Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1877-06-01


What means yonder granite shalt, pointing
skyward from the summit OF Bunker Hillr
1t marks the spot where American patriots
met the relocated oppressors or the land
with a shower of loadon hail which swathed
their ranks as the grass falls before the
scythe. 1t tells of a Putnam and
his braves, of youthful Warren, who, lin
gering upon the heels Of the retreating ar
my, seems rather TO have coveted death
than live TO remember that lie was obliged
TO retreat before the foe. What means that
brass mounted rider in every great city of
our land, that statue In every gallery OF art,
that picture in every American home?
There is no installing those stern but fine
~ moulded features. The strangers to our
shores need not inquire his name. They
are in memory aud In honor of the father
OF the American republic, OF whom alone it
can he said, "First Ia peace, first in war,
and first in the hearts OF his cOuntrymen."
We ask again, what mean these monu-
ments, these pillars, these granite shafts,
these sacred, guarded spots? They point
us back to the morning OF the nations
birth, when civil and religious liberty first
saw the light together. They tell us of the
hours when The fair goddess was rocked in
the joltiug cradle Of war, disturbed by the
roar Of the muskct and the cannon and
nourished on the warm flowing blood of
the brave men Of the land.
But why has this goth Of May passed into
the catalogue of national holidays? Why
do we congregate among these tombstones,
and select out and decorate these graves
Why is it that in every cemetery through
out this State and land, where lie the bones
of union soldier, some one to-day carries
a bunch Of flowers and drops IL on the ST.
lent grave? Because twice in the nations
history has she been baptized with the
baptism of blood. The memory Of these
last war days and scenes are yet fresh in
many hearts. The past lying inst back or
us, and TO which we are firmly linked, is
known to nearly all. The uncounled dec
Grated graves scattered throughout the
country are filled by men who belonged 10
our generation, Of which but a remnant il
spared. Go throughout the land and read
the writing on the tombstones, and You
will find that the largest portion Of the men
who fell in the last war were men between
the ages OF q and IS years; men who, to-
day would have been crowding their way
along the busy maris and filling the Offices
of respect and trust in our nation.
The nation gathers to-day among these
tombstones Of the land with mingled feel
ings of sadness and joy-feelinCs of sad
ness because Of the death of he thousands
of her noble and brave sons who came to
an unllmely end under the crushing, reek-
ing wheels of the iuggernaut of war-feel-
ings of JOY because the lives they so hero
ically laid upon their country's altar were
accepted as a sacrifice, that the cause of lib
eriy still lives, and the handsomest banner
upon which the sun has ever shone still
triumphanly waves over a free, united
people.
The question may come to us sometimes,
perhaps, Shall this republic, which Is but a
growth of a hundred years, sometime dis
appear, az have many of the great nations
OF The past? Shall IL he some unborn bisto-
rian shall yet write the birth, the rise, the
decline, the fall, the death Of this now
flourishing and leading nation Of the
world7 We are won't 10 ansv err, nay, YER
lily, founded as she Is upon the pillars of
truth and justice, civil and religious liber-
ty, with the eternal God as her refuge, she
has become and shall ever be, the great
asylum oil the oppressed, the mighty power
for the promotion OF all good. She shall
live, not by divine command, not because
her foundation stones were laid and &C.
mented in the blood OF her fathers, not be-
cause she has been sleadied by the strong
hands Of her noble sons, who now lie
mOuldering in Southern graveyards, in
glens and mounds on Northern hills and
Western plains but she shall live because
of the love OF liberty implanted in the hu-
man breast, faithfully guarded and watch
ed over by the loyal hearts of her sons that
are yet coming ailer. Men who shall with
firm hand and loyal hearts grasp the ma
tional standard, aud guard her national in
stitutions with sacred honor, even unto the
death If needs be. What means the mar
tial step and soldier-like tread of this
youthful battalion to-day? 1t means that
The spirit of the fathers is born and bred in
the bones and marrow Of the sons that
The youth are following in the footsteps OF
their sires, and that what this nation needs
Is only few days Of drill, and a command
TO the front, and ste will march in solid
phalanx against any living foe.
The past is not without its lessons 10 us
and other nations of the world. We have
felt our strength. Many trembled aud
feared al the beginning of the war, for il
was conflict ofthe people. 1t was house
divided against itself. But divided ma
ton could not live. The shock of an ad
vanclng foreign foe would have been met
and held in check, with no alarm to the ma
TONS safety, without the trembie OF a sim
gle pillar. The amputation OF a limb
would have easily been survived, but for
this nation TO have been severed into bleed
ing, quivering halves would have been ru-
in, destruction and burial. There might
be a rebellion, but observance meant
death aud though scourged and bleeding,
though the great wide chasm must be flied
and bridged over with he bleeding forms
of the nations manhood Of both North and
South, still she must, should be, she is, one
uudiviied whole. When the echo of that
first cannon fired at Sumter thrilled
throughout this vast country from East to
West, from the shores of the raging, seeth-
ing Atlantic TO the quiet Pacific, echoiug
over hills and valleys from The Allegheny
10 The Rocky Mountain peaks, loyal hearts
started from their slumber with an energy
Of tread that fairly made the earth tremhie
beneath their steps. They needed no other
drum beat but the call of duty, and thous-
ands answered to LincOln's demand, "IIere
am L. The roar of that cannon touched
an unused chord in the bosom of the sons
of loyal isthers. Boys grew to be men in
single night, and many young man
was ready 10 say, Father, let his right arm
grow palsed at my side, or be shot from
my shoulder, rather than that ! should
know that / never used it in the hour of
my country's need" Many proud low
ing father said TO his son, go, my boy,
and the God OF heaven go with you" The
pillow was left in the furrow on the hillside
the mechanic laid down his hammer and
his saw, the weaver's shuttle ceased lis
busy whir, the counting room was locked,
the doctors office closed, the lawyers desk
grew dusty. The saw, the hammer, the
axe, the pen, the lance were exchanged for
the sword, the musket and the revolver.
Ease and comfort, the pleasure and happi-
ness of home were exchanged for camp life
and soldiers fare. Young men strong in
their manhood, strong in arm, strong in
heart, strong in the hopes of the future,
gathered up all their fair prospects for long
life, wealth and happiness, laid them upon
thelr country allar, ana win Them their
lives and, alas, how many were accepted
as sacrifice. What days OF anxiety, what
nights of restlessness, what untold anguish,
what throne besiegng prayers, time can
never tell. But the strong cries for justice
and mercy had reached the throne of heav-
en-. God had surely seen the Affections and
heard the cry of four millions of the hu-
man race, and though Southern fields
should be cut and furrowed by red hot
plows of war, and her battle fields he
bathed in blood, and the flower of the
American nation be cut down by the scythe
OF death, slavery must be wiped out. The
colored man should no longer cringe be-