Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1880-06-04

in crowd, and not one peRssnt |"
Sir Christopher Wren, the architect Of
81. PauPs, was buried within the cathedral.
These words mark his grave; "If you
would see my monument, look around you"
All about us, in the peace and prosperity
we enjoy, in all It means to be nm Americas
citizen, may be seen the fitting monument OF
those who laid dswn their lives TO save the
! Nation.
We are not here 10 recall memories OF
bitterness and anger. 'Tis not with any
desire TO re-Awaken the animosities Of the
past that the Nation observes the day. We
have learned that il is better to be magma.
nimouS than TO have been victorious. We
do not eEult over the conquest OF enemies
while We rejoice in the results Of tie war
Many OF onr brethren in the South Iejoice
| with us in the fact that our system OF gov
ernment was preserved fTsni failure. While
| politicians,t to serve selfish ends may fan the
flames Of sectional strife, the people desre'to
bury all differences and be henceforth one.
When Gen. Scott was asked in 1861 what
would be the probable duration Of the war,
he replied "The conflict OF arms will en-
dure five years, but will be followed by
twenty years OF strife by the belligeremt
non-cUmbatants." Fifteen years are past,
and many OF the helligeront non. combat
ants are not yet ready TO shake hands aud
be at pence. The inflaence of Decoration
Day ought to have been, ought to be, to
| shorten the time OF strife. All honor to
the noble women of a southern city, whoa
few years ago set the example now 70 wide
ly followed, as with impartial hand they
laid their floral offerings VI on the graves
OF National as we'll no Confederate dead.
He who makes His sun to shine on the evil
and the good has made the grass grow and
the flowers bloom over the resting places
of all alike, whether they wore the blue or
gray. From the forests of Maine To the
orange groves of Florida, from our own
great eastern metropolis to the Golden Gate,
we are one Nation and have mutual inter-
este. Accepting the results OF the war as
final decision OF the questions involved, all
| parties and sections should labor for the
promotion OF peace aud good will.
Let us not waste, in celebrating the ex-
ploits of our fathers and brothers, those
energies which should he devoted 10 the
duties OF the present hour. i" He mourns
tn dead who lives as they desire" These
brave men we honor to-day had learned
self-denial. Their hearts were always
moved by the sight of worthy suffering
Could they speak they would remind lis
Of our duty 10 the living--veterans of
the army just as faithful, just as brave as
| they. While the government is paying a
large amount every year to those upon its
| penslon-roll, many are suffering as the re-
suit OF what they endured, for whom ex-
isting laws make no provision. Can we
without feeling Of shame, allow them TO
| spend their last days in poorhOuse? To
attempt 10 atone for the neglect OF fel-
low-countryman while he lives by heaping
his coffin with flowers is hollow mockery.
What then is our best tribute 10 the
memory of the dead A truer, manlIer
citizenship, A broader charity. Lives of
irreproachable integrity. A recognition
OF our individual responsibilities and per-
| sonHl duties. II the land was worth dying
Tor, is 1t not worth living for7 When Rev.
Or. Parker, OF London, returned from
visit to this country in 1873 he said: "It
is not very agreeable to my patriotic i'm
pulse to say, yet / must say it, that Amer
lea Is, in my opinion, on the point of
, , laying its hand on the supremacy col the
world. England has magnificent histo-
ry, but America has a more magnificent
future" What shall that future be? 1t
is for us 10 answer. The Nation is made
up of individuals. Each man is a sover-
eign. All are equal. Morally, intellectu-
ally, in all that constitutes true greatness
naIion can rise no higher than the ag-
gregate OF its individual members.
The men whose heroism we remember to-
day fought for principle. They died
that our common country might live. The
| fairesl, freshest flowers of this beautiful
spring g.time are the eloquent emblems of
our grateful love-. These herul tributes
will soon wither; but the lessons of the
day will not he lost. 81 love to believe"
nf 80, Il
heroic sacrifice is ever lost that the char.
acteristics OF men are moulded and in
spired by what their fathers have done;
that treasured up in American souls are
all the unconscious influences of the great
deeds of the Anglo Saxon race, from Agin-
court to Bunker Hill"
The example Of the past is an incentive
OF better living. The dead speak. They
live in the lives Ms well as the hearts of the
present generation. Their lives are trans
fused into the life of the Nation to-day.
| BE II ours to resolve, in the words Of Abra-
ham Lincoln at Gettysburg, "that these
dead shall not have died in vain that the
nation under God shall have q new birth
oil freedom; and that Il government of the
people a9| Dy the people shall not perish
from the earth"
The address was given marked attention
and received hearty applause. This was
followed by a selection from The Arion Cor.
net Band, after which
Rev. ROBERT McCUNE,
of Toledo, was introduced and delivered
most eloquent extemporaneous address,
which received merited applause. The fol-
lowing is brief synopsis, as reported by
Mr.. f. j. OBLIEGER for the Bee:
The Reverend gentleman said that it
was at late hour the day before that he
was requested to address the citizens OF
| Perrysburg on this occasion, and he had
| telt that he was not prepared, and now felt
that he was not needed. He said that the
death Of human being WINS always
solemn event. But when an individual
dies voluntarily, when lie lays down his
| life Tor some great principle OF truth, for
some vital interest of humani Y, that death
is invested with u sNcredness that can sur
round no other death. War lays its hand
upon the young man, the pride oil his moth
er ana sisters, the hope Of The home, the
most patriotic and noble of our land We
therefore, to-day, through our Aoral offer
inss, commemorate the death OF those who
died for principle.
lie regarded war as one OF the greatest
calamilies that could befall a nation An
eminent historian had said that lie would
rejoice TO see the armament OF war so per-
fected that armies would annihilale each
other, as nations would then settle their
differences by arbitration. However such
a result may be reached, the speaker
prayed for the lime to come when war
should cease-when nations would be viii.
|, | linz n orhiirata He ad IA 40 =, 10 na
ful sign of the future when England and
other great nationalities of the world had
held councils Of arbitration. But he never
desired to see that lime come when the
young men and the young women of tht
land were not fully prepared to make al
the sacrifices that war the most terribl,
might necessilate. When the youth an,
vIgor and manhood of our nation becOn
80 money. loving, 80 cOwardly, and exhibi
such pusillnnimity an TO be unified for tn
exigencies Of war, the nation is no longe