Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-05-30
TWO CENTS.

IL.
Content that fools should count him blind or
If better times, his work admiring scan.
The nations rise, and kings come gladly forth
| i ms is king. tool all the o. opeS say:
| The nations rise, and greet him on his wav;
Hailing the statesman and the hero's worth.
eG6 bi SEe hin him peace Sod give him length OF days
Hisname sps Iar h aaa Which owes TO him 50 much;
Their voice shall ring respondent to his praise.
| .; flag of man! .. flag OF human kind.
ar se, sgn Is 3gs que WIN stars the snowy white;
BE Freedom still within thy folds enshrined.
Rise up. o day, so long ago foretold.
Rise up. fiji out the Maker perfect plan.
piaa When man man shall brother be, TO brother man;
Rise up, and bless the world, thou Age OF Gold,
Music. Fantasia, Opera Don Pasquale. by
DOnizetti, was performed by the Marine
Band, followed by chorus by the Washing
Hon. Chas. G. Williams of Wisconsin. was
introduced and delivered the following:
THE GRAFTON.
! Mr.. Chairman, Soldiers and CtizenS:-
This is sacred ground: Arlington, with its
mansion house and lawns. its fields and graves,
is, and is to remain, one of the nations sacred
places! Sacred in the memories OF the past.
sacred IN the associations of the living, but
sacred and thrice hallOwed today by the gath
meath its sod,
All the surroundings here are historic and
|
scenes and events the most startling and mo-
| mentouS. Here came early the promoters of
colonial commerce, the builders of states, the
founders OF empires. Here the Father of his
| Country, who had redeemed cOntinent
founded city. And later, here came hostile
lorce W6en the wings of yonder Capitol were
wrapped IN names; when the distinguished
inmates OF the Executive Mansion fled for
| safety and fire leaped and cracked through
Its corridors and halls! But these edifceS
soon sprung again from their ashes, and others
| like them rose to view, prOclaiming the ma
| tons greatness and growth. Then, here
amid the representative forces of free people,
IDEAS, principles, systems and civilizations
| fought and struggled. Here the great intel
lees of the nation met and grappled, and in
| this great arena of American stateSmanShip
| victims We're lost and victories won: until ali
eliminated at last in the wild resolve and open
! blow OF rebellion! Then Arlington heard the
tramp OF armies and felt the shock of fratri-
| cidal wal,
On that memorable morning in May, lust
there, the forces of the republic first set foot
on Nlrglnia'S soil, and yOnder Ellsworth, the
idol OF the west. gave up his young life. No
sooner had the struggle begun than these old
country roads over which Washington and
| jefferson were wont to pass and repaSS, be-
came great red thoroughfares of strife, and the
capital city itself, intrenched within these crc-
| ing NILS, became camp, hospital and Sepul-
| chre for the living, the dyeing and the dead.
Arlington felt and still feels the awful change!
| Where to-day the ashes lie cold upon her hearth
| stone, but yesterday there was the warmth
and glow OF distinguished hospitality Here
gathered not only the great and the good of
the nation, but the gifted and distinguished of
the world: She was the home of luxury, the
| patron OF learning, the sanctuary of art Now
her Libraries have disappeared, her paintings
| and Statuary are gone, her halls are Silent and
| deserted, and over her door posts is written
the dread Inscription of the Sepulchre. Her
familiar paths and forest trees are indeed still
| true to nature, but these no longer proclaim
her the home OF the living, butthe great green
city of the dead"'
Hither come We to-day! Soldier, citizen,
| riff tnf
uon nor yet with any feeling of bitterness or
nate, Dut with true devotion and reverential
love to learn, if we can, what now Arlington
has to teach us of her lesson this year: and
While 1t is ordained that the living must speak,
would TO God that with heads uncovered we
| might al stand silent here, while every grave
| that ridges these hlllsideS become a vocal
tongue to-day. That these "Sheeted dead''
| might stand forth to tell us for what they
fought and for what they died; and from the
outer walls -, Of the infinite answer back our
inquiry: "Watchman, what of the night?'
| But there will come no response from them.
They spoke their last word and went to their
| bered or whether they shall be forgotten.
| whether their work shall be vindicated or
base, fRasely = betrayed there will come no murmur
from all these silent acres! They spoke once
and spoke forever; the language of their lives
Is written deep In the annals of their country.
A. Chancellorsvie and Chickamauga, at
| dred different battle-fie they penned an
epic in American history which will be read
hnnnrp6
herOism is remembered.
Standing here between the living and the
dead; between the sleeping hero and the sur
VlVIDg comrade; between the struggling past
and the hopeful future between the battje
grounds of war and the harvest fields of peace:
charged with dealing justly by the victor and
vanquished alike, ours is a fearful response
6llIty today. If we would fifty honor these
dead we must bate not one jOt or title from
the story OF their lives. In the language of
Ihelr lllustrious commander, penned under
iiy itiialys clear SKY we must show mo dispoSi-
t1on to apologize for the part they took in the
late struggle for our national existence: nor
Tor the cause for which they fought" We
s,reW flowers upon them, the sod that covers
them: we pay formal tribute TO their memo
rles and their worth: but il these tears and
these tributes like these flowers are 10 vanish
III t9HorroWS sun, then, indeed, have we
mocked our dead with idle ceremonies and
deeds They dealt little in sentiment:
less IN ceremony. 1t matters not to
them whether we talk much OF little of
whether regiments Of the late ate contensdiSg Ss Hr
armies march out in formal parade to greet
each other with loud huzzas. What they Would
want to know and what their surviving com
radeS are most anxious to understand is
whether this country i'm truth and i'm fact is
rehabilitated in the garments of national
equal rights. Not whether as we sometimes
now hear, wealth, responsibility, and cuI-
ture" must rule; but whether in the language
OF our martyred President, "A government
of the people, by the people, and for the
people, has been established which can and
will protect the citizen in the fullest enioy-
ment OF his rights. And whether he be rich or
whether he be poor, whether he be learned or
whether he beignorant, whether he be power
ful OF whether he be weak, so long as he obeys
the laws, pays his taxes, contributes to the
common defence. can express his opinion cast
his ballot OF exercise any other Of his c0nsti. |
tutlonal rights with at least as much protec. |
ZION under republican as under monarchial |
form OF government. Ii he can, then these |
men did not die i'm vain. If he cannot, then |
their blood was but water spilled upon the |
ground.
We hear much i'm this day and age of the |
necessity for the material development of this |
country. The press teens with article after |
article reminding the American statesman |
that it is now time for him to drop the minor |
matters OF mere emotional politics and devote |
himself to the prefounder problems of busi |
ness. That he should acquaint himself with /
questions OF tariff, finance, the balance of |
trade, the development of material resources |
the building of ships, and the extension of |
commerce, the opening of trade with India
China, Japan, Mexico and the South Amer
lean republics and the islands of the Sea, |
Themes indeed worthy of the best Thought of
the economist and the brOadest capacity of
the statesman, but involving no generic nrin.
elple or question that has not been solved over
and over again since the dawn of ciyijiza
ton, and which after all reuuire a JittIa /