National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1879-05-31
VALOR'S DREAMLESS URN.
Continued from First Page

An old age doomed to want aud cold neglect,
such honor rendered. honors him who pays
Not less than who receives II. and outweghs
All other forms of homage or of praise.
We owe this to each soldier who survives
No less than to these dead, who gave their lives,
Nor TO their orphans, or their widowed wives
DO we owe less The debt Is undenicd
by any palriot-and Columbia's pride
And honor should and Will for them provide.
Such are the lessons which from year to year
These graves shall teach to thousands gathering
And as each patriot on each grave . tear
Shall drop as tribute fitting to be paid
Their tenants, on whose dreamless beds are laid
Fresh wreaths of flowers by child and man, and
Thrice cursed forever all shall say who would,
From our cscucheon tear this motto good,
zone flag. one country, and one brotherhood
OF and for ALL now and forever be
The boast and heritage of millions free"
From lakes to gulf-from whereby Eastern sen,
New York and Boston, Richmond, Charleston, boast
10 San francisco on our far West coast.
DER every home and hamlet these between,
ON hills, In valleys, mid broad prairics green,
ON either side Of Mssissippis sheen,
May that Flag font forever the proud sign
0fan unbroken Union, ut whose shrine,
All hearts shall bow IN homage half diylfA
And each tongue say, THAT Flag this mnd arc
mine"
The choir sang Kelcr's american Hymn"
Hon. Martin Magnnis of Montana, then de-
livorod the Grafton, which, during the reading,
elected frequent applause
The Grafton.
FRIENDS AND COMRADES: A year ago to-day |
stood, for the first time since the war, upon the
slOpng crest Of the historical fields Of Gettysburg
which, stretching westward from my feet, peacefully
bloomcd III the warm spring sunshine, their way
ing grain and tender turf and gsicning wood
lands backed by the dark blue mountains, forming
the very ideal of pastoral rcposc. The farmers
looked 0skancc ut the intrudcrs on their elds the
sheep started in surprise ut the invasion of their
quiet; there was no trace of battle, no scar of shot
or she'll the very trees had outgrown their wounds,
and nature had left no token Of battle OH those YER
nal slopes, unless the blood of thousands gave n
greener hue u the grass or warmer Tint to the
flowers. As IN other lands she Ind buried the re-.
mains Of mans pIrdea magnifeence, so here she
had oblitcrntcd all traces of his lcrociOus passion
from the breast of the lovely earth.
1t was difficult to recall the dreadful sights and
sounds of battle which had covered that turf with
the munglcd forms of men and shaken the hills
with the revcrberutOns OF cannon and the din of
musketryi that had filled the pure air with the
hosts contended until 1t seemed rs If that dread
day had come when the heavens shall be rolled
upasa SCROLL and men shall call upon the earth to
cover and the rocks to hide them
My recollection was of that supreme moment
when the fierce waves of battle which for three
days had beat upon that line, swelling into one
overwhelming billow, rolled out of the dark tenn.
pest of artillery smoke and lightning, and, with n
crest of gliscning steel and crimson Southern bat.
tlc-nHgs ana a.foHm of fire, dashed upon that line
only to be hurled back, broken, bloody, mnngled
into the chaos from whence 1t came amid the ring.
ing cheers of the Union line, which, rising above
all other sounds, rent the air from Round Top, to
the right.
DCgNn 10 realize tlnt the war was q long time
ago; that its incidents were being confused amid
the throng of occurrences that crowd our busy
lives, and that its memories began to pale as seen
through the medium of0ccumulnting years.
But when turned to the cemetery itself there
was the ncvcr.miling reminder of the comrades
who had ialcn--thoso. with whom we had shared
the march in heat aud cold on nights of rain and
tempest, and on nights when the soft moon and
stars shone down OH the rivers of steel that
flowed through the forest paths of Old Virginia
on days of darkness and defeat, and of bright.
ness and hope, when the heart swcllcd at the glory
of the martial scene and the soul stirred at all the
magnificent pnnoply OF war; those who shared
with us feast and famine, bivouac and battle, sOr
row and JOY, hardship and danger, until they were
linked to our hearts with that spirit of comrade-
ship which passes the love of brothers. The forms
OF these came back, and they stood before as II
the sod above them had in single night grown
green.
