The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1879-11-20
called "pek mez," and is used as driak
when diluted with water. Ittastes some
what like new cider.
THE VOLUNTEER SOLDIERS;
An Eloquent Tribute BY Gel. Robert In
gerD0ll.


An E'oquent Tribute by Col. Robert In
gersoll.
AT the banquet of the Society of the
Army Of the Tennessee, in Chicago, the
toast, "The volunteer soldiers of the
Union army, whose valor and patriotism
saved the world q Government of the
people, by the people, and for the peo.
pie" ," was responded to by Col. Bob In.
gersoll, as follows:
When the savagery Of the lash, the barbarian
of the clan, and the insanity Of secession cou-
fronted the civilization of our century. the
question, will the great republic defend it.
self;s trembled on the lips Of every lover OF
The North, filled with intelligence and wealth
--ehlldren OF iberty-marshaled her hosts and
asked only for leader: From civil life man,
silent, thoughtful, poised and calm, stepped
forth and with lips Of victory voiced the na-
tons first and last demand: Unconditional
and immediate surrender" From that moment
the end was known That utterance was tho
with the dramatic unities OF mighty evente, the
great soldier who made it received the final re-
ward Of the rebellion.
The soldiers Of the republic were not seekers
after vulgar glory. They were not animated
By the hope Of p!under or thelove of conquest
They fonght to .preeerve the blessings Of lib-
erty and that their children might h.ve peace
They vera the defenders Of humanity,
ers Of ch.ins, and, in the name
Of the future, they slew the monsters Of tteir
time. They finished what the soldiers Of the
Revolution commenced: They rclighted the
torch that fell from their august hands and
filled the world again With light They blotted
from tho statute-book laws that had been
passed by bypOcrites At the instigation Of rob-
bers, and tore with indignant hand from tbs
constitution that infamous clause that made
men the catohCrs Of their fellow-men.
They made it possible fol- Judges to be Just,
for statesmen to be human, and for politicians
10 he honest
They broke the shackles from the limbs Of
slaves. from the souls Of masters, and from
the Northern brain. They kept our countr,
On the map Of the world, and our dag i:
heaven.
They rolled tho stone from the sepulcher Of
progress, and found there two augels clad in
shining Elrnlents-Nationalitv and Liberty
The soldiers we're tue eaviors' OF tho nation
they were the iberstors OF men, In writing
the proclamation Of independence, Lincoln, tho
greatest OF Our mighty dead, whose memory il
~ gentle as the summer air when rcapcrs sine
amid the gathered shcayes, copied with biz
pen what Grant and his brave comrades wrote
with swords
~Grander than the Greek, nobler than the Ro
man, the soldiers Of the republic, with patriot
ism as stainless as the air battlcd for the riehfs
Ut others, for the nobility OF labor, fought That
mothers might own their babes, that arrogant
idleness might not scar the back Of patient ioiI.
and that our country should not be = man
headed monster made Of warning States, but
nation, sovereign, great and free.
Blood was water. money was leaves, aud life
Mi <la<y II
republic without master and without slave.
Then was asked question: sWiu q free peo-
pie tax themselves to pay the nations debt?:"
The soldiers went home to their waiting
wives, to their glad children, and to the girls
they loved-they went back to the fields. this
shops, and mines. They had not been deinor-
allied. They had been ennobled. They wero
as honest in peace :s they had been brave in
war MOckine st poverty, laughing at revere
es, they made friendof toll They said: "We
saved the nations life, and what is life without
llonor! They worked and wrought with all OF
labor's sons that every pledge the nation gavo
should be redeemed. And their great leader
having put & shining band of trienilship-a
girtlle OF clssped and happy hands-around
the globe, comes home and finds tha.
every promise made in the war has now the
ring aud CLEAN Of gold.
wountle of the war bo healed? I answer, yes,
The Southern people must submit, not to the
dictation Of the North. but to the nations viii
and to the verdict Of mankind. They were
wrong, and the time will come when they will
say that they are victors who have been van
4uished by tho right Freedom conquered
them, and freedom will cultivate their fields,
educate their children, weave for them the
robes of wealth, execute their laws, and fill
their land with happy homes
The soldiers of the Union saved the South a.
well as the North. They made us = nation.
Their victory made us free and rendered
tyranny in every other land as insecure as snow
upon the volcanoes lips
And now let us drink to tho volunteers. to
those who sleep in unknown, sunken graves,
whose names are only iu the hearts Of those
they loved and left--of those who often hear ii
happy dreams the footsteps of return.
Let US drink to those who died where lip!ess
famine Knocked at want-to all tho MANNED
whose scars give modesty toDgue-to all who
dared, and gaveto chance the care and keeping
Of their lives-to all the living aud to all tho
dead TO Sherman, to Sheridan and to Grant,
the foremost soldier Of the world, and last to
Lincoln, whose loving life, like bow of peace
spans and arches all the clouds Of war.