The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1876-06-01

the grounds ADJOINING the cemetery, where
the infantry were formed in a hollow
square, with the members of the Grand Ar
my of the Republic in the foreground,
around the stage which had been
constructed for the speakers, which
which was occupied by the following naui-
ed officers and citizens: General Pope,
Colonel Plat, Colonel Swain, Major Perrin,
Major Brotherton, Adjutant Baird, Lieu
tenant Pope and Lieutenant Crowell, Of
Fort Leavenworth, and Rev. E. r. Sanborn,
Rev. w. n. Page and Hon. John A. Halder-
man, of the city and two TINES reporters.
On motion, Hon. John A. Halderman was
elected chairman Of the meeting AID ad-
dressed the assemblage in few well chosen
remarks, after which an impressive prayer
was delivered by Rev. w. n. Page.
Music: america" by the full Fifth Infan-
try Band. Rev. E. Il. Sanborn was then
introduced to the audience by Judge Hal
derman. Mr.. Sanborn being taken by sur
prise or "pressed into the service as it
were, in his own inlmi,abie style, spoke as
follows:
Mr.. President, Soldiers, Ladies and Gentlemen ::
1t is only short decade since we came
marching home, our duty done; only a
short decade have we woven the wreaths
and strewed them on the grassy mounds
that are dotting the loveliest slopes OF the
land; one short decade, and vet those ten
years have been enough to bury the stir,
ring scenes under the sea OF forgetfulness.
We can recall the great events, We can tell
the historic occurrences, but the details,
which filled out the full round of those ter
rible years, have well-nigh left us forever.
Time, the a!l-healer, has closed nearly all
the wounds, and even the scars are hidden
among the mighty activities OF the present.
Ii was but yesterday that all of us, citizens
and soldiers, pledged ourselves to remem-
Der, forever, the sacrifice of those who died
that this nation might live. We set the
day when We should all go out to honor
the memories OF their courage and their
worth; but already the memories are so
dulled, the glory is so dimmed, the cour-
age and the valor have gone 70 far away
from us, that few turn now from the bu,i-
ness Of the hour and bring back the times
OF trouble, and drop the tear or say the
word OF eulogy over the graves Of those
who have been comrades, brothers, friends.
1t seems a cad thing that these tender
emotions are 80 short-lived, yet it is the
course of nature. We never dreamed that
these things could be Indifferent to us.
They who bore the burdens of the field, and
they who waited in anxiety at home, felt
then that the whole future hung on the
deeds of that time, and they could never
forget the cause nor the men who fought it.
Not one of US who trod the peninsula, the
fields OF Pennsylvania, or the hills of Mary
land who garrisoned the heights Of the
Rsppahannock, or the slave-erected ram
parts OF Petersburg; who opened the way
To the gulf with hard contested battle, or
charged among the clouds on the Tennessee ct;
who broke the shell of the Confederacy in
the famous march to the sea, or held the
frontier against the Western marauder;-
none OF Us ever supposed that the memory
OF those struggles could be held so lightly
as We now hold them after this brief decade
None that saw the lovely April day in the
fertile valley of the Appomatto1, when our
stars CLEANED brighter and our stripes were
more glorious than they ID ever seemed
before, SO that many another would will
lingly have lain down uncoffined beneath
the red Virginia soil, as they laid others
who we're dear to them, in those hours Of
glory, when the last victory had come and
the clouds and thunder Of war were rolling
away, none of us would have believed the |
day could come when soldier and citizen
would refuse TO meet in honor of those who |
won the great victory, and would be care
less Of the burdens they bore so we'll. But
even 30 soon our gratitude has grown cold, |
and our patriotic fire has lost its lustre. 1t |
Is the experience Of man again repeated. |
In the State house of Massachusetts, / saw |
q tablet, discolored with age, saying in its |
quaint old letters: Americans when from
this lofty eminence scenes Of luxuriant fer |
tility, hourishing commerce, and the abodes |
Of social happiness meet your view, forge, |
not those who secured to you these bless
ings." Beauty and glory we're on the face |
OF that great commonwealth and of the |
nation that was born with it; commerce |
flowed in endless streams through the streets |
Of that busy city, and into the mighty I
that stretch from shore to shore. |
l he steady tread of Thousands echoed in that /
famous rotunds, but they paused Lot nor
needed the Injunction of the fathers. In |
almoet every city of the land the monu-
mental shafts and characteristic epitaph |
proudly memorabilia some prominent figure /
Or event OF the nations history. The waves
Of human hustle roll BY them ceaselessly,
unconscious OF their purpose or even pres
enoe. only here and there finger traces
he inscription, of which the hurryi.g
crowd 10 wholly ignorant Our monuments
become moes-grown and crumb!e, our flowers
|ade and vither away, our memorial cere-
monies lose their attraction, and We observe
hem no more. And am glad that this is
%. We cannot fassen to the past. The
current of our life must move onward, or
he life must flicker and die. ] am not glad
hat We are indifferent to the truth We have
,a,tled for 80 sturdily, but am glad that
ve are not content to sit down among tn
raves and live in the things that are gon =
ever to return. / am glad that We will not
eek the living among the dead. Blu, it is
matter OF regret TO all that our loves, out
Town or passed away, are 90 soon forgotten.
{ stings our conscience that We become %
Indifferent to things which once we're more
0 us tnan the life itself Yet the present
US, and life is not long enough
let rs dwell In the ruins of by-gone I
ime. 4,
But after all, the nation which becomes |
Indifferent to the memory Of in heroes,
Ihich takes no note Of the evess thas have
iven It all that Il glorious and worthy, will !
nd Its patriotism vanishing, and in its new I
eriis will fall Tor want of support, as all
eartless things are sure to fall 1t is pa =
'iotlsm which gives endurance to nation, q
I'd there Is nothing 20 fostering to patriot i
= - the uniaed and hearty honor Of the
eop1s 70 the memory Of those Who have o
ssn al thy Aave, and even lie itself, for e
, pE:sszvatioa. The cfsrsPsaasd stories, i