The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-10-06
ELOQUENT TRIBUTE TO WOMEN.

AJ TIE IdSJ meeting OF Lue ATuN OF the 70
tomac at Detroit, grand banquet was given
to the veterans. At the tables head sat
Grant and Sickles, Sheridan and host Of il
lustrious soldiers. The toast of 'The WO-
men of America was responded to by Col.
John Atkinson, of Detroit, an able and ac-
complished Irish-American gentleman who
though still young man, ranks among the
few leaders of the bar in Michigan. Colonel
AtBinson's address Ga full report of which,
says the Boston Pilot, we find in the official
report of the Army of the Potomac Just pub
lished) was the most eloquent and exquisite
response to that worn out toast that ever we
have listened to. Coming even at the end of
long dinner, it thrilled the listeners into
enthusiasm. We give a few extracts:
Women are always loyaI-loyal to God,
loyal to their country, loyal to men. They
are always patriotic.
They mingle the love of country with their
cradle songs, and pour into the ears of child
hood the story of their country'S glory and
their cOuntry's wrongs.
If you look over the map of the world to-
night you will find the women of every op-
pressed nation doing faithful work for libeT-
ty. They are teaching their children the
traditions of their race, and inspiring them
with a hatred of their tYrantS. They are
preparing the way for the overthrow of the
Turk in Bulgaria, of the Russian in Poland,
and of that more cruel despotism in Ireland
which has turned her into a garrison and
filled her prisons with her most illustrious
citizens. Men may be oppressed into obe-
dience or bribed into allegiance, but the heart
of woman is only won by justice. She never
despairs in a cause which has her approval
During our wars, no matter how dark
things looked at times to the soldiers them
selves, their mothers and sisters and wives
were always hopeful. 1 cannot recall sin
gle instance during the War of the Rebellion
where loyal woman expressed a doubt as
to the final result. (Applause.)
Mans part in war ends largely with the
return of peace.
Not so with women. They are left to
weep for husbands and sons who will come
no more for comrades who take no part in
our reunions, who fell on distant fields and
sleep in unknown graves. They are left to
nurse and take care of the wounded and
sick who return from the struggle.
Often amid the general rejoicing over vic
tories they gather their orphan children to
their hearts, and think only Of the fearful
price al which they have been won. Ours
the glory Theirs the sacrifice (Appause.)
There is only a remnant left of the grand
armies which marched up Pennsylvania ave
nue. in 1865. A large majority have since
passed in review before their God, and in
their last moments have been cheered and
comforted by the presence and tenderness of
woman. In the heart of woman they have
found the soldiers home.
y few that remains of us are growing old.
a night upon the frozen ground with a blan-
ket for a covering would send the most of us
to the hospital. While our Joints have been
stiffening and our blood growing cold, the
women Of the country have been training
the grand armies of the future, IN whose
hands our starry banner will be carried to
heights too dizzy for us to stand on, and TO
victories greater than any yet achieved
They have been teaching the men tender
ness without taking from their courage, and
making them pure while adding to their
pleasures.
But great as woman's service is in war,
greater still is her influence in peace.
That which we call our country is only dear
to US as an aggregation Of homes.
Homes are only dear TO US for the shelter
they afford us from the world, and the love
that dweils within their walls.
They are dear to Us as family republics,
working under constitutions direct from
God where neither treason nor tyranny IS
possible; where man is the chief executive
ruling through woman as head of the cabi-
net where all the subjects are regarded
with tenderness and soiicitude, and where
the only taxes imposed are paid in affection
and esteem. (Applause.)
America is peculiarly the land of homes in
. their best sense. The Individual ownership
gives every man an interest in the soil.
which in Europe is only felt by few.
The home in Europe Is like structure
built on posts for the purpose of trade, which
T
soil The home in America reaches down
ward to the centre of the earth and upward
to the sky, and becomes an essential part OF
the land itself.
There i3 no middle man between the own.
er and the God above him. lie owes no al
egiance except to laws which he helps tc
/ make, and which bears upon him only as
they bear upon his fellow-citizens.
These distinctions come from good govern
ment and equal laws.
But tie chief blessing of home is the wo.
man who presides over it. It's as the centre
of the home circle that l love to contemplate
her.
We love our mothers, and can see lines of
grace and beauty in every wrinkle on the
dear old faces. No doubt we all loved Oul
sweethearts-when we had them-lOng ago
Blu: there is something hOher and tenderel
still in the regard in which men hold those
who are their wives and the mothers OF theII
children.
In that relation they never grow Old. The
roses give way to wrinkles, but man looks
through them TO the soul, where all is grace
and beauty and truth.
If the country would have brave men, let
it teach its sons true KnighthoOd. Let it fl
the hearts of its youth with respect and love
for women as Gods best gift to man. Let
it remember that while man furnishes to hls
country tie bone and muscle, it must look
to women for the heart and soul.
am speaking to men no longer young
Our best years are behind US. Looking
back, can any one recall great achievement
or a good deed in doing which he has not
had wOman's encouragement, or an evil one
in which be has not felt her earnest opposi-
tion
We are moving onward to the river which
lies on the confines of life. Our comrades
are mostly over, and we, the rear guard,
must soon cross.
May the years that remain to us be SO
spent that we will merit wOman's smile
while here, and meet her when life is over in
the gardens of God Cereal applause.)