The Western advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1872-1874, 1874-06-06
DECORATION DAY.
Observance of the Day IL Worthing-
ton-Decoration Of Graves address

g.
Decoration Day was duly observed
in Worthington under the auspices of
Stoddard Post of the Grand Army.
The members of the Post formed in
front of Grand Army Hall at half past
one O'Clock, and, headed by the Worth
ington Cornet Band, marched to Miller
Hall, where large number Of citizens
had already gathered. After Bible
reading by Rev. ]. W. Lewis, prayer
by Rev. VIM. Jackson and music by
the Glee Club and the Band, Dr.. Leon
ard delivered an address, of which the
following is synopsis:
ADDRESS BY DIR. LEONARD.
The address by DIR. Leonard opened
With an allusion to the naturalness
and fitness of the organization of the
Grand Army of the Republic after the
close of the late war, and the .propriety
of that association recognizing the duty
of honoring and keeping fresh in the
of the people the memo
ries of 1.-THE dead who died that the
country might live - a duty in which
they were assisted by the community
as recognition Of the nationality Of
the occasion.
The custom of decorating graves was
spoken of as derived from: the South,
and was introduced in this country i'll
conimemoration OF the bravery of the
Southern soldiers.
Allusion was made to the peculiari-
ty OF the decoration ceremony i'll rec
ognizing the equal Claims of the priv
ate soldier upon the gratitude Of the
nation, and it was contrasted with the
ostentatious honors heretofore paid
only to the most distinguished con-
querors and generals.
The sorrow for friends and relatives
lost that accompanied the joy at the
close OF the war was referred to as hav-
ing been changed by time to tender
recOllections, so that we now meet on
ly to testify of the nations gratitude
to the dead. The ceremonies Of the
day were intended to honor not, those
alone. whose graves are with US, but al
so that greater number who are buried
where they fell.
The cause in which these men fell
was not merely that of the Union but
of humanity and liberty.
In conclusion, our: reverence for
these martyrs was characterized as a
pledge for the future that they have not
died in vain.
The members of the Grand Army
then formed and marched to the Gene
terry followed by several hundred citi-
zens, passing up Tenth Street, out
Third Avenue and thence to the Gene
terry. Here the Band played a Dirge
and the Glee Club sang an appropriate.
song. The graves were then decorated
with prairie flowers, and. the people
then formed around platform and
Maj. 7. G. Bell delivered an address,:
ADDRESS OF MAI. BELL.
The speaker began by saying that if
there were no life after this, these would
be unmeaning ceremonies. But since
Christ brought life and Immortality to
light, we know that these our COM
rades shall live again, having bodies
fashioned like unto Christ's most glo-
rious body.
The speaker then asked why these
graves were selected for the honor of
this floral tribute? They were honor
ed as exemplars of valor, that quality
which the old Romans called rirt,te, es-
teeming this the browning merit of
manhood. Ancient warriors went i'll
to battle clad in steel armor to resist
the sabre and the lance, but these men
faced the cannon s mouth. The histo-
~ of the race has no where given finer
examples of valor than were shown by
the soldiers Of the Union in the late
war. They were tried in the furnace
of battle and found worthy.
We honor them for the cause in which
they fought. 1t was the cause Of hu-
manity. Of equal rights, of universal!
brotherhood. Transcending all the mi
nor national considerations was this
grander consideration that they fought
for man. The speaker then said:
We honor these graves with this flo
raj tribute on account of the results
achieved by these men and their COM
panions in arms. The gun that was
fired against the walls of Fort Sumpter
did more than to rouse an indignant
nation of freemen to vindicate a ma
TONS honor. 1t woke in the breasts
of men new emotions; it reused their
minds to new thoughts; it quickenetl
their arms to new actions. 1t put
in practice the precept that the
Gospel ReligiO! was no longer to
he al emotional sentiment to be felt in
the closet or the sanctuary. Christian
ity was henceforth to be an active
principle and not all abstraction. 1t
was to 20 about doing good as did its
Divine Founder.
When men saw our soldiers offering
their all Oh the altar of their country,
those who remained at home to SOW
and to reap were moved as never before
to deeds OF generous giving, and the
treasures of a bountiful land flowed ia
the soldiers in tie camp and hospital
through the Sanitary and Christian
Commissions. Men learned that it is
not giving but withholding that impov-
eriSheS. They saw Him hungry and
they gave Him meat, thirsty and they
gave Him drink, naked and they cloth
ed Him, sick and they miilistered unto
Him, in prison and they visited Him
They did it unto Him. inasmuch as
they did it unto these, His brethren.
The lessons in giving which the
forgotten. And see how, following III
the wake of it, a Peabody enriches his
fellow men with his magnificent chart.
ties, how the civilized world sent offer
ings to the suffering in Chicago and
Boston ere the fires had cooled that
laid these proud cities in ashes. How
the hand was stretched out with hell
to plague-smitten Shreveport and Mem
phis. and to the jewellers on the banks
Of the Father of Waters ere the floods
had subsidized. l tell you, fellow citi
zens. that plague and famine and fire