Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1882-06-15

The following particularly beautiful and
eloquent Addres, Va, delivered on Mrmor-
ial DA, iu New York by Robert q. lnger-
soil.
Ih.s day Is sacred 10 our heroes dead
Upon lheir tomb, We have lovingly laid the
wreath Of spring.
This is a day for memory and tears. A
mighty Nation bends above iis honored
graves and pays To noble dus; the tribute u
it, love.
Gratitude is the faire,i fower that sheds
IT, perfume IN the heart
To-day w tell the history Of our eoun-
try's life recount the lulIy deeds Of van
iNhed wears the toll and suffering the de-
ieat- and victories OF heroic men-of men
Hho made our Nation great and free
We zee the first ships hose prows ~ere
cilded by the western sun. We feel the
thrill Of discovery when the New World
~as found. We see the oppressed. the serf.
the peasant, and the slave men whose tlesh
had known the chill Of chains ad-
yeniuruus, 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 Of forests, found
ers of States
Separated from the Old World. away from
the heArtless distinction OF caste. away from
sceptres and titles and crowns, they gov
erned themselves. They defended their
homes, they earned their bread. Each citi-
zen had a voice, and the little villages be-
came almost republics.
Slowly the savage was driven, foot by
foot, back in the dim forest. The DAYS and
nights were flled with fear, and the slow
years with massacre and war, and the cab
ins' earthern floors we're wet with blood Of
mothers and their babes
But the savages of the New World we're
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 preJudices 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 wear the colonists fought and
toiled and suffered and increased.
They began TO talk about liberty-to rea-
SUI Vi tue iiehls vi uldh. lnet asheu no
help from distant kings, and they began TO
doubt the use of paying tribute TO the use
less. They lost respect for dukes and lords,
and held in high esteem all honest men.
There was the dawn of new day They
began to dream of independence. They
found that they could make and execute 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 strug-
| gle between eolonists and kings should be
| told. We should tell our children of the
eontest-frst for justice, then for freedom.
\ We should tell them the history Of the
Declaration of Independence, the chart and
compass of all human rights-"All men are
equal and have the right to life, to liberty"
and JOY.
This declaration unerowned kings and
wrested from the hands of titled tyranny
the scepter of usurped and arbitrary powers.
1t superseded royal grants and repealed the
cruel statutes Of a Thousand years. Ii gave
the peasant career. 1t knighted all the
sons of toll 1t opened all the paths to
fame and put the star Of hope above the
cradle of the poor mans babe.
Englsnd was then the mightiest Of ma
tions, mistress of every sea, and yet our
fathers, poor and few, defed her power.
| To-day We remember the defeats, the