Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1874-06-03


| Wnlcn we nave passed, rs to utterly over
whelm me at the thought of my unfitness
| to give expression to the thoughts that are
uppermost in your minds at the opening
Of the services we here and now celebrate
! But this day and place must suggest my
theme. There is no installing che patri-
otto and loving service you are here to
| discharge. see before me the old and
1 the young, those who watched through
| the storm for the sunshine aud peace, and
| those who have been taught the lesson Of
| the war at their mothers knee, all alike
anxious to do honor to these noble dead.
| And so 1t ever has been. The MARTYR who
yields his life at the stake; the exiled
patriot, who languishes amid the barren
wastes and cold hearts of his prison home
| the loved statesman, whose cares aud anx-
ieties consume his very life rs the mea-
sure of his devotion to the trusts confided
to him-dH are honored and held i'm pre-
cious remembrance.
But III all ages, to all races and coudi-
| tons of men, the dead who 60 down to
battle, and there give up their lives, Il
| willing sacrifice for Others have been held
to merit special love and honor. The poll
ished Greek, the naughty, sturdy Roman,
the rude and stubborn Gaul. the fierce
Saxon, the valiant Britou and the savage
warrior, all hOnored their soldier dead
with marked evidence Of love aud ven
| Grafton
THE HONOR Due A SOLDIER.
And so it should be. There are unnum-
bered heroes sleeping i'm these silent
| graves, whose death was the triumph of
everything that Is ENROLLING over that
which is selfish and mean. The same
triumphs won by men in high station I'M
der less creditable circumstances, won per-
haps in the discharge of the less hazard
GUS and onerous duties of civil life have
made them heroes whose names are fami-
liar as household words. We can not
know the measure of honor to which
these men are entitled. Amid the din of
battle, and the rush of assauting columns,
| their comrades, who stood beside them in
the death storm, as their souls went out in
their upward flight, alone can tell of the
heroic acts that marked their last moments.
Theirs may have been the last shot, the
last mite of stubborn resistance, or theirs
the enthusiasm that transformed the as.
saulting columns into the irresistible ava
lanche that turned the wavering fortunes
of the decisive battle, upon which depend
ed the life OF the nation. 1t has been the
study ofhistorians, of poets and writers of
fiction, to turn great events upon trifles.
They have unraveled the plans of great
battles, weighed the iron and lead hurled
from laundering batteries and, living
walls of steel, measured the blood that
flowed from assaulting columns, and often
mage, the act OF an unconscious agent far
away from the scene of action, Victor
Hugo, in his unrivalled description of the
battle of Waterloo, which he pictures as
the changing of the front of the uni
verse;" says that Napoleon lost
1t because on the afternoon Of
summers day cowboy said
to Prussian General Butcher, "go
this way, and not that; " or, as he else
where expresses it, "The nod of the peas
ant Lacosti's head costNa poleon Waterloo
Empires have been dismembered, anC
the march of civilization turned backward
according to their revelations, by tn,
merest trifles. But | have more abiding
faith in the wisdom of Providence, ant
follow with a more confiding trust TIN
paths He has mapped out for His people
to tread, than to believe that He has lief
the fate of nations and the interests o
Christianity to depend on such chances
These men, whose graves dot the hill
sides and plains of the South, and owe
whom nation bows in reverence this day
have claim upon the heritage which thei
blood wrested from the chances Of tn
sword, that l am not willing TO nav,
> liquidated by any such freaks of fancy
; | believe there is some compensation il
the ways of Providence for such q sacrifice
; of life and treasure as this people hav
. made, and bowling this day over thei
green graves we claim for their kindred
= for their deserted tiresides and bereaveC
' offspring this re united country, this glori
" Gus temple of free thought and free speech
as the heritage they have confided to on
keeping.
l. THE WOMEN OF AMERICA.
But the dead whose graves we decorat
are not alone entitled to our grateful re
J, | membrance. There were two forces a
{. work in defending the Government in it
V hour of peril-the men in arms, and thos
r at home whose encouragement and sym
d pathy sustained them. And only thos
who were at the front, where dangers, pri
vations, sick oess and death were encoun
tered, know how much the prayers ant
! sympathies of the mothers and fathers
II wives, sisters and friends did to sustain
u the strong arms of the battle line
Our volunteer armies North and Soutt
+. were composed of the best men of thei
u sections. need not speak in their praise
for they have made the American soldie
u illustriOus at home, and respected abroad
: Every household sent it, chosen son
- every village its chosen few. The ideal wal
2 rior, painted ia the fauoiost sketch of Bul
I wcr, was reflected In the ranks Of ever
= organization. From the peaceful home
u whence these men went forth ,enveloped Il
!; the storm of battle, or exposed to the feat
full ravages of disease, thoy were follOWe-
I with the prayers and tears Of loved one
!. left behind 10 struggle with the hopes an
u fears that alteruated for victory oy defeat.
In innumerable hOrnes the mother an
: father, the wife aud betrotheG, vent GU
= in spirit and prayer TO protect chose VIII
i were nearer to them than lie Itself, 4
= guard them from all dangers, share thei
= | hardshipd and watch then IN their silent