Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1883-06-07
From the Daily Herald of May 81.
DECORATION DAY.
Conclusion of Yesterdays Report.
Procession from the City and Ex.
ercises at the Cemetery--Ora.
tiOns by Col. Sanders and
Marshal BOtkin.

The procession which yesterday moved on
of the city to the cemetery was the longes
that ever formed in line in Helena. Tn
veterans of the army, preceded by the Silve
Cornet Band, made goodly column of them
selves, and their soldierly step and bearin
attested that every one of them had bee
drilled and disciplined and trained in tn
school Of actual service. The carriage
conveying citizens of the capital and thei
families followed the soldiers, stretching on
a line which was nearly mile in length
Flowers in profusion, gathered from tn
homes and gardens in the city and from tn
carried by ladies and children and strewn b.
! the committees on the graves of the veter
ans marked with flags and scattered througl
the several cemeteries. The prayer by tn
Rev. Mr.. Moore was eloquent and impressive
and the songs by the Apollo Club were rem
dered with harmony and sweetness affect
ing the hearts Of all. The airs by the bant
were well chosen and esteemed an indis
pensable part of the ceremonies of the day
Crowning all were the superb orations pro
nounced by Col w. F. Sanders and Hon. A
c. Botkin, whose grand utterances seemed II
partake of the inspiration of the occasion
and the wrapt attention of the 800 peopl,
gathered about them. COL Sanders spoke a.
| follows:
! COMRADES OF EVERY ARMY, LADIES AMI
! GENTLENIEN.-We have come from rejoicing
marts of prosperous industries, from eager
throngs lusty with useful life into the pres
ence OF these graves Nor are so many per-
sons here on a bOotless Grand We know
indeed that never
Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust
Or fattery soOthe the dull, cold ear of DEATH
To those around whose precious remains we
linger on this Memorial Day, the alarms and
circumstance, and pomp of glorious war, its
dangers and its rewards, were once familiar
experiences. But to them "glory's thrill is
Ger" They have been gathered to the
kindly bosom of all creating and all embrac-
ing nature. 1t is nevertheless true every
grace of human character is born of profound
experience, and every deep emotion is pro-
life of generous impulse and endeavor. The
schools wherein men learn that which it is
best human hearts shall know are the su-
preme crises OF human history, where
anxious solicitude, strained to it's utmost
tension, intelligently measures how great a
stake hangs ON the issues of the hour. 1t is
the fortune of many generations of men to
live with no such experience; to run the
monotonous round of petty strivings; to be
neither witnesses nor actors