The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-07-06
Garfield on War.
A SPEECH AT THE UNWILLING OF SOLDIERS
MONUMENT AT GAINESVILLE, ONO.


A SPEECH AT TIE UNWILLING OF A SOLDIERS
MONUMENT AT GAINESVILLE, ONO.
PAINfsvILLE. ONO, July 4.-The follow
inc is the speech in full OF General Garfield
n, The dedication Of the Soldiers monument
yesterday:
Fcllow-C itizens,-I cannot fail to respond
on such an occasion Oi such monument
70 >uch "A cause, sustained bv such men.
IAppause and cheers While | have lis
tened 10 what my friend has said two
questions have been sweeping through
nv heart. one was What does the
monument mean?" and the other. " What
will The monument tclchE" Let me Try
and ask you for moment to help
me 10 answer what does the monu-
ment mean. Oh, the monument means
A world Of memories, a world OF
deed, and world OF tears. and a world OF
gloric,. You know. thousands know, what
It j. 10 Offer mp yOur life to the country, and
that +, no small thing, aS every soldier
knows. Let me put the question To you :
For moment. suppose your country, IN the
awiuly-cm5odied form OF majestic la",
should stand above you and say, d" want
your life; come up here on the platform
ard offer it," How many would walk mp
before that majestic presence and say.
:. Here am: take this HE and Use il for
your great needs -: [Applau>eJ And yet
almost >. 000, 600 Of men made tuat answer
(applau>tl, and Il monument stands yonder
II commemorate Thu answer.
That i one OF The meanings. But my
friends. let me try you a little further. TO
give up life is much, for il l. to give up wife,
and home. and child. and ambition. But let
Il. ft,tfl hon. fttf
awfuly.majcstic form should call out 10
YOU and say - | ask you TO give up health
and drag vOurself--nOt dead. hut bali
alye-through miserable existence for
long wears. until you perish and die in your
crippIed and hopeless condition." | ask
Won 10 volunteer to do thar. and It calls for
a higher reach Of patriotism and >elf->acrl-
flee: but hundreds OF thousands OF YOU sol
dier> did that. That II what the monument
means also. But let me ask YOU 10 20 one
step further: suppose your country should
say. "Come here on this platform, and
i'm my name and for nv sake consent to he
idiot, ryoce Herr, hear . !; consent that
YOUR very brain and intellect shall be
broken down into hopeless idiocy for my
sake" How many could be found to make
that venture? And Yet th0usands-an
that with their ewes wide open 10 the horri-
bic CONSEQUENCE -Obeyed that call. And
let me tell how 100000 OF our soldiers were
prisoners Of war. and many OF them when
death was stalking near, when famine was
climbing up into their hearts and ldiOcy
was threatening all that was lett OF their
intellect,. the gates Of their prison stood
open every day, ii they would Just desert
their f1g and enlist under the fig Of
the enemy; aud out OF 10000 not
, per cent. even received The liberia
ton from death, starvation, idiocy, and
all that might come TO them; but they took
All these horrors and all these Sutferings IN
preference TO going back upon the flag OF
this country aud the glory 81 it, truth.
CApplause.1 Great God was ever such
measure OF patriotism reached by any man
on this earth before: lAppIause.l That Is
what your monument means. by the sub
tie chemistry that no man knows all the
blood that was shed by our brethren. all the
lives that were devoted. all the grief that was
felt. at last crystallized itself into granite,
rendered immortal the great truth for which
they died lapplau>el and 1t stands there to-
day. and that is what your monument
means. Now, what dOc>Et teachi What
will it teach :
WHY. I remember the story OF one OF the
old copuuerorS oi Greece, who, when he
had travelled in his boyhOOd over the
battIc.6eldS where MItlades had won vie
tories and set up trophies. returning. he
laid. "These trophies Of MiItladeS will
never ,cf me Sleep" WHY. something had
taught hlm from the chi>ellcd stone lesson
that he could never forget, and. fellOw-citi-
Zens, that slieut sentinel that crowns
that granite column will look down
upon the boys that will walk these
streets for generations 10 come, and
will not let them sleep when their
country calls them. [AppIause.l More
than the bugler on tue field. from hi'
dead lips Will 20 out a call that the
| children OF Lake county will hear after
the grave has covered Us all and our inme'
diale children. That is The teaching Of your
monument. That Is Its lesson. and ii i TIE
| lesson Of endurance for what we believe
and il i, the lesson OF sacrifices for what W.
think. The lesson Of hcroism for what we
mean TO sustain. and that lesson cannot b,
lost to people like this. II il not lesson
/ OF revenge; it is not IA lesson OF wrath. II
T. the grand, sweet. broad lesson OF the i'm
mortality OF the truth that we hope vii
soon cover as with the grand sheklnah Of
light and glory all parts OF the republic
from the lakes to the gulf. lApplause.l
once entered a house in old Masspchu
sets where over It's doors were two crossed
swords. One was the sword Carried bv th(
grandfather OF it, owner on the field o.
Bunker Hill, and the other was the SworC
carried by the English grandsire OF the wife
on the same field; and on the other side o
the conflict, under these crossed swords, IL
the restored harmony Of domestic peace
lived Il happy and contented and free family
under tho light OF our republican liberties
[Applau'e.l | trust the time is not far dis
Iant when. under the crossed swords ant
the locked shields OF America, North ant
South, our people shall sleep in peace an'
rise in liberty, love, and harmony under th
Union Of our flag OF the stars and stripes
J There are $500 Inhabitants in the cor
I0ritiCn OF Huntington, w. Va.