Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-06-01
TNGERSOLL,s MEMORIAL DAY ORA.
TION.


TION.
An Audience Of Ten Thousand-The
President and Gen. Grant Present.
The Dix Flag.
Col Robert G. Ingersoll delivered the follow
ing Grafton at the New York Academy of Music
Tuesday evening Decoration day. to an audi
ence of ten thousand people:
This day is sacred to our heroes dead Upon
their tOmbs we have lovingly laid the wealth of
spring. This is a day for memory and tears. A
mighty nation bends above it's honored graves
and pays to noble dust the tribute of it's love.
Gratitudeis the fairest flower that sheds its per
fume in the heart. To-day we tell the history of
our cOuntrys life; recount the lofty deeds Of
vanished years; the toll and suffering; the de-
feats and victories of heroic men-or men who
made our nation great and free. We see the
hrst ships whose prows were gilded by the
western sun. We feel the thrill of discovery
when the New World was found. We see the
oppressed, the serf, the peasant, and the slave
men whose flesh had known the chill of chains
the adventurous, the proud, the brave, sailing
an unknown sea, seeking homes in unknown
lands. We see the settlements, the little clear
ings, the block house and the fort. the rude and
lonely huts, brave men. true women, builders of
homes, fellers OffOrests founders of states Sep
arated from the Old World away from the
heartless distinctions Of caste, away from scep-
tiers and titles and crowns. they governed them
selves. They defended their homes, they earned
their bread. Each citizen had a voice, and the
little villages became almost republics Slowly
the savage was driven, foot by foot, back in the
dim forest. The days and nights were filled
with fear, and the slow years with massacre and
war, and the cabins earthen floors were wet
with blood of mothers and their babes But the
savages of the new world were kinder than the
kings and mobiles of the old; and so the human
tide kept coming, and the places of the dead
were filled. Amid common dangers and common
hopes the prejud ices and feuds of Europe faded
slowly from their hearts From every land. of
every speech, driven by want and lured BY hope.
eXileS and emigrants sought the mysterious
continent Of the west.
Year after year the coonists fought and toiled
and suffered and increased. They began to talk
about liberty-tO reason of the rights of man.
Ihey asked no help from distant kings. and they
began to doubt the use of paving tribute to the
useless, They lost respect for dukes and lords.
and held in high esteem all honest men, There
was the dawn OF a new day. They began to
dream of independence They found that they
could make ndeXecute the laws. They had tried
the experiment of self government They had
succeeded. The Old World wished to dominate
the New. In the care and keeping Of the colo
nists was the destiny of this cOntinent-of half
the world. On this day the story of the great
struggle between colOnists and kings should be
told. We should tell our children Of the con-
teSt-first for justice, then for freedom We
should tell them the history Of the Declaration
OF Independence, the chart and compass of all
human rlghts-"Ali men are equal and have the
right to life, to liberty" and joy. This declara-
ton uncrOwned kings and wrested from the
hands of titled tyranny the scepter of usurped
anil arbitrary power. 1t superseded royal grants
and repealed the cruel statutes of thousand
years. 1t gave the peasant a career 1t knight
ollfh
to fame and put the star of hope above the
cradle OF the poor mans babe. England was
then the mightiest of nations. mistress of every
sea. and yet our fathers. poor and few, defied
her power.
To-day we rememberthe defeats. the victories,
the disasters, the weary marches. the poverty,
the hunger, the sufferings, the agones. and
above all, the glOries Of the revolution We re-
member all-frOm Lexington to Valley Forge.
and from that midnight of despair to York
towns clOudiess day. We remember the SOL
diers and thinkers-the heroes of the sword and
pen. They had the brain and heart the wisdom
and the courage, to utter and defend these
words: Governments derive their just powers
| from the consent of the governed" In defense
OF this sublime and self-evident truth the war
was waged and won. To-day we remember all
the heroes. all the generous and chiyalric men
who came from other lands to make ours free.
VI the many thousands who shared the gloom
and glory OF the seven sacred years not one re-
MAINS The last has mingled with the earth.
and nearly all are sleeping now in unmarked
graves, and some beneath the leaning, crumbling
stones from which their names have been effaced
by Times irreverent and relentless hands
But the nation they founded remains The
United States. are still free and independent
The government derives it's just powers from
| the consent of the governed" and fifty million
OF free people remember with gratitude the
heroes of the revolution. Let us be truthful:
let US be kind. When peace came when the in
dependence of new nation was acknowledged.
| the great truth for which our fathers fought
was half denied, and the Constitution was incOn-
sistent with the Declaration. The war was
waged for liberty. and yet the victors forged
new letters for their fellOw-men. The chains
our fathers broke were put by them upon the
limbs OF others. FreedOm-fOr-all was the cloud
by day and the pillar of fire by night through
seven years Of want and war. In peace the
cloud was forgotten. and the pillar blazed I'M
seen. Let us be truthful; all of our fathers were
not true to themselves. In war they had been
generous, noble and self-sacrificing; with peace
great enough to appreciate the grandeur of the
principles for which they fought. They ceased
to regard the great truths as having universal
application. Liberty for ALL included only
themselves. They qualified the Declaration.
they interpolated the word ''white;" they oblit-
Grated the word ''all." Let us be kind. We
will remember the age in which they lived. We
will compare them with the citizens of other
nations.
They made merchandise of men. They legal
lied crime. They sOwed the seeds of war; but
they founded this nation.
Let us gratefully remember:
Let us gratefully forget
To-day we remember the heroes of the second
war with England, in which our fathers fought
for the freedom of the SEAS for the rights of the
American sailor We remember with pride the
splendid victories of Erie and Champlain. and
the wondn0us achievements upon the sea-
achievements that covered our navy with glory
that neither the victories nor defeats of the flu
ture can dim. We remember the heroic services
and sufferings of those who fought the merci-
less savage OF the frontier. We see the mid
night massacre and hear the war cries of the
allies Of England. We see the flames climb
round the happy homes, and in the charred and
blackened ruins we see the mutilated bodies OF
wives and children. Peace came at last, crowned
with the victory of New Orleans victory that
did redeem all sorrows" and all defeats. The
revolution gave our fathers a free land-the
war of 1912 a free sea. To-day we remember
the gallant men who bore our flag in triumph
from the Rio Grande to the heights of Chapul-
tepec.