Therefore many tell us that these things are not
well; that the
MEMORIES OF THE WAR
should pass away; that only In their oblivion can
the welfare of the country be attained and the
o. cause we served-thc cause of national unity-bc
completely perfected; that all these ceremonies
and decorations and honors to the dead who died
in honor are but pcrpetuating the quarrel which II
was the object of their sacrifice to end. Even
Charles sumner would have stricken from the flags
all names of civil struggles and erased from the
records all memories of civil war.
Noble rs was the sentiment patriotic MS was the
motive, 1t would be as impossible to accomplish as
unwise to attempt. We havehad the cost of great
tratrlcdal war; why should we not proht by its
dear-bought lessons
Let all bitterness and malice die, but let the OK
pcrence live, the history be made up and the re-
cord stand. Certainly the Union cannot forget the
cost Mt which its power and unity aud perpetulty
were vndicated; the grand armies of her citizens
who bore her banners the great chcnninS who led
them on; the fields where disaster checked her
career as well rs those which were the vic
torous footsteps of her march to final triumph,
aud, above all, the Republic cannot without being
false to herself fail to cherish the memory of those
martyrs who ccmented with their precious blood
the disjointed stones of her lettering arch and Ic
ceved upon her affairs from the Angel OF Death the
sacrament of eternity"
And let the South mourn for her sons. Let her
garland the graves of her fallen heroes, and keep
devotion to their States OF their lal love for that
sunny land at whose bidding they gave up their
lives with devotion that attcsted their sincerity
and patriotism as pure as that which warmed the
hearts that now lie cody in these graves Let her
raise statues TO the chieitains who led her hosts
with skin and bravery, and whose nobility of char
ncter shed honor not only on them, but on the
American name. All that Is hers is also ours All
arc parts of the triumph of the Republic.
Let the record stand. Let each keep their own
brght-not in bitterness. malice, or the pcrpet-
uation of strife, but as an experience too costly to
be lost; as beacon on the sea of time TO warn
our Ship of State from dangerous shoals rs n re-
proach to her statesmen of the past for allowing
questions that might have been settled in peace to
ever involve Il people of one country one blood,
one tongue. one creed i'll the awful agonics of
civil war MS warming to the statesmen of the
ton, 10 sectional difference, no caSsgrieyunCc Is
TO be settled except by the peaceful methods of
law and the verdict of free ballot; as n warning
violence shall perish beneath the sword OF the Re
public from the face of the earth
Thcwar may have been II blundGr on the part of
those who provoked it, 1t Is charitable TO consider
1t unavoidable, and when one reflects upon its
cause, its beginning its delays, and the consc.
quences incident to all-they seem prOyidentia
parts of plan of destiny. But in the war itself
there little to be ashamed Of and less to create
bitterness than might be expected to occur in so
desperate a struggle
The uprising of the Union people was wonderful
The spirit of party was exercised in the temple of
patriotism. They felt that If they were to have
any country THIS whole country was theirs that
they would make any sacrifice rather than see II
shattered into antagOnlstic fragments They saw
no hope for liberty but in unty-no country but
one country, They secuted the idea of peaceable |
adequate cause. SO they were one in purpose
divided as theymght be regard to methods. They
were awkward and unused TO warlike ways, |
and the military enthusiasm that marked the be. |
ginning of the war was as ridiculous in many of It's
incidents as its spirit was sublime.
Then came years of training and trial, costly mis-. |
takes, bloody blunders, incapables In high com |
mund, and inexperienced men In control of forces |
whose numbers bewildered them; the people OK, |
cited unused to war, and utterly impatient of all |
its necessary delays statesmen, struggling to bring
their own ends ont Of the war, ntcrneddling In its
conduct and battling by their interference its most
marches without object and battles without result |
till patriotism paled It's fires and the desire OF glory
was lost in the hardshps of an oyerworked exist
oncc. But discipline took Its place, and that esprit
dH corps which makes men soldiers.
THE STRUGGLING MOB
which had taken three days TO march to Bull Run |
and one night to come back from the equally de. |
moraliZed mob which accidentally remained IN
possession of the first battlefield, had been drilled
and marched, and fought, aud pounded into an
army. SO had It's oppOnents-E0st and West, on
both sides-the evies had become veterans equal
in endurance 70 those of Frederick and in expert