The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1878-06-01

| ulSlntegtOLlOn OF uauTputlOn anu lyTdnny'
In the AmericaH Repdbhc the hope Of the
world and IFS faith in an intelligent de.
mocracy as the basis Of a sound and free
government was being justified. Its down
fall would seat more securely on his throne
every monarch, and retard the advance Of
republican sentiments a hundred years.
What wonder, then, that when our boys
marched forth 10 battle, 10 decide not only
the fate Of this government, the future Of
the millions in bondage, but determine for
centuries the political progress Of the world,
the liberal minds throughout all christen-
dom, having at heart the dearest interests
of the race, watched with most painful
anxiety every phase and step of the great
conflict. And when our heroes, those that
remained, came back with their laurels of
victory, they had determined not only that
there was power in this government to CO.
cree sovereign State but that henceforth
the sun in heaven, as he traversed this con-
tinent from ocean to ocean, in all its broad
expanse, should shine upon slave no more
forever, and that a free, intelligent, and
law-abiding people can not only be law
making and law-enforcing people but that
they are the surest and safest guarantee of q
permanent and benefcent government.
So, in the far-reachng consequences de-
| pendent in the result of that issue, the vast
| and almost incalculable importance of the
interests involved, we discern for those who
carried out to final success the cause of
national unity, free labor, and self-govern-
ment, claims upon the gratitude, not alone
| of their fellow citizens, but of all mankind,
which ought and will secure to them place
| in the affections OF posterity, in which they
can never be supplanted, and certain
| passport to Immortality. 1t is not possible
for me to-day however appropriate the occa-
! sion might render it, TO review the various
| scenes in which our honored dead were the
| great actors, nor to recount the deeds which
| make sacred their memories. These are al
\ ready first in your minds. Again, as the
black storm-cloud of war, so long gathering
| in the southern sky, bursts in its fury over
the walls of devoted Sumpter, we behold
the grand rally of loved ones to the nations
rescue. Again, in memory, hand grasps
hand for the last time on earth, the farewell
words are spoken, the last kiss impaired,
the blessing of God invoked from out the
hearts unutterable anguish, as the brave
boys turn from their homes and their loved
ones to suffer and TO die. With eager eye
and throbbing hearts we follow them to
battle,-these men in whose hands we place
the fortunes of liberty and the destiny of
our country. Oh, those were fearful days!
How, at times, it seemed as though the
struggle were hopeless, that all were lost but
honorl Yet, as we watch them, with the
old ship of State, sailing out amid the roar
Of the wild tempest, rising and falling upon
the waves of wars tumultuous sea, ever in
glory above them streams grandly the
proud flag of our country. We review
again the glories of Dohelson, Shiloh,
Corinth, Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain,
cht,rY Eair nol fol .
lanta, Mobile, New Orleans, the March to
the Sea, and all the names that fill the
mighty list from Sumpter to Appomattox,
trembling at the sound of defeat and thrill.
ing With the notes of victory. How price,
less is this picture, hung in the halls Of pre-
cious memory The vivid realities de-
liheated in its magnificent groupings and
uhrivaled coloring can command no por-
trayal in speech. Vain were the teinerity
that would seek to deepen shadows already
, tragic in their darkness, or gild light Of
such surprising radiance,
In the long roll of illustrious names of
fallen heroes there come trembling on the
lips those gallant leaders, Baker, Lyon,
Sedgwick, Kearney, Mcpherson, and host
Of others conspicuous in that fearful strug-
gle; but, while our homage is paid to illus
trious service, we must not ignore for a mo-
the pomp and circumstance of high position,
laid'down their lives without murmur or
complaint Who could do more than this? ?
Who bear higher testimony to their loyalty
than the gin of life upon a country's altar?
These men sleep to-day in undisturbed re-
pose all over the land of the South, Many |
of them rest in unknown graves, where no
loving hand can place above their ashes
the garland of flowers. They sleep in the |
ealm embrace Of DEATH no stone to mark |
the spot made crimson with their blood, |
unknown and unseen by all save Him |
whose all-seeing eye and all-embracing love |
preserveth to a blessed resurrection. So, |
while this morning we perform our mission |
of love and gratitude towards these reposing |
here, let every heart go out in its fullncss of |
affection unto all the patriot dead. At Get |
tysburg and Antietam, from the very gates |
of the capital, all along where the Poto-
macs waves kiss the sacred soil of the Old |
Dominion, TO the Chickahominy and the |
James, they sleep. They rest in peace to-
day where once the red tide Of war poured |
along its CORY flood over the dread field of
the Wilderness, and swept with the besom
Of destruction along the beautiful Shenan-
doah, They are sleeping where the Cum
berland and Tennessee have traced their
courses across the bosom of the South
and at Fort Pillow, Memphis, Vicksburg,
Port Hudson, Baton Rouge, and New Or
leans, all along where the mighty Missis.
sippi pours its flood Of waters to the Gulf !
From where historic Lookout lifts it's brow /
above the clouds, along the pathway of the
fire that marked the course of Sherman to
Atlanta, thence down to the sea, the mighty
dead are sleeping And where heave and
swell the angry waters of the Gulf, and
where the ceaseless tides of the dark Atlantic
roll, there sleep our brave, unmoved by all
the turmoil of an ocean grave, awaiting the
end of time.
My friends, in a certain sense, we can not
honor these dead. No act of ours, however
reverent the thought that inspires it, can
ever reach them. Yet, in higher and
nobler sense, is that privilege accorded us
indeed, it appeals to us as a duty. 1t lies
in the thorough grasp and comprehension of
the work they accomplished, and the carry
ing of it forward TO its full completion.
They fought in war which had its origin
in diverse interests,-sectional, moral,
social, industrial, and political. The cause,
slavery, from which all these diversities
sprang, it has been their glorious work to
remove. They fought, TO maintain the
Union, against disunion. To secure it they
uprooted the very cause which made dis