The Portland daily press., 1874-06-01
"Dulce ct Decorum est pro Patria MOri.'
Grafton Of Gen. Selden Connor
City Hall, Saturday Evening May
Both.
BEFORE BOswORTH POST, G. A. r.,

A grateful nation sets apart this day to the
memory of its sons who gave the highest gift
for the nobest object-ife for country. To-
day common thought throughout the land is of
the armies upon armies of our fellow country
men, beaten down in the storm of war, while
bringing this home and country of their love
safe ous of the tempest, one and unseparated.
How precious, imposing and wide-gathered an
offering, for how great, how broad, and far
reaching blessing! .-.r
The most vigorous manhood of the people
rich in the gifts and hopes and opportunities
that make life dear, went forth in answer to
their country's call, from homes by the salt seas
and great inland waters, by the mountains,
and on the interminable prairies and nobly fell
in the death they dared. Their lives were free
ly given to preserve the best government known
to human experience, for us who to-day enjoy
it,-for the thousands who look upon it long
ingly from other lands in the hope of one day
sharing its benefits, and for future of benef
cence broadening through long years to CO me.
The solemn professions of to-day, the out
flung banners, the guns that seem to brood and
then boom out, the serious throng, the flower
decked turf and stone that tell where the brave
are sleeping, the sharp volleys ringing throu Oh
the air above their buried dust, this assemblage,
all serves to conjure to near presence the genius
of the most fiery and eventful days that ever
befel people. Again we recall the hot indg-
nation that burst forth when conspiracy raised
its head against the Union, the thrill of patri
otic enthusiasm that nerved the nation to- en-
dure whatever struggle might inpend for the
| maintenance of its existence and the eager
ness of the rallying and arming of that first
battle spring, when, l4a saay 4t.t..t a
.The wife whose babe first smiled that day, iil
The fair fond bride of yestereve, Ok .I7li1
And aged sire and matron gray, -1.' a.yru
| Saw the loved warriors haste away, IfHl<I
And deemed 1t sin to grieve" III es4.,f- ,
Again the thunders and jarring tarmoil OF
the strife fall upon our ears, and the glad shout
of victory, like an organ-peal, rolls over the
land sa=- j ll.-s,5lY .tYf rfItfli.tl ~
1t is the widely received characteristic of
the Northern people, an ascrbed Inheritance
from Puritan ancestors, that they sedulously
cultivate an Observation-Disclosures that wells the
workings of the soul and gives no sign of the
feelings and affections that stir it; that in joy
or grief, hope or despair admiration or scorn,
they aim to bear the same unperturbed de-
meanor, and are continually on guard over
nerve and muscle lest kindling eyes, quiverng
lips, sympathetic voice, or tell-tale gesture
should betray them; that their exterior, like
the peaceful vineyards of Vesuvus, may give
no indication of the tumut beneath.
Lack of sensibility or hesitancy In express
ing it in deeds, whenever the way is open to
such expression, has never been charged
against them. 'Tender and true" is the
appeal from sufferers by fire, flood. or famine
Her hand is swift to succor
The abounding tenderness displayed during
| the Rebellion by her men and women toward
their brothers in the field; the warm sympathy
and untiring zeal with which they strove to
mitigate the bardships of the war, rest in our
memories as CLEANS of blest sunshine piercing
the clouds of the conflict-strains of sweet har-
mony soaring above the discord of battle.
But the expression of sentiment for Senti-
| ments sake-are we not chary of it? Does not
our sincerity verge upon insincerity when the
manifestation of sentiment is repressed lest it
should seem sentimentality? We should per-
ceive that in the economy of the forces of our
nfxu ar,fnt sfn phat,
sitting the impulses of the heart. Their
| power is not less than that of the colder coun-
| sells of the brain.
The greater part of the civilized world is in
| debted to a sentiment for much of its present
4 knowledge and refinement; yet to the criticism
! of reason it would have appeared idle and bar
ren.
| The glow that warmed the hearts of the war
| riors OF the cross whom Europe poured upor
the deserts of Syria worked wonders of which
those rude Christians little dreamed. They
brought back with their tattered banners, rare
secrets wrung by the rapt and long -ponderine
| east from natures self, and their lands wer,
lighted with rays of science and art caught
from the daysping of learning So, ooeying
| as best they knew, heartfelt impulse to dt
| something "In His name," their efforts hat
| higher and holier success than the rescue OF th'
! Holy Sepulchre.
The grand proposition on which our politica
faith is erounded,-tha all men are create'
| Tree ana eQual,-nluSJ nave hioU lisCh liohi WV
heart. Ali the authorities and precedents, up
| on which reason commonly depends for its de
| ductions. were against5that theory.
| II is Z. sentiment which we now honor Th
floral offerings of to-day are not in memory o
men who performed their reasonable duty t.
their country, but are cast upon the graves o
patriots who rendered her loving service
| The Northern people refute their repute
characteristic in the homage thus paid, and b.
| the impressive forms through which they see
to manifest their regard for the nations dead
and their thankfulness for benefits secured a
| such a cast.
Do we seek to justify this service? In th
whole catalogue of holidays none, save tha
| which marks the gift of the Great Benefacto
of mankind to the world, possesses ''reaso
| of beng of such grandeur-can present
noble defence of its observance-as this M,
mortal Day of hundreds of thousands of me
who laid down their lives at their country
high behest.
What signify the birth of kings or prince
the accession of monarchs, the life and fate
enthusiast or martyr, the founding OF citie
epochs in government, science or art IN cor
parison with the exalted self-devotion which
the subject of this commemoration?
Is it challenged with the cui bono? which
this age of search for the root and essence