Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1883-06-07

peace as well. They knew war, not as .
trade, but as duty. They went from thu
quiet of home to the carnival of destruc
ton and they returned with lofty tread ant
daring mein to do the battles and to enjoy
the calmer benedictionso Of peace. Upon what
soever side of controversy they ranged, they
owned no tribunal but conscience. the SUI
preme arbiter, whom all obey.
In this solemn city of the dead, in thi:
transcendantly beautiful amphitheatre, where
frowning mountains keep watch and ward
by this transcontinental highway, over which
the tides of commerce and the uncOunted
millions of men shall forever journey on di
verse errands, we cOnsecrate and dedicate
the graves Of these soldiers of the Republic
! They are more than broken frames or buried
dust; they incarnate all valor, they typify
all armies, they m0nOpolize all renown
| Therefore, immortality crowns them as hel
heirs, and fame takes cherished possession o.
their names. May the great Republic, whose
worth they knew, whose history they en-.
nobled, live with the eternity of their fame
The moral Of these generalizations is plain
there is no man, there is no woman, who
in this wider and nobler sense is not war
rior, charged with solemn and sacred duties
Whatsoever of good is to be done, whatso-
ever of renown is to be achieved, may we
each be
Patient of toll serene amidst alarms,
Infiexible of faith invncible in arms"
Succeeding Col. Sanders, and following a
song by the Apollo Club, Marshal Botkin,
from his carriage seat, spoke in these words
VETERANS AND FELLOW CITIZENS The
ceremonies in which we participate are in
all respects interesting and extraordinary.
These brave old mountains about US,
That lift their fronts sublime.
Rugged and hoary with the spoils of time,'
have never looked upon their like before. 1t
has been confidently stated that this is the
first instance Of the observance of Memorial
Day within the limits of any Territory Of
the Union. Never before have the people Of
Territory been reminded by Executive
proclamation of the approach of the day,
though it is made by act Of Congress ma
tional holiday; and this year Gov. Crosby
enjoys the distinction of being the only Ter
ritorial Chief Magistrate who has felt sum-
moned to perform this duty.
Why the day should be observed in the
States and not in the Territories-in the East
and not in the Vests far from obvious.
Patriotism, memory, gratitude, are not
bounded by political divisions or geograph-
ical parallels. If it is true, CU1um, non ami
mum mutdnt qui trans mare currunt, it is
equally true that they change their skies and
not their hearts who cross continent,
though it be vast as ocean. Our homes of
the dead
Where youth and age and manhood
Stricken in his strength, hold solemn state
And awful silence keep"
III. 1ao- IL
fered their lives to their country but are
they less worthy of remembrance? May we
not reasonably hope that Montana, repre-
sented by her capital, has to-day set an ex-
ample which shall serve, not as rebuke,
but as an inspiration to her sister Territories
to show on each succeeding year that as they
are jointly with the States heirs to the
privileges and glories of the Republic, so they
are equally heirs to its obligations of memo
ry and gratitude.
The custom of decorating the resting
places OF nations fallen defenders has its
origin in remote antiquity, and it's sanction
in one of the most amiable impulses of the
human heart. These flowers that we strew
are mute and senseless things.
oh! daffodils with tear-dewed ewes,
Oh! tender-lpped anemones.
What do ye know of war and death,
And bloOd-won victories?
But in their symbolism they are eloquent
of a love and tenderness wholly ineffable.
There have been wars and wars Some
have determined nothing, unless it may be
which of the belligerents had the stronger
battalions. Others have made epochs,
changed the current of history, decided great
principles pregnant with consequences be-
yond calculation to millions of millions To
the latter class belonged the war of the Re-
bellion; and the proposition that it estab-
lished is that the union of the American
States in the Great Republic must and shall
be perpetual Now, with no word of re-
proach and no taint of animosity toward
those who contended for the opposite result
with all admiration for their valor, which
should make us proud to reflect that they
are Americans-this occasion should not pass
without an emphatic assertion of the fact
that that decision was right
All honor. then, and untiring remem-
brance for the gallant men who fought the
battles of the Republic!
1.-The spots where they fell shall be bright as their
names,
And the grass where they bled shall be green as
their flames:
For the gold Of the pen and the steel of the
Write their names in their blood on the land they
adored.
Column, Forward
Aye, Column, Forward' Forward to a
clear and still clearer memory of the deeds
and sacrifices of those to whom this day is
dedicated Forward to nobler forgetful-
ness OF all strife and bitterness Forward
with no less a front than shall embrace
North, South, East, West. Forward no
longer to the blood stained battle field, but
where Peace hath her victories no less re-
nowned than war; Forward to the full and
conscientious discharge of every duty that
attaches to American citizenship. Forward
to consummation that shall make assur-
ance doubly sure that "a government OF the
people, by the people, for the people shall not
perish from the earth.'
At the close of Mr.. Botkins grafton the
benediction was pronounced, the procession
reformed and returned to the city, the soldier
column marching up Clore to Wall, thence
down Main to Broadway to Harmonic Hall,
where the veterans broke ranks, shock hands,
one another on the full turn
out, the happy exercises of the day, voted
thanks to everybody, and ended with lusty
cheers as they dispersed to their homes.