Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-06-06

cared for seemed to be in peril when we
woke every morning to the fear of new
tidings OF disaster, we dared not imagine
how fatal; when every one found himself
debating the question, Sought not to 90
and give my life for my country" And
when one and another of these brave men
who now sleep here, one neighbOr, another
an associate in business, another an init
mate personal friend, stepped forward and
said, Il will go, land |, " land |, - could
we bel feeling, she goes in part for him
self and in part for me" and did we not
vow in our hearts that we would never for
get this sacrifice, and never abate the graft
tude which was its due; that we would keep
the remembrance of it sacred in our own
hearts, and teach it to our children, and in
cula:e it as a holy duty upon pOsterity
And can it be that we have 50 soon forgot
ten all thii' Has it come TO this, that We
leave to the survivors of a score of battles
the task of keeping up the memory Of what
we owe to their dead comrades and to them
No. fellow citizens; surely not so > No,
soldiers, believe it not As year by year
this ceremony cOmmends itself to popular
favor and observance, and gradually broad
ems out into a grand national festival,
worthy OF the great cause for which these
men died, and worthy of the men who died
Tor 1t, the heart of the nation a. the heart of
one man will come to welcome its annual
return as consecrated to those halowed
rites in which the nation honOrs itself by
honOring its dead heroes.
But whatever outward form this memorial
| day may take, the meaning and spirit of it
will always be the same as it Is tO-day-a
tribute of gratitude to the men who died
that their nation might live Let us for a
few moments refresh our memories with a
recital Of what we owe to the men whom
the nation delighteth to honor.
! We are indebted to them for a reassur-
ance of national confidence. The darkest
| hour in our whole experience as q nation,
was that which witnessed the watering of
the public mind, when it ioresaw the great
| crisis as inevitable and near at hand. and
/ doubted its own conscience and manhood.
| DO | oyerstate the prevalent tone Of sadness
and dependency that Just preceded the
/ war, when | say that sometimes when we
asked the OminOus question, &" Is there
virtue enough left in the nation to save it,
we looked into each others faces and read
| almost blank despair Remember how
| many OF our statesmen ignObly bowed down
I before the coming danger and thereby not
only betrayed their own weakness but de
clared their belief in the weakness Of their
constituents. How many among Us can
| pretend that while that the enemies Of the
nation We're openly and dehantly laying
their plans and counting their victories and
the trlendsof law and liberty were apparent
ly Indifferent, certainly inactye-w no of
Us eau claim that he never deSpaired Of his
country? Who did not sometimes feel even
though he were ashamed to confess, that
national heroism was ali in the past, and
that national degeneracy and decay were
the sure heritage Of the future. But when
the tulne>s Of the time came, when in their
mad presumption upon tins seeming de-
generacy, the enemy yenturet upon actual
aggression, then what magnificent specta-
Gle did this nation exhibit. of trueSt
hcr0iSm, of sublime devotion to a cause,
Of style of moral grandeur VI ich
challenges comparison with aught that
mankind in it, best estate has ever achiey
ed, Never has history witnessed more
splendid uprising Of a great people 10
lt> heayen-appCInted mission not when
Greece resisted the Persian. nor Rome the
Carthaginlan, nor Switzerland the Burgun-
dian, nor England the Spaniard. nor Spain
the Frenehman. nor America herself her
unnatural parent in the days Of revolution
airy glory. And when We say the nation
did this. We mean that the men who sleep
here under this sod. and the thousands who
sleep elsewhere, they did it. When the hour
came which put the question to the test,
whether the nation had lost its virtue and
her0ism, It's conscience and faith, these men
came forth and reiuted the SANDER. Who
talks now of national degeneracv2 What
American will ever again despair Of bis
country These men have also earned for
us respect abroad The world has almost
forgotten that America had ever had any
other history than that connected with her
material progress and her peculiar institu-
ton. Ne had come % be regarded as a
nation of m0ney-getterS and hraggarts. ut
te~ly destitute OF the stuff ont OF which
great men are made. Europe had long been
waiting for the crisis which WAS 70 demon
~trate the feehleness and instability Of the
character brought out of such political in
Stituti1ns as our. But the crisis did come.
and rererses came, reyerseS. such as
most severely try the mettlc Of a people.
But when foreign statesmen saw o. their
amazement that rever>es served but To
awaken the national spirit, that tiiings of
disaster We're the best means of filling the
army and the treasury. when NJ length from
all sections OF the country came the demand
upon the government. % Count upon Us
for any number Of men and any amount Of F.
money. for our courage Is now up and there /
Is nothing that We cannot and will not do /
20 save the country when these statesmen
saw that the Americans Of TODAY like their F.
ancestors of old, wsre capable of giving and +
doing and suffering everything for an
idea, they were obliged o. confess.
as one Of them did IN Parliament.
These men have taught - q new respect .
for the human race. Accordingly when Z
second crisis came, and England and Amer I
lea stood front TO front, ready for peace or I
war ut the turning of tho -cale the proude-t .
nation IN EurGpe honoret herself in the .
judgmaEt Of the world By respecting the .
equal dignity OF the American Republic.
And tins also, these men accomplished for Vs.
And, last and greatest boon of all, hy their
sacrifices and sufFerlngs, Ly thcir toll and
their blood, they have given u q past
atoned for, and a future uutrammelled.
After such history as this nation enacted
from 1880 to ls60. it was written in the uu-
alterable law, of Pr0vidcdtial Justice that
there was no future for the nation unless
that past of wrong and crime was washed
out by rivers of pentential tears and seas Of
expatory blood. That heavy debt of retri-
hutiye justice, let Us trust, has been paid
fully, a. .t certainly was paid freely. \
great chasm divides the America Of lS13
from the America Of 1850. Into that chaSm
these men plunged themselves with more
than Roman heroism in order that We
might reach the firm highway Of national
safety and progress. Upon that highway
the nation has now entered. With secure
and elastic step it Is now urging its aseent
up the path of greatness % . height not
yet attained by any people, and not even
dreamed NJ in the ttOpias of the sagcS.
But il We forget those whose agony and
blood paid the penalty of our national
crime, whose strong faith in tod and the
righteous cause wrought ont cur deliver
lnce and achieved for us our possible fu-
-ure, then be assured that the curse of God
Will descend upon n people guilty Of such
and history will Justify the
iyenging wrath under which they fell.
This finished and beautiful address was
ittingly delivered
3. Decoration of graves, conducted by
he Post Commander, St. Mary's Band
'laying a dirge meanwhile.
I. Hymn and Doxology. sung to Ola
Hundred, by the Quartette Club and CON
,resation, the Queen City Band ac-
The strife is Ger our comrades rest
Ia sleep profound from east o. west
No call 10 arms can rouse the slain
To battle for the truth again.
A. life its onward course shall run
May we preserve what they have Won
And thank the Lord in songs OF praise.
The right has triumphed through His ways
A nation lives,-let us adore
Ills name for ave and evermore
To Him be all the glory given
For works on earth ordained IN Heaven.
Let hate and malice be suhdued
Make all mankind one brotherhood
BE this our prayer, bless as cain
With peace on earth, good will 70 men,"
After benediction by Rev Mr.. Graham, {
he procession marched back to the square.
nd passed up into Union Hall where an y
bundant collation. had been provided by I
MEMBERS Of Post Snnnard. This new t
eature of the occasion proved most ac-
eptable one, the marching and clear air j