The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1879-06-10
ADDRESS
BY GEN. l.. y. TROwBRIDGE,
al fsiIIsdaIe, Michigan, Decoration
Day, 1879.

VINO etOod cAptcidnt bft
And then the old man shook his head
Aud with a natural Sigh,
'"Tls some poor fellows skull" said he,
"Who fell In the great victory.
II find them In the garden.
For there's many here about;
"And often when 40 TO plough,
THE plOughshare turns them out
For many thousand men, said he
Were slain la that great victory.
''Now tell us what twas all about.
Young Pcterkln he cries;
Aud little Wilhelmine looks up
With wcnder waiting eyes,
Now tell US all about the war,
"And what they fought each other for.
1t was the English. Kaspar cried,
Who put the French 20 rout;
But what they fought each other for
al could not well make out;
But everybody said, quoth he.
That twas a famous victory
"My father nvcd.at Blenhem then,
Yon little stream hard BY;
They burnt his dwelling Ia the ground,
And he was forced 90 hy;
So with his wife aud child he fed,
Nor had he where TO lay his head
HWIth fire and sword the country round
''Was wasted far aud wide,
and many a childing mother then
And new born baby died.
''Bui things like that yOu know must be
AT every famous victory
They say Il was a shocking sight
After the field was won,
For many thousand bodies here
Lay rotting la the sun;
But things like that you know, must be
After a famous victory.
Great praise the Duke OF Marlborough won.
And our gOOd&rince Eugene.
''Why, twas a very wicked thing,
said little Wilhclmine.
Nay. nay my little girl quOth he,
III was famous victory.
And every body praised the Duke.
VINO this ucat fight did win.
But what good came Of IL at LAST
Quoth little Petcrkin.
Why. that I cannot tell. said hc.
But twas a famous victory
Such was the emitting satire of a
great poet upon a great battle fought
something more than century and a
half ago, in which many thousand men
we're slain, aud thousands more hope
lessly manned and disabled A battle
which carried desolation and misery 10
thousands of happy homes; and yet as
often as shall be asked the question ol
little Peterkin, "But what good came
OF IL az last. so often shall be heard
old Kaspar's answer, why that | can
not tell.
A few short years ago we were engag-
ed In most remarkable contest. A
contest which, in the vast extent OF ter.
ritory over which il ragged, IN the colos'
sal forces employed in it's settlement,
and in the magnitude and impOrtance
OF the questions involved in 1t, fnds no
parallel in all human history. Ii was
a fight OF giants; over questions not OF
a day, but Of the ages. Questions which,
in their deep significance, reached
down 10 the very foundations OF the
fair structure which We call our Gov
erument. IL was contest which taxed
TO the utmost the patriotism, the cour.
age, the patient endurance, the faith oi
the loyal pen and women Uf the land.
Who shall attempt TO picture the
misery and distress of that great strug-
gle? Thousands of happy homes were
made desolate. The bravest and choic-
est spirits of our young manhood were
swept INTO untimely graves. Our streets
were filed with mourners. The voice
OF mothers for their children crying
and who would not be comforted, went
wailing through the land. For -four
/ long and weary years the agony went
on. Through varying conditions OF en-
couragement and doubt, OF hope and
I despair, the war dragged its slow lengtl
I along; until at last, under the blessing
/ Of q kind Providence, by the valor o.
our brave citizen soldiers, guided b,
the genius of the greatest captain o.
\ the age, our cause triumphed. Th'
great hosts which had SO long beer
engaged in the attempt to overthrow
the Government, laid down their ARM
and dispersed. Verify il was a famoui
victory; and when throughout thl
length aud breadth Of this loyal lane
the shouts Of victory went mp; wher
from hill top and valley, from the forg'
and the farm house, from altar an'
anvil, there swelled the great anthem o
a peoples rejoicing; when in the street
of your beautiful city strong men, un
accustomed 20 weep, sobbed out II
broken accents their overwhelming jo
over the triumph Of a righteous cause
we thought, indeed, that IL was aglori
Gus victory. Our rejoicing was not mere
ly the Joy Of exultation and triumph owe
fallen foes. IL was not chiefly becaus
the war was ended and the day OF sacTi
fee was done. No; our rejoicing had
broader and deeper significance tina
that. We reioiced because a gren
wrong had been oyerthrown. We r,
. -. la..a.n. sIwrwhN ma IA a
good right 10 think, that after so niue
blood and suffering. so much ruin an
desOlation, so much sorrow and miser,
the questions upon which the war ha
been fought were settled, and 20 n
main so forever. Had any childis
prattler asked us then "What GOO
came of IL at last, we would not hay
! paused for a reply, but with swellin
hearts we would have given quick r
q sponse, "a nation saved: q race r
deemed. These are the fruits Of thl
E great victory.
Fourteen years have passed avs
y since the the last shot was fired, m
we are assembled 10 pay a fresh tribu
il OF respect 10 the memory OF the bra
men who perished in the great strul
. gle. Fourteen years. less than half q
life II an ordinary generation; and
We recall our thoughts from the seen
= OF the great struggle. TO c0ntempla
v what has since transpired, what
trAnspiring every day before our eye
b. how great the changol Tue men vi
,e sought 30 overthrow the Goyernme
are now entrenched in the halls OF q
| CAPITOL. By the organization OF ps
ties, and the absolute inexorable m
, Of the caucus. they now control the le
} islative department of the GovernmeT
The fundamental idea upon viii
the rebellion was waRed. and which
supposed had been shot TO death ND,
the field Of battle, Is now asserting
. self with renewed life aud redOubl
energy aud arrogance. The natl
which we supposed had been saved
such an immense sacrifice q blood a
treasure. is now threatened by the sal
old enemies, but by a new mode OF
tack. By the same destructive theor'
4 but sought % be enforced by "a,
j methods. The race which We supp,
n Ell redeemed from slavery is now llyi
II in terror aud despair from a conditi
n worse than slavery. And now ths
= comes forcing itself upon US. with In
q sistablc power. the question OF I
childish prattler, What was the v
about and what good came Of IL
last.
Nv friends this ia no time nor pl,
for partisan harrangue. This IL 4
the time nor the place 10 kindle a