Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1883-06-07

have now concluded the Colonel, s.the
pleasure Of introducing to you Mr. j.
Fawcett, of Galena.n
Mr.. Fawcett. who Is large, well-pro-
portioned man, of pleasing address, and
bearing Il striking resemblance to Pres
ident Arthur, stepped forward and said:
Mr.. President. Ladies and Gentlemen:
| | was born in the State of Wiscon-
| sin CT shall not say when because that
would be telling how old / any with
in IS miles of the village-excuse me-
city of Lancaster enlisted in 1861 at
Hazel Green. in the loyal old county of
Grant, There is no spot in all this
day, than right here, under the shadow
of that double monument / say
double, because it is such. 1t stands
| to-day as monument to the memory
of the brave boys who died in defense
of their country; it also stands as a
monument to the gratitude and loyalty
of the tax payers of your county. i feel
at home in the old Badger State. and
in appearing before a Grant county
audience, / have no apologies to offer.
| And besides didn't engage the speak
er; your committee did that, and if they
made mistake, it is their fault, not
mine; and you must blame them for
it.
Twenty-Five years. How short the
time Yet what great and important
| events have been crowded into that
brief period in our nations history from
1861 to 1888.
1861 opened upon nation extending
| from the Atlantic to the Pacific and
from the ST. Lawrence TO the Gulf. A
nation vast in extent, and mighty in
resource; but novice in war. A ma
ton devoting all of its energies to peace
full pursuits, and leaving wars and their
attendant evils, tc other less enlighten-
ed countries. A casual observer would
have said, Here is nation whose pros
poets for the future are all that the
most dissatisfied or ambitious heart
could wish. Here peace and prosperity
must ever reign" A closer look at the
national sky would have revealed the
| coming storm, that was so soon to break
upon us with such destructive force.
| Our nation had slnned. From its very
infancy it had fostered and maintained
within its midst, an evil of such magni-
tude in the sight of the Great God who
rules over the destinies of nations, that
continued peace and prosperity was
impossible. A dark cloud was rapidly
gathering on the southern horizon.
The plaques of Egypt were about to be
visited upon us; with this difference, the
last scourge of the Egyptians was the
| first scourge of Americans. Tho cloud
continued to spread until the whole
portion of the nations sky which COW
cred this evil, became dark and threat
ening. The mutterings of the thunders
of discomfort and oppression, could be
| plainly heard. Various means were
| tried 10 avert the threatened storm,
but all were in vain; the messenger of
death went forth, and the storm cloud
| burst. The nations night of war and
death was long and terrible; and, when
the night had passed away, and the
dawn of peace returned, it was found
| that the death messenger had scarcely
missed a home. Lamentations for the
dead went up all over the land. The
| first born. and the son of old age; faith
| ers and sons, husbands and brothers,
alike lay Wondering in southern soil.
Peace had been restored, but at ter
rible cost. The sin that had caused
| the war had been removed, and our
| nation started out on new life, with
obedience to God as the foundation,
supporting the broad arch of universal
liberty; and as result, we are to-day
enjoying the blessings of peace and
prosperity in their fullest sense, and
have no thought of war; and were it
not for an empty sleeve here, and an
artificial limb there, with an occasional
mourner who will not be comforted, we
| would not be able to realize that we
had passed through such a terrible war
within so short time.
While enjoying the luxury of the
present we forget sometimes to think
of the hardships of the past. Standing
to-day upon the highest pinnacle that
civilization and human advancement
have ever attained, and looking back
over the years that have been ushered
in (only to be as quickly ushered out
again by their successors) since the
landing of our pilgrim fathers in 1920,
and viewing the scene from our present
| exalted position, we wonder at the
rapidity of our growth and the extent
of our advancement.
Those sturdy pilgrims when they
landed on the shores of the New World,
resolved to establish government that
| should be handed down to their pos
terity as the grandest government that
man has ever instituted. Driven from
their own country by tyranny and OPP
preston. they were determined that
civil and religious liberty in its fullest
sense, should be enjoyed in the New
World. Yet, when they landed on the
barren shores of America they knew
little or nothing of the extent and rich
ness of their new home, or of the toll,
hardships and suffering, that must ensue
in its development. They only knew
that it was part of God great, grand
creation; that they were his creatures;
and that it was created for their use,
and for the use of their posterity. And
as they set foot upon the beach their
hearts were filled with new hopes, their
minds with new inspirations and their
veins with a new throb, that set in mo-
ton the pulse of freedom and equality,
which, during all the years that have
interviewed has never died or grown
faint; and to-day, from ocean to ocean,
from lake to gulf, every man is king,
every woman queen, and every child
prince, and they will always remain
so.
We see this government of ours in
its grandeur to-day, and forget what it
cost to establish and maintain it, When
our pilgrim fathers undertook the task
of establishing new government in
the new world, they met and commended
with privations such as no people ever
endured before or since. Privation,
nay starvation and death constantly
staring them in the face for years. AS
fast as they would get homes estab-
lished the Indians would burn them.
We find them however fighting bravely
on. just as they have about obtained
the mastery over the Indians, the revolu-
tionary war comes upon them like a
dark cloud, threatening to sweep away
and utterly destroy all that they have
accomplished. Next comes the war of
1872; next the border troubles; and
finally the war of the rebellion. From
our earliest history to the present time,
traitors at home and enemies abroad,
have been planning our destruction.
They tell us, and have told us from the
beginning, that our form of govern
ment cannot last. We look back and
see those brave patriots as they are
struggling for independence. We see
Washington as he takes his life and
l. /. E..