Huntsville gazette., 1881-06-18
The Federal Dead.
at Magnolia Cemetery
Mobile, Alabama.
Grafton by General j. w. Burke.

We have assembled here to-day for the
accomplishment of the noblest purpose
that ever found its origin in the human
aeart. In this lovely south land, when the
warm breath of the springtime causes the
face of nature to glow with the tints oi
| beauty-when your forests are musical
with fhe voice of the song Of the bird, and
yonr fields are redolent with the perfume
of tne iessamne and the violet, we come
.ere to speak of heroes.
Within few feet of the spot upon which
| { stand, repose the ashes of the Union SOL
| iiers who lost their lives in defence Of the
dag that floats from yonder tall flagstaff.
For this purpose they resigned happy
homes, tore them selves from loving arms
faced the pitiless hnil of battle, that this
country might live on forever, and that the
! great American name shOuld not perish
from the earth. For four years through
the heartless vicisstndes of war. through
death and danger, by sea and land. they
fixed their eyes on that starry banner with
the determination that no star should be
dimmed III its galaxy, and that no stripe
should be torn from it's folds.
When the great Napoleon engaged in the
conquest of Egypt, for time the fate OF
his little army trembled in the balance. He
was surrounded by foe who regarded
death as coveted JOY. The Mamaluke
cavalry, the most terrible and irresistible
foe he had encountered, swept around his
sold squares as the angry sea, lashed by
the fury Of the storm, dashes itself against
the solid rock, His troops were fighting
in that ancient land where civilization had
earliest rocked III its cradle. Races had
decayed and dy .,asties had disappeared,
and he stood there beneath the sombre
!
batting the swarthy children Of its track
less desert. 1t was time for superhuman
courage, when eloquence meant fortitude,
and inspiration victory. Raising his hand
ne pointed to the pyramids Soldiers
Rember that from the submits of those
! lofty pyramids, forty centuries look down
ipon your" Standing here to-day, by these
silent graves. our thoughts are waited away
into the contemplation of ages yet to come,
| nd when we regard the great results
! iowiag from the heroism of the dead I'm
| ION soldiers. one hundred centuries yet un-
born are looking back ut us from the womb
If the great distant future.
| 1t is not in .onnection with the mere fact
Of splendid physical courage, Or matchless
] aring, or the uncomplainlng spirit with
which those noble men suffered for four
years the vicissitudes of war, that we mnst
alone regard tile character and achieve
nents of the illustrious dead. 'Tis not OIL
account of our admiration OF their valor,
the fortitude with which they endured pri-
.tion, or the unconquerable spirit which
robbed of their terrors the gangreue of the
| hospital or the starvation of the prison.
| 'TIs the lot OF man to suffer and endure.
| Tis the duty of soldiers to suffer and en-
.lur- and all this our poor boys did with
out a murmur or complaint during those
long, weary, bitter years. But when We
consider the gigantic results that grew out
of the contest-the splendors that they have
| added to modern civilization, the perma-
nency and stable qualities they have en-
srafted on the written and unwritten laws
Of our country every modest headstone
| becomes monument, and every inscrip-
ton speaks with the force of golden
| lrttered epitaph. Which OF Us here TODAY,
| ioe, not feel that in the experiences Of the
last twenty wears he has lived s century of
the olden times? Which of us does not feel
that in the period marked by the past
twenty years this nation has made more
progress, achieved higher civilization, and
has done more to establish firmly the true
| principles OF civil liberty than the she had
| lone during the seventy-ive years of its
previous existence? He is but purblind
observer of passing and past events who
| fails to see IL the American people to-day
| sreYter cohesion, more enlightenment
| higher purpose, broader Judgment all
| controlled and directed by that inestimable
| .renius born Of true freedom, which has not
| only made our country illustrious at home.
but which is day by day gradually dispell-
| ing the dark shadows that rest upon the
| suffering people of other lsnds. Ii progress
has thus been greatly accelerated within
| the last ten years. from what did it find its
inception? My friends, forget it not, il
was the great contest through which we
| passed, the great war waged to preserve
| this Uuion as it now stands. and it shall
stand forever more. The instruments were
The contending forces, the results the judg-
lnent of God. Let us go back twenty y-ars,
| The men who to-day survive the conflict
| are mellowed by the ripe experience of a
| quarter century. With silver hairs come
sense and reflection, aud soldiers, trained
70 brave deeds, can surely now deal with
the past and its lessons with manly frank
ness.
Twenty years ago. this country was a
power III its boyhood. To-day it is IA ma
ton and ii giant. Twenty Years ago, the
dark stain of slavery dimined the blazon
Of our escutcheon. To-day the fetter and
the chain have sunk forever into the dust
and the flag of our country floats over a
land consecrated to freemen. Twenty
years ago this fair section was tied down tc
earth. Progress was driven from hel
borders. The tide OF improvement, flow.
ing with irresistible volume, peopled the
great plains of the West and built up veal
thy and powerful communities, whilst il
vas rolled back from our shores by senti
nent which went down only in the wild
70 II of battle. There were two hostile
sections: tow living, vital, contending SEN
iiments. They We're sustained by legions
Of men physically brave and equally deter
mined. No moral power could effsct an
arbltrament. The forces met; there was d
clash OF arms the skies were lighted NJ
with the fires of the contending hosts. But
above the din of battle, waited ON the gale
of victory, came the irrevocable fat. echo
ed back from the very battlements of heav
en-: The Federal Union, it must and sLat
be preserred!'
Who regrets that result to-day? Who a
this moment would seek to revoke thai
decree? Not the brave Southern soldier
who sheathed his sword beneath the shade
OF the apple tree of Appomatox. Not the
statesman, who sees in the new civilization
la,x ~