The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-05-31
Memorial Day,

lt mas Deen predicted Dy many tnat ME-
mortal day would be observed but a few
years; and there certainly was reason to fear
that the intense zeal of our people to secure
the greatest amount of present good, the past
with its labors and sacrifices would to be for
gotten. But those who have made such pre-
dictions or entertained such fears, are doubt
less surprised to observe that the days set
apart for memorial services of the nations
dead this year, are more generally observed
than at any previous time, proving that the
American people are not unmindful of or
ungrateful to the memory of the patriot dead.
In view of the general purpose of the people
to render tribute to their fallen defenders,
may we not expect that when the last vete-
ran of the late war has.been added to the roll
CT the dead, the succeeding generations which
reap the blessings secured by their devotion
and valor, will hallow Memorial Day?
1t should be SO; for no generations or ma
tion can monopolize the fame or the achive-
ments Of those whom we honor to-day, nor is
their patriotism or devotion exclusively the
product of the age in which we live. The
men whom we honor to-day have fallen in
one of the battles in that century-long con-
fict between freedom and oppression. That
same Immortality which pours its golden light
down through the vista of centuries upon the
defenders of Thermopye, is theirs. Names
are lost; faces are forgotten; time and space
are annihated; doeds alone live; so that by
that kinship which unites heroic purpose aud
self-denying devotion in all ages, the souls
who tasted Immortality at Thermopyl@, the
martyrs who died in hopeless conflict with
the brutal tyranny of the feudel ages, the
men who crimsoned the slope of Bunker Hill
or at Valley Forge, displayed such forttude
aud endurance. aud the men who fell by
thousands for freedom in our late war-all
these martyrs have fought under one banner,
and their deeds, their victories aud their ex-
amples are our priceless heritage.
How fitting are these reflections on these
memorial days, when it is remembered that
under the green mounds upon which are
placed the floral offerings, lie stranger forms,
who, as men, would be no more to us than
others, but resting from life's battle in graves
hallowed by martyrs deaths, the memory Of
their deeds makes them our dead, as is the
country they saved our heritage. To-day We
would not recognize the faces of many OF
| those we honor. Their voices would awaken
no chord of memory Many wanderers
many from beyond the sea, many whose
tongues had not learned our speech, many to
whom our flag was the emblem of deliver
ance, are among them; but lying there We
| know them all, and the benediction of the
| Republic falls like rain upon them, and when
| the first waves of vendure break in spring
| flowers upon our Northern hill-sides, we
gratefully gather them for our annual offer
| ing to them.
We knew there are many whose extreme
devotion to the practical leads them to look
| with little favor upon Memorial Day and its
exercises. They ask: Of what good, not to
the dead, how to the living? 1t is useful, Mr
| Gradgrind, to save the nation from your
| sordid mold. We need 10 pause once In 8
while to think of something else than tht
mad pursuit of wealth and to step out of tbs
round of everyday work, which makes US
little better than machines. We need to re
call the past with its great deeds. We neeG
to pay the memory of heroic men, ,sthe rev
erence there due and thereby call down upor
ourselves the inspiration Of their devotion
and the fragrance of their memories. W.
must not forget that into that sublime hal
decade of war was profusely pored:the highes
| hopes, the grandest ambitions, the most ex
allied sacrifices and the most precious life o
| the nation. 1t is, indeed, a sad day for th'
nation, if it has come to pass that the genera
| ton which laid life and temporal prosperit,
upon the country's altar, has come to place
| slight value upon that high devotion which
| led it to brave death for principle. Dark, n
| deed, to-day. if before the arms are rusted O
| the old uniforms moth-eaten, the American
people should forget to hallow these days
| We must not forget that upon our dead il
| the war, the blood-stained mantle of freedom
| was consigned by the fathers. Dying Will
| battling for human freedom and popular gov
| ernment, they have transmitted that herit
age, richer by their lives and costlier by thei
| deaths.
To-day, as we stand amidst the graves
the nations saviors. we thank God that tn
jealousies and heart-burnings of the war ar
dying out-that manly forgiveness an
brotherlylove are succeeding. Standing abov
our dead, the man who wore the blue Offer
his hand to the man who wore the gray
Tears gsten reconciliation which quiverin
lips cannot speak. Their clasped hand is
token of the Union which is to be.
Bvt while we have tears, pity and kindnes
tor the gray, we should reserve our garland
and honors for the blue. There are man.
who would 90 further-who would put tn
| man who died fighting against national exls
tence on level with him who poured out hi
| life to preserve it. We do not desire to hav
| treason punished, but we do protest agans
| making that crime virtue to be rewarde
| alike with loyalty. Neither do we think III
| course is necessary to show our good will
| our Southern brethren. Hundreds Of occ,
| ,ions present themselves to show our frient
| liness The summer pestileuce Of 1873 au
the Mississippi foods of 1874 were occasion
for us to show our brotherly regard, aud rig
generously did the North respond. III
| Christian world had as well be asked to sho
its Cancellation toward those who crleifi,