The National tribune., 1882-05-13
Decoration Day OratOrY.

The Fourth of July used to be the favorite
occasion for the appearance of the great
American orator, and indeed no celebration
of the day was thought complete that left
him out of the programme. Then it was
that he let loose his eloquence upon the
breathless multitude, and the multi
having heard, as they fancied, the hr
scream of the American eagle, dist
with the feeling that the Republic wa goo
for another year anyhow. But the he 2at
of July orator has become personag' size
past. The deeds of the Revolutionary
Fathers which were the principal source of
his inspiration lost their interest for the
public when the Rebellion broke out, and
the orator suddenly found himself displaced
in popular esteem by the soldier. The
country had not the patience to listen to
him while the struggle for the preservation
of the Union was being fought out before
its very eyes. In the presence Of the grim
reality of war his high-flOwn periods some
how seemed absurd, and he was forthwith
consigned to oblivion. The modern Fourth
of July celebration retains the fireworks
but omits the Grafton. We confess, never
theless to sneaking fondness for the typical
Independence Day orator. lie had such
sublime confidence in the destiny Of the Re
public, and he was so generous with his
figures of speech! 1t is true that his
rhetoric was apt to be stilted and his style
bombastic, but he was so very much in
earnest that one could not help being affected
by his enthusiasm. 1t does one good some
times to become patriotic without especial
reason, and the traditional Fourth of July
orator undoubtedly did his full duty in
keeping alive that spirit Of independence
which descended to us from the founders Of
the Republic. He has been the subject of
the most unsparing ridicule, but in his day
and generation he was unquestionably a
very useful parsonage But he has been
permanently relegated to the past, as we
have said, and in his place has appeared
who? Who, indeed, but the Decoration Day
orator, his lineal descendant!
1t is by the grave of the soldier, rather
than in the crowded public square OF the
city that the invocation to patriotism is now
spoken, and it is the simple language of the
soldier rather than the ornate periods of the
rhetorician to which we now listen with
beating hearts. 1t is meet that it should be
so. Decoration Day has meaning-an in
spiration-for this age that no other anni-
versary could possibly have, and by SO much
as the theme of his eloquence is nearer to
its sympathies, by so much the power of the
Decoration Day orator is greater to kindle
the patriotic sentiment of the country. Thou
sands of orations have been delivered in COM
memoraton Of the valor Of our fallen heroes,
but never one more eloquent than the first
Decoration Day address pronounced by Abra-
ham Lincoln, in which the duty of the hour
was summed up in the touching sentence: :
"To care for him who has borne the battle,
and for his widow and orphans" The orator
of the present day cannot go astray if he ad-
heres to the simplicity of thought and manner
that characterized that memorable address.
1t is the recitation of the deeds of their
fallen comrades that will have the deepest
inspiration for those who celebrate the day,
and the orator may be sure that no panegyric,
will so quickly touch their hearts aso6nei
which simply recounts their triufHplis.
There is no eloquence so thrilling as the
silent elOquence of the soldiers nameless
grave, and long after the glowing words of