The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-06-01

Southern brothers went forth into the
conflict and they fell. Now this week
let the United States Government, the
mother of us all, come down to the field,
and putting one arm over the grave of
the Northern men and the other arm
over the grave of the Southern men, pro-
nOunce her benedictiOn upon them all.
1t seems to me that there has been
enough suffering on both sides to satisfy
the worst man on earth, and the worst
| devil in hell. At Arlington Heights ten
years ago Southern woman put a
wreath on the grave of her fallen huS-
band. A Northern man with epaulets
came up, took that wreath, tore it to
pieces and threw it to the winds. He
| had the epaulets of soldier, but he had
no soldiers heart. | would that all the
garlands that have ever been laid on the
graves of Northern and Southern men
were lifted and linked together, each
| garland a link, and with that long,
bright, beautiful chain this whole land
might be bound together in peace and
amity. That is the only kind of chain
an American will ever consent to wear,
| and the sooner weput that on the better.
But you say: $50 many have fallen in
battle, why do you come with so much
reverence and affection to the graves of
those American sOldieTs?" | will tell
| you. They are our graves Just as you
have special love for one person i'll
| Greenwood or Mount Auburn, and upon
| that you put unusual care, so these
| graves Of the men who have fallen for
our country are our graves. just as
| when the little boy was putting flowers
| on grave and a stranger passed and
asked: What are you doing there, my
| lad?" the boy replied: This is papa's
| grave" This is our family plot in the
| cemetery of the Nations. The men who
| ltnnn hprn want ont from hnmna
| The terrible war proclamation came,
and the father went down to the village
pOstOffice and got the paper and read it:
| and went home and said to his wife,
| 'DO you think our boy will have to gO?"
| And at night the sons returned from
the fields and said: "Father, you are too
| old to go. You stay at home and take
care of mother, and we will go with the
next train" Then there was a hasty
putting up of few valuables, two or
| four daguerreOtypes, and there was
hasty gOOd-by, and the train halted at
the village depot, and there were 'three
times three" for the volunteers, and
| they were off. A few weeks passed by
and aTumOr came of a great battle, and
the father went again to the village
pOstOfflce and got the paper, and opened
| it with trembling hand and trembl-
| ing heart, and read on down, beginning
at the top of the list killed, on down,
from line to line, until he came almost
to the bottom of the page, when he saw
something that made him drop as
| though he were dead. Now there are
over the mantel-piece in that home two
pictures of young men who went off in
soldiers dress, but never came back;
and when Decoration day comes, and
the mother is too feeble to go out to the
cemetery, she goes out and plucks few
old fashioned daffOdils from the door
| nd fxryiV I f1Uro
pictures over the mantel, or she takes
the pictures down and fOndleS them.
But this week this matrOn will go out
to find the graves of those boys and put
on them one wreath for father and one
wreath for mother, and the night dew
will fill them with tears. tits our great
| family plOt-Of course we take care of it.
So each one of those graves is an oath
of patriotism. We cannot help but love
the land for which our fathers and
| brothers died. Look out how you talk
against your country in the presence of
man whose son lies under the sod at
Gettysburg. Be careful how you malign
the Government in the presence of
| woman whose husband fell in the awful
charge at Balls Bluff. Be careful what
you say against your native land in the
/ presence of that man whose father
| starved to death in a military prison.
Malign your country in the presence of
that old man whose home was desOlated
by the war, and the color will come back
to the faded cheek, and the fire to the
| lusterless eyes, and the strength to the
palsied tongue, and you shall feel the
all consuming fire of an old mans curse.
| This nation, putting its hand on the
| brow of its fallen fathers, and brothers
and sons, has sworn before high heaven
| that it will protect the institutions for
which they perished. But while we put
/ Nf
rank till they fell, l must twist a wreath
| for the brow of the men who kept rank
and yet live. 1t is time we stopped post
pOning until men are dead the honor
] they ought to have while they are alive.
And so, although you have put off the
accOuterments of war, we will not for
| get your services. We tender you our
thanks to-day in the name of Govern
ment reconstructed and of land re-
deemed from all servitude, so that, from
where the sun rises on the eastern coast
| to where it sets on the Sierra Nevadas,
its burning eye cannot discover single
| bOndsman. Thank God that we live in
this free land, with the determination
| that, with the help of God and our own
arm, we always will be free!
Let this Decoration day go down from
generation to generation. Strew flow
| ers over the head that ached, over the
| heart that bled, over the feet that were
blistered in the march. o, ye thrOng Of
departed heroes, stOOp down and breathe
the perfume of a nations thanks; stoOp
down and take the kiss of a nations
love; stoOp down and hear the shout of
nations deliverance; and may God
hasten on the time when war itself shall
be buried, that grim old breaker of
heartsl Carry him out on a rusty shield.
Put him down in the most desolate part
of the earth. Bury his sword with him
Heap on his grave-stOne broken chariot
wheels. Let widOrhOOd and orphanage
clasp their hands over his burial, and
the winds howl for requiem: "This is
| the second deathP'