The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1876-06-10
For tic Democratic .aisOcdte.
Jacob. H. Christ, Orator, 60.


/; article, were given to the public in this eoun,
y ty, ON recent occasion, which should and
!. doubtless would, have been impressive and
n productive of good, had the propreties of
i the occasion been observed even in an ordi.
; narily decent manner, by the one who had
been selected to perform the most conspc.
r uous part, that ofdcliyering the GRAFTON. But
/, whengraye yards are sought to be used as
: locations for, aud the day for the decoration
j of soldiers graves, as the occasion upon
which to deliver stump speeches, then ] feel
= justified by every sense OF decency and man.
, hood, to protest against the practice, and
entirely agree with the orator on this occasion
when he introduced himself TO the living
: present and the dead past which surrounded
him, and said ~ could have wished that
the honors OF to-day had been shared by some
! one more worthy than myself, for feel SEN
! sibly my utter iueOmpeieacy for the task as.
signed me- No man living or now dead, be
: he civilian or soldier, ever had, in my opin
ion, n more accurate estimate of his absolute
, nn6tness for the performance OF the duty as.
signed him, thanhad Mr. Christ ofhimselfupon
the above occasion 10 not seek to indulge
in carping criticism of the style Of the orator,
because in this Centennial y ear ''gush and hifa
lutin, are singularly appropriate upon almost
any and all occasions, however questionable
1875 and prior thereto There is in this sim.
pie and beautiful custom of decorating the
graves of the soldiers, solemn impressive.
ness which has never yet failed TO reach the
heart OF u true and generous manhood, and
stripped OF all the parlisanship which has too
often married its beauty, 1t has almost inva-
riably conveyed better estimate of the living
and generous devotion to the memory OF
the dead. But when upon occasions like this
you find as the presiding genius partisan
rnncor and malicious hate, the memory Of the
dead whom you have come to honor is lost
amid the disgust and contempt which you
\ eau not fail to entertain for the actor who
seeks to clothe his own ''insignifcance' with
the huge proportions of the mighty conflict,
that has brought TO united country many
sorrows and troubles, which the good men of
all parties are now striving, by every honor.
able means, TO remedy and repair As
question at least Of taste, if not OF morals, we
know Of no more inappropriate spot on earth
than Gods Acre, to be selected for falsifi
cation OF facts, no longer even denied by the
! partisan of ordinary intelligence and long
since conceded by the candid men among our
party opponents And therefore | TO say to
the orator, Mr.. Christ, that he asserted that
which he must have known to be untrue,
when he said "But oh what a contrast
between the peaceful scenes being enacted
here to-day and those events which have
TRANSFERRED and which are even now transpir.
ing at our nations capital. There the Grip.
pied soiIier is driven from positions under
government sustained and defended AT the
peril of his life, government which owes its
very existence to his heroic deeds on many "A
hard fought battle field 1t is n fact, about
which controversy has long since ended, that
the crippled soldier" has received more
kindly consideration at the hands Of the
Democratic majority in the present House of
Representatives than he ever received from
any previous Republican majority Within
few weeks past, q bill passed the House without
dissenting vote, making specific appropri.
alton to pay fourteen crippled soldiers in
the employ Of the House aud now on what is
known as ''Ihe Soldiers Roll" That there
might be no question as to what was meant
by "crippled soldiers, prominent Demo.
crat shaped the measure so as TO apply only
TO Union soldiers In addition TO the
above roll there are now more Union soldiers
in the employ of the present House than un.
der the previous Republican House.
presume the orator referred to Genera!
Belknap, Gen. Schenck, and certain other
christian statesmen and Generals, when he
furthermore says:--"At the national capitol
there the shafts of malignant hate are aimed
with remorseless cruelty at the devoted heads
OF men whose patriotic deeds on a hundred
battle fields have endeared their names and
characters to the heart of every true liberty
loving man and woman in the land IL so,
pass with respectful obeisance an orator,
who, on Decoration Day, in speaking of Gen.
Belknap, entirely forgot Fort Sill, tradershipe |
and all. The orator proceeds sob! ought |
We not be happy people p | would write
that sentence without an interrogation point 4
and say I'VE ought to be. Again he says: .
AND yet with all these blessings so richly |
scattered all around US by kind and merei. |
full Providence, are there not In this blessed |
land OF ours, even to-day, in this proud .
centennial year OF our nation, some men
whose unconquered hate would even now, il 4
II dare, blot out every star from our national
SKY, trail our starry banner in the dust, AS
they did twelve years ago, and because they
cannot be kings and priests in the temple OF
freedom would involve the temple itsefiu one
common ruin" | would say very frankly
and candidly that TO assert the affirmative Of
that proposition would be to tell Il centennial
lie, and could the brave dead over whose
remains these words were spoken, have risen
from their graves, they would have said
:. feace, be sui, and in that presence, the
living would have been silent Of untruth. that
the dead might speak the truth. But further
on find as follows ITO guard this fac |
repeat and to preserve the freedom of our
country for the good Of our fellow men and
the honor of God, is the bounden iuty Of
every American Citizen That sounds well
and am impressed with the truth of il. but
u IS what would call "long range patriot.
ism, and though will hereafter know Mr.
Christ as an orator, have yet to learn that
he has, Notwithstanding the occasion was no,
wanting, won his epaulettes upon the sswell
iiought held, or ever played thigh private
IN the rear ranks.
:, In conclusion, desire to say that, had
Mr.. thirst, thought proper TO deliver his
oratioh, even as Objectionable as it certainly
IS IN many respects, should have said moth.
ing, but since he has permitted lis nublica.
ton, that political capital might be made out
OF It, no other motive could have prompted
IT, have felt it to be my duty TO call atten.
uon 10 u. Political harangues gain nothing of
solemnity IN being delivered in the presence
OF Tue dead, but 1t is strange, indeed, that any
mind could conceive or heart consent 10 nj.
terances calculated to excite passions. which
have only bred pain aud sorrow, NJ n time
too, when the whole country demands a com.
piete reconciliation of all sections, that mater
lai prosperity may take the place of financial
despair, which has enthroned itself in tho
MIDST OF well nigh all the industries of this
country, and hushed to silence Tho snne Of
peace and prosperity, which thousands Of
splndies conveyed to the responsive hearts of
thousands Of lahorers, who now sit idly hy.
contemplating the nation distress and brood.
ing over their own sad wants. could NOT
6nt ieel in concluding the perusal OF Mr..
Christ production, that he might well have
sald win Mark Antony, after the Grafton,
when CAESARS body was removed:
Now let Il work Mischief. thou art n c,o,
Take what course thou wilt
But the whole country demands peace, and
peace II Will have despite the efforts OF the
they may.