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

Lehighton. On account of the inclemency
of the weather, the ceremonies took place in
the Reformed Church.
About half-past nine o'clock the different
organizations and others participating in
the parade were formed into line at the
post-office, right resting on Iron street.
The procession then went down Bank
street TO Iron, up Iron TO Second, down
Second to the Reformed Church, the follow
ing being the order Of Parade:
Young America Cornet Band, Of Weissport,
The Veterans,
Lehigh Hook and Ladder Company No. l,
Sabbath-School Children,
The Red Caps,
The Keystone Cornet Band and P. 0, 8. Of
A., of Weissport.
The exercises in the church commenced
with prayer by Rev. d. D. Albright. The
Reformed Choir then sang "My Country,
tits of Thee" after which piece of music
was played by the Keystone Cornet Band.
The Young America Cornet Band then dis
coursed some music, after which Hon. Will
liam NJ. Rapsher was introduced to the us,
semblage. lie addressed those present as
follows:
Mr.. President and Fellow Citizens :
This is day Of recollections. Once again
the circling seasons bring around the time
and bear their sweetest gifts to deck the
resting-places of the nations honored dead.
| From hundreds of thousands of these sacred
mounds, scattered over all this broad land,
ascends to-day the sweet perfume of flowers
as holy incense,-the offerings of patriot
hearts upon these altars of nobiest sacrifice
And how beautiful and befitting in its con-
ception is such ceremonial! The tribute
| Of Natures most beauteous unfoldings is
borne by the purity and innocence of child
hood and laid with unstained and gentle
hands over the resting places Of our citizen
| soldiers Indeed, it is reverent thought
that secures from unworthy tread the earth
above these sacred ashes. These floral
offerings but fitly typify the purity of Il .
cause and of the sacrifice, and in their
wthering recall the cutting-off of these
noble lives in the very bloom and beauty of
their manhood. As an outward sign and,
expression, let them also be the emblems of
those precious recollections which we call
to-day from the fields of memory--the
brave deeds, the grand achievements, the
generous sacrifices, the lofty patriotism, the
glory of our Observation-Disclosures from
which we weave wreaths and chaplets of
ideal beauty and loveliness 10 adorn the
names and lives of these immortal sons of
the republic. Such gifts We have gathered
and brought with us in thought, our best
and choicest, endeared to us by all the af-
fection that gratitude can inspire, all the
devotion that patriotism can awaken, all the
admiration that exalted manhood can ex-
cite, and all the fond endearments that
cling TO purest friendship. .. -.
That sentiment which has led mankind
in all ages to do homage TO the worthy dead
10 ia nf ba Hnn IL, th.. h,t
it has its fitting counterpart in that other
element in our nature which reaches out
after immortalityj which seeks by every
effort of tireless ambition to escape that GER
tain Oblivion In which all earthly things
must disappear by projecting name and n
memory out into the unfathomed depths of
an endless future, In response to these de-
mands of the human heart, We find SCAT
tered throughout the ages the mounds and
tumuli Of ruder times, and the stately mon
uments and, obeltsks, the chiseled stone and
sculptured marble, the triumphal archesiI
costly tombs, and grand mousoleumns OF,
more advanced civilizations, upon which
have been brought into requlstion all the
resources of wealth and power, of advancing
science, perfected art, and creative genius.
But, in all the illustrous line of heroes,
among all the examples of valor and faith
tory and preserve to our poor humanity its
higher claims and capacities, there are none /
who in courage, in patriotism, in unswery-
ing fidelity, and in the moral grandeur of
the work accomplished, deserve more at the
hands OF their posterity than those who fell
in the struggle for the Union.
Who were these men of UNSURPASSED
glory? They were our fathers, our brothers,
our friends, our neighbors, our countrymen.
They were the free men of free land.
What their achievements? Not the salts
tertton Of wild ambition, not the demands
of conquest, not the pursuit of glory, nor
selfish aggrandizement. They came in re-
sponse to the call of their country, in obedi-
ence to the command of insulted liberty.
They came to uphold the law in the pre-
servation of this government, and they
fought in the fulfillment of duty, and, after
all, to say they did their duty we'll Is to
pronounce their highest eulogy, Better
than the granite shaft, the towering ubelisk,
or sculptured marble, is the enduring re-
nown that by benefcent deeds awakens per-
petual love in the successive generations of
men, that embodies their names and their |
work in the lasting traditions of mankind. |
Such claim upon pOsterity have those |
upon whose graves to-day are poured q ma
tion's tears, whose grand deeds to-day COM |
mand nations veneration, These simple |
graves, these crumblng mounds, may dis. |
appear; but the glory of those who sleep |
shall gild the historic page, breathing a |
vital spirit through the literature of the age, |
the theme OF poetry and song and eloquence, |
and wake to living fire the human heart so |
long as heroism shall inspire worshiper or |
freedom claim votary.
We can better appreciate the far-reaching |
results of our national success in the late |
war by glancing for a moment at the issues |
presented in that conflict. The revolted |
States thrust into the foreground and took |
shelter behind the proposition that secession |
was constitutional right reserved to the
States, This was primarily legal question, |
but they chose no: to carry it into the courts |
of law, but to submit to the arbitrament of |
the sword. The occasion of resorting to |
the exercise Of this asserted right was the |
evidence furnished by the election of Mr.. |
Lincoln that the policy of the government |
upon The slavery question must thenoeiorth |
be restrictive Of the territorial extension of |
the institution. The two systems of free |
and slave labor-socially and economically, |
politically and geographically, antagonstic |
generated what was most aptly termed |
an irrepressible conflict; and, when the ad- |
vocates of slavery sought to secure the per-
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