The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1881-06-08
DECORATION Day ADDRESS,
By DIR. b. A. rlcHrNER.

the luipIiScS vi d toHih'oi 80
turned aifcctionately towards oul
departed heroes and dead comrades
whose valor, constancy, blood-siled
and patriotism has made a deep I'M
preston upon our hearts
Among al the memories OF th'
past thar crowd themselves upon
our thoughts, there are none SO ten
der and sacred as those OF the dead.
From all other Affections we may
seek to be delivered, but the sever
ing of the visible connection with
this state of existence. of those We
loved and admired, either on ac-
count of natural ties or on ac-
count of their deeds, is a grief from
which we seek no divorce.
1t is indeed a noble faculty in ouI
natures that we can connect our
thoughts, our sympathies, and our
happiness with those, who accord
ing to the laws of mortality, have
preceded us into the land OF splr-
It's. and hold communion with our
ancestors on the one hand and pos
terity on the Other.
The point OF time in which we
live. and the small spot of earth we
physically occupy, cannot bind our
intellectual enjoyments any more
than those graves can contine With
in their narrow walls the influence
of the good accomplished by those
who inhabit them. We live in the
past bv a knowledge Of its history ;
in the future by hope and anticipa-
ton. We are but link in the great
chain of time connecting the past
with the present and the future.
The dead are not lost TO the senses
of the living. Their spirits are not
only rekindled on the alters of eter-
nitv 10 dwell in the bosom Of their
God forever, but they continue to
live on earth among men and exer-
else an influence over the living. 1t
is not a false or vain, but an eXalt-
ed and religious imagination that
leads US 10 raise our thoughts
from the orb we inhabit and send
them with feelings, such as nature
prompts, to the eternal Parent for
his goodness towards the myriads
of our fellow beings with whom He
has peopled the intimate space, and
has given us an alliance with all the
excellence that belongs to our whole
race.
When we contemplate the exam
pie and study the character of our
fallen heroes, we seem to imbibe
something of the spirit that stirred
their souls in the hour of their coun-
try's danger, and led them forth to
battle for liberty and the Union. In
mind, feeling, and sympathy we can
live the lives they lived. We can
accompany them in all their tolls ;
sympathize with them in their suf-
ferings, and rejoice with them in
their successes and triumphs, and
seemingly belong to their age.
There are few if any stronger con-
ceptions to affect and oyerwhelm
the mind than that which repre-
sents the moving and speaking i'm
ages of the dead to the senses Of the
living. Ii deals with us as human
beings, naturally reyerencing those
whose visible connection with this
state of existence has been severed,
but still exercise an influence oyer
the living, and carries US forward,
showing as the continued results Of
the good we do in the prosperity Of
those who shall come after us.
Bside from our moral and relig-
ious duties / hardly know what
should bear with stronger obligations
upon the intelligent and enlighten-
ed mind than a consciousness of an
alliance with excellence which is de-
parted a consciousness too that in
Its acts is actively operating upon
the mind of those who shall follow
after us.
=. 1t affords us much satisfaction
and fills our hearts with pride and
admiration when we learn from the
pages of history that the success of
religion and civil liberty upon this
continent, ifnot in the whole world,
one day depended upon thestrength,
faith and mutually pledged patriot
ism of our revolutionary fathers. 1t
was their unbounded faith in God,
whom they adored, that he would
prosper the right, and that when
they had suffered and endured long
enough that he would lead them in
to the enjoyments of the fruits of q
glorious and triumphant victory
over despotism, that made them
equal to every emergency.
No soldiers ever served their coun-
try with more entire exemption from
selfish, mercenary motives than
those who fought for the independ-
ence of the Colonies and the union
of the States. 1t is doubtful If man
ever stood in closer approximation
with the beneficence of a merciful
Creator, in the distribution of tenn
poral blessings to the human family,
than those brave heroes when they
buckled on their armor to fight for
the overthrow of despotism in
America and the preservation of the
Union, bringing their lives and prop |
erty as humble but willing sacri-
fee ready to be offered upon the al |
ter of liberty. 1t was the highest |
object of their lives to build up a
governmental system founded upon
principles of the fullest liberty and |
purest religion. Standing as we do
in so close a relation, and having an /
intimate alliance with our departed |
heroes and fallen comrades in all |
that pertains to our liberties, the I
pride of history and the glory Of
conquest, We have come here to-day /
according to appointment, bringing
with us some of the early flowers
of spring to express our gratitude
and record our homage to the heroic
dead, by strewing on their graves !
garlaEds of flowers, gathered by
surviving comrades, admiring
friends and a grateful people, as a
humble and dnot altogetheRunworthy
memorial of their most worthy lives.
When we have performed this duty
we viii feel that we have done
something not unworthy of our |