Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-05-29

The Memorial service at the Granite church
last evening drew a large audience which
filled the ediice in spite of a shower of rain
which began as the people commenced to
gather. The services opened with an anthem
finely rendered by choir made up of singers
from the choirs of several churches. This
was followed by Scripture reading by
| Rev. Mr.. Penney. Rev. Mr.. Tilden offered
q fcrvent and tender prayer. Rev. Mr.. Mott
read hymn prepared for the occasion, which
was sung finely by a male qusrtette. The
sermon was by Rev. A. C. White. pastor of
the Universalist church, and was a scholarly.
i thoughtful. patriotic discourse, very appro-
PIRATE, and delivered in very excellent man.
ner At the close of the sermon the congre-
CATION Joined with the choir in singing
America" The benediction was pronounced
by Rev. Mr.. TIlden, and the great crowd dis
persed in the midst Of thunder storm. The
following is an abstract of Mr.. Whites ser
mon:
"By it. he being dead yet speaketh."
HEBREWS XII. t.
Three hundred Spartans at the pass of
Thermopyle opposed an army, and persisted
every one. No shaft of marble or column of
bronze e'er challenged the travellers notice
OF grateful country's commemoration.
r1de slab, hewn from some perishable wood
where the brave struggle ended, marked the
resting place of Leondas and his invincible
| three hundred All honor to Leonidas and
to the flower of Sparta's chivalry. We are
not too proud to learn a esson from the valor
| and martyrdom of her soldiers; for our brave
dead fill million graves, while every head
| stone speaks the language of as great a
heroism, while the gentians that flower
above the unknown graves are natures
memorial tribute to the honored dead. Amer
| lea is most grateful nation. She Loyalty
| remembers the bleeding sacrifice of her sons,
and to their memory has reared a thousand
columns of granite and marble. But these
should be only emblems of a tribute more
substantial and enduring. The heroes of
these years of struggle and carnage and death,
| speak to the living who enjoy the fruits of
their self-denial, and claim the tribute which
, Is justly their due. They ask for more than
| flowers and tears, stone and bronze. They
| claim the conservation of living powers to the
cause for which they poured out the vital
current of their mortal wounds.
Let US think little while, if you please,
Of some things that are the better memorial
which our dead comrades claim. In the first
place the living are pledged by great sacri-
| flee to maintain the liberty and union of our
common country. The eyes of other nations
are upon us, still wondering whether or not
the experiment of free government is a sue
cess. We owe it to the dead that our lives
| shall be consecrated to break down all lin
gering prejudice against the man whose man.
acles they died to break; and that all senti-
| ment, born OF the great conflict, shall issue
in the common welfare. Freedom for all in
| all things-a catholic generosity, that shall
| forestall any oppression from the Pharaohs
in the land the dead, through dead, yet speak
and claim this tribute as perpetual men,
orial.
In a nation where the brightest honors
may be the reward of humble yet honest toll,
| labor has received her just dignity. The
| rank and file of our armies were largely re-
cruited from the honest wOrkmen of our
| land; and they speak to us, asking US to re-
| move all obstacles in the way of faithful toll.
| They do not call upon US to exaggerate any
wrongs that may be done they ask us to rec
ognize the mutual dependence of him who
tolls and of him who rewards the toilers.
They ask us to smooth the way somewhat
for him who earns his bread by the sweat of
his brow They ask that there shall be
mutual recognition of rights, neither en-
crOachng upon the other. The
skilled labor that gives opportunity
to comfort and luxury and leisure,
ought to have a better recompense than mere
daily bread. ANY system Of communism is
entirely at variance with the genius of our
institutions but there ought to be some limit
placed to the accumulation of great riches.
and a more equal division. on the basis of in
dustry, should be made in the profits of labor.
/ = L, 1,,, - &c 20 hn hat q.
problem which will some day, no doubt,
| find its solution. 1t is for us to do all we can
to hasten the day. A few flowers, dear
friends, will make the graves of our dead
more beautiful for the passing days; but let
us rear to them temple dedicated to labor.
| the strong right arm of free country. the
| snew and thew of our nations prosperity. I
am sure that if 1.-The boys" could look down
on us from their exalted sphere Of labor and
rest they would hold our conservation in
| greater reverence and more grateful esteem
than our flowers or our granite columns.
If the wounds of Caesar could stir people
to mutiny and rage, what should the "dumb
mouths of our dead heroes stir us to? Ought
they not to stir us to such a reform in the
civil service that shall give us the dignity and
| character we should have? ! hope the day
will speedily come when the civil service shall
be removed from all complications with party
politics when the appointments of the gov
eminent shall be made by rule, according to
qualifications and length of service. Our
selfishness, our prejndices are too great just
now for us to lay hold of the full grandeur of
the scheme but we have learned some bitter
lessons, and trust are moving. on the rack
i and wheel of our woes, to better sense of
our duty and its purer performance. We
want our nation. as a nation. to display the
virtues which some Of its great servants have
ashington, Lincoln, Garfield. o
that these individual lives, so great and beau
tiful, might be absorbed into the common
character and elevation of the nation! Too
many Of our young men, from whom so much
is expected. are brought up to think that par
ties are of more use to them than country;
that they can employ them to promote their
own personal welfare. They see in politics
a way of making money, and they accept 1t.
tell you, as the survivors Of the great con-
fiict which meant so much. you are pledged
to better things. The dead speak to You
from the heights Of their knowledge and ask
for this memorial-purity, honesty. rectitude
in the administration of our government. 1t
is a worthy tribute. Shall we not pay it?
have but one more hint to offer. The
b;.torv of the mast ought to teach us that the