The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1878-06-04
DECORATION DAY,

Although there are no national comes
teries In Texas where the federal SOLE
dIers sleep their last sleepi although |
tho confederate dead are not sleeping
side by side IN large numbers, within
tho borders Of the state, yet We admire
aud reverence the custom which pre-
walls elsewhere Of decorating the graves
of the lost heroes, II was happy
thought on the part OF our national
legislature TO set apart one day In The
year Us u memorial OF the men who foil
In the great civil war Of the union
Aud the form of the memorial Is beau
tifully appropriate, The flowers with
which loving hands decorated the
graves Of the fallen soldiers on Thurs
day last fully represented the senll'
ments of the hearts that twined them,
and the people who united IN the cele'
bratlon, The north aad south respect
and honor tho men who gave thom'
selves for the preservation OF what each
conceived 10 be their rlghtiul cause In
this celebration the graves OF both
federal and confederate dead In many
places we're atrewn with iloweS
and the net no doubt tended TO dispel
A.
the bitterness Of sectional feeling harN
bored even At this day by some, In the
eager rush of business and the orowding
exoitements of our time, these fallen
heroes may seem to be forgotten u
now generation ia rising up which knew
them not yet that day drives the reN
membranes of old anxieties, perlls and
sacrifices out of mind. The story of
that awful civil war grows older every
year. But IL has been burned inerad'
cably into the iibres and consciousness
of our whole people, Told in whatever
way it may be, from the southern or
northern side, IL was one Of the most
remarkable wars of modern times, II
was not war Of dynasties, not of goy'
ernments, but of n people who had boz
como divided by ideas and alienatcd by
cashing interests and institutions. On
both sides tho people did tho fighting,
and with a courage, an endurance, u
self denial and heroism which were
never surpassed, We Of the south oc-
tually spent our whole substance in the
war, and many years yet will not oblit-
crate the trace of that war on our dcsoN
lated fields, at fire sides and hearth
stones. Tho war taught us that the
wealth and virtue of the human heart,
and that the stalwart Saxon virtues OF
our ancestors are latent in the blood
and marrow of their young descendants
IL showed that underneath our
pacific courses and material prosperity
our culture and civilities sleep
the same fiery passions that llomed up
in the great crisis of English history, Ns
the burning heats Of the volcano slumN
Der beneath the vine.clad fields, Now
that the smoke of battle has melted
into consecrated memory, we can
look over the whole field as one, doing
justice to both sides, recognizing the
sincerity, the honesty, the patriotism,
the self-sacriice of northern as well ms
southern men, All fought for princi>
pie which they regarded rs true; they
fought for what they supposed to be
their liberty; they fought for cause
they considered sacred Now that the
union has been restored, and every
cause of division and alienation has
been destroyed, all citizens in America
should be treated as Americans. Who
ever now tries to re.kindle the brands
OF the old conflict is rebel against Lbs
erty; whoever raises the "bloody-shrt'
to-day, is traitor to all that is best in
| America.