The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-06-03

grow pale, the sisters eyes fill with tears,
and heard the trembling voice of the father |
or the agonizing shrek of the fond wife, |
as from the long roll OF the dead and the |
dying, they heard read the names of those,
who were all the world to them.
Such were the daily occurrences that
we're transporting here. The terrible scenes
of carnage and strife through which the
soldiers, on the field of battle past, the sac
rfces they made, the hardships they en-
dured, the obstacles they overcame, and
the battles they fought, need not be recount
ed here; they have past into history, and
the world knows them well they constitute
the brightest though bloodiest page in the
annals of our country for acts of herosm,
for scli.sacrificing devotion to their coun-
try, for courage undismayed by defeat, yet
not vainglorious in victory, they command
the admiration Of all
Let no man say hereafter, that an educa-
ted, intelligent army is an army of towards
that an army to perform great achievements
must be brutes in intelligence, machines in
action. The glorious victories of our armies,
the battle they fought on the land and on
the sea their final and complete triumph
over the most stupendous rebellion of an
cient or modern times, show the fallacy of
that theory and prove conclusvcly that an
army of intelligent men when fighting for
liberty and their countrys honor, can fight
with the highest courage and valor can face
the enemy and mingle in the terrible scenes
of battle undismayed, and if need be can
willingly give up their lives. Probably no
army was ever before collected as intelli-
gent as were the union armies in the war of
the rebellion, and we may challenge the
world, through its six thousand years of his
toric past, to produce an instance, where an
army of men taken as these were, from the
farm and the workshop, the store. and the
countinghOusc and from all the other peace
full occupations of life, that accomplished
more work.
And then, when the war was over, when
the enemy were finally overcome, and the
rebellion crushed, how quietly that vast army
disbandcd, and laying down their arms, re-
sumcd their various vacations of peace;
transformed at once from soldiers into citi-
2ens supporting and maintaining in peace,
the integrity. and advancing the prosperity
of the land they had saved in war. Such a
spectacle, never before was witnessed aud
never can be, except in free republican
government. founded ard established on
the intelligence and patriotism of its peo-
pie.
But do we fully realize the extent of the
rebellion, the mighty issues involved and
the dreadful consequences, which hung on
the final result.
At NJ period, in the history of this c0un-
try, was its very existence so impcriled
The revolution indeed gave it its existence,
and always, must we admire the patriotism,
and courage of our forefathers, who sacri-
feed and endured so much but had they
failed it could only have delayed the cause
of American independence. Sooner or
later, that spirit IF liberty which no power
could cytinguish no patronage corrupt would
have vindicated itself.
But had the rebellion succeeded the most
disastrous results must have followed. The
nation once severed, the bond once broken
could never be united.
Instead of our nation, whose broad cx-
pansc extends from sea to sea, whose lati
tude embraces every diversity of soil and
climate we should have two sections, jeal-
Gus of and hostile toward each other. In
stead of one government powerful at home
and respected abroad, whose citizens in
every part of the world, on every sea and
| shore, find protection in the flag that floats
over them, we should have Il government,
unable to sustain itself at home, and insult
cd and dcspised By foreign powers.
The spirit of rebellion and secession, once
| successful other states or sections, imag-
lining themselves aggrieved, would soon
| seek redress in separation.unti weakened by
| losses and torn by internal discussions which
it had no longer strength to overcome, the
country would become powerless when some
Caesar or Napoleon reckless Of the rights
and trampling on the liberties of his fellow
men, would establish an empire for himself,
amidst the wreck and ruin of his country,
and the experiment of a republican govern
ment in America, with its glorious past,
and its bright prospects of the future, would
have at last proved failure.
And, not alone did the perpetuity of our
American institution depend on the final
overthrow OF the rebellion but human free
dom throughout the world tremblcd on the
result. And, had this government been de-
strCyed, the wave of liberty. which, slowly
but surely, is spreading over Europe, and
which sooner or later must engulfits thrones
and kingdoms in its onward course, woult
have rolled slowly back; with the guiding
star Of American liberty blotted out, the pa
triots there, still held by the strong hand OF
power, must have given up all hopes of the
future in despair, and the shout of triumph
which would have gone up from the throne
of every monarch in the would hare beer
the death knell of liberty for centuries, per
haps forever,
Let us then never forget the debt ofgrati
tude we owe to the brave defender of ou
country in its hour of greatest peril.
Each year, as time rolls on, let us gathel
the freshct, farest flowers offspring, and to
gether with the soldiers who survive, lay
them gently with loving hands, on the grave
"a tbocn hn hrnvnlv 1ioI in battln 10 tIai
country and now sleep so peacefully be
meath.
1t will not indeed break their long slum
bers it will not restore them to lite but as
we stand ar und the hallowcd spot where
they rest and remember how they suffered
and how they died it will help us to realize
how noble they were, and how great til,
price they paid for the salvation of tina
country which they loved so well, and thu
blessings of whose free institutions, save,
by their valor, perpetuated by their death
we all enjoy to-day.
Men never died in "A nObler cause than
they, and long will the story of their valo
be told. The flowers, which we strew owe,
their graves may indeed wither and decay
the more enduring monuments, which
grateful nation raise to mark the battlefield
where they fell, and the victories they won
like all things material, will crumble ant
fall with the lapse of time. But the hstor,
of their achievements, the story of thei
patriotism, shall outlivc them all; age
hence, when We ofto-day shall be forgotten
when the proudest works of our hands shall
be among the things of the past, the brigh
example of their herCi m shall still endure
in the far distant future, it will be subjec
for the orator, and the theme Of the poet
and It's truthful recital, as it brightens TIL
pages of history, will be to thousands strug
Cling against oppression and wrong, tn
incentive to noble actions and great achieve
, mens.
And above all, we, who enjoy the presen
, fruits of their labors and their death, as W
look upon the flag beneath which the
? fought, and for which they died must b
( | fhnnklnl In our inmnst hearts. tint il no,