
the memory of those whose silent mounds con-
stitute this city of the dead and, to-day speaks
more grandly, more powerfully and more elo.
quently than the enhancing words of earth's
greatest orators, or the studied measure and
pleasing rhyme of her most distinguished
poets. Ages have rolled away, centuries have
gone to swell the volume of the mighty past,
since the voice of the great am that am !"
made known to the solitary shepherd on the
fields of indian, that the ground on which he
stood was holy-and while we do not claim
for this the honor which obviously per,
tains to that, we do believe and honestly af
firm, that this is as holy, as sacred and revered
ground as any not claiming some connection
intimate or remote to the superhuman or the
Divine.
And it is eminently fit and peculiarly appro-
pirate, that at times like these some public de-
monstration of our tender and lasting regard
for our departed comrades should be made
some exhibition to the world should be given,
that our love for the cause in which they fell
has been in no degree lessened by time or d.
minished with revolving years-but rather,
that the exalted feelings OF fraternal regard
and patriotic zeal, born with increased brill
liancy on the affairs of our hearts, as the
auift curranf IF aviatqnna has 70 nc fnwordu
the broad, deep ocean of eternity.
In addition to the interest which centres
here, from the scenes and associations of the
present, the same is increased by the recollec-
tons of the past historical events which have
here transpired- to which both parties
in our late unhappy struggle can recur with a
common interest and common pride; events
which entered very largely among the ele-
ments of success in our first grand struggle for
national existence, when the colonies of the
young confederation after years of privation
and struggle came forth from their fiery ordeal
mighty nation, recognized influence
among the powers of the civilized earth. Iii
not my purpose at this time to review the causes
which led to or speak of the particulars of
the second grand struggle for our life as a ma
ton that would be unnecessary /; for they are
all too well fixed on your recollection, am
assured, to need reference here.
The struggle came, and strong hands, brave
hearts, and true souls were not wanting to
rush into the maelstrom of destruction that
the nations strength should be maintained un-
diminished; its honor unstained, and its in
tegrity unimpaired; and to day we have deco
rated with the choicest treasures of the floral
kingdom the graves of each departed hero,
whether known or unknown, whose remains
are gathered in this beautiful cemetery. And
if perchance there should be found the grave
OF one who was our enemy in war, l know it
will ha pn m fod but this Oft will
be rendered, not in approval of the cause for
which he died, but respect for the bravery and
zeal displayed by him in upholding it. And if
to day there are those who cannot look on the
folds of yon starry banner with the delight and
the patriotic feeling and pride that we can, let
US hope the time is not far distant when they
will; and should it ever be our fate to become
involved in another war, may it be against a
common foe, and may both parties rally
around the glorious emblem of our preserved
nationality with the same bravery, the same
ardor, and the same devotion as when our an.
cestors bore it in triumph through the dangers
and peril of q century ago.
This expressive and appropriate custom, can
be traced back for many ages-e'en to the
morning twilight of our civilization-and this
tender feeling for the dead seems to be SO firm
ly implanted in our minds and affections, that
we may with safety assume it to be one of the
inherent elements of our nature and in our
deplorable condition welcome evidence that
there yet remains to men some of those exalted
traits OF character possessed by him previous to
his fall.
Bring then, your choicest flowers, emblems
of purity and lasting remembrances, and deck
the graves of our fallen comrades and may
the happy custom now inaugurated be mains
tanned each year with increased care and pa
triotic devotion, while the principles for which
they fell shall triumph on the earth
ssHeroic dead above each head
Well weave a garland while they sleep,
And gently shed for those who've bled;
Such tears as love alone can weep.
Reviving flowers each tomb,
Where many asorrowing form hath bowed,
And natures loom till day of doom
Will yearly weave their vernal shroud.
And dewy tears around their biers,
And keep their memories ever green,
When evening rears its arch of spheres;
Into glistening temples sheen.
Let music pour its sadness DER
The place where muted footsteps tread,
And cannons roar along the shore,
Where murmuring waters bless the dead.
Perchance, a hand-an angels hand
In spirit guise may bear away,
To spirit land at heavens command,
Some token from each mound of clay"
tits for some reason to be deplored that so
many graves in this sacred enclosure are
marked with that sad word ss,unknoon," for it
suggests the distant home, perhaps the lonely
widow, the weeping orphans or aged parents,
who mourn in sadness the uncertain fate OF
him, whose grave we have this day decorated,
and they will never be known in time but
there, up there, where war is never known and
peace-pure, blessed and abiding peace-for-
ever reigns on the imperishable scroll of glory,
their names are all recorded. There, the at
present heroic unknown, is we'll known and
we'll recorded.
1t is happy and consoling thought that the
many, each of us can call to remembrance, who
left our then distant homes with us for the
war, and whose ashes now consecrate and
make sacred indeed, the soil from the Potomac
to the Rio Grande, are not wholly departed
but are with us still, and unseen by mortal
eyes, we feel their sacred presence and holy
influence, as we did on the toilsome march or
the bivouac and battle, as during the day we
cannot behold the glistening stars that beautify
and adorn the heavens, yet we know they are
there, each in its accustomed place, and as the
shadows of night gather about US they then
appear in all their splendor; SO when the
cold winds and frightening shadows Of
death shall come DER us we will behold
each departed friend in his own place, and
shining with undimmed brightness in the
celestial, the spiritual armament. And an
other thought in this connection may not be
inappropriate to mention here. In our
thoughts of the dead they never grow old.
Your young friend and comrade who fell by
your side in battle or expired in the distant
hospital, seems to you the same young patri
otto friend to-day as when death called him
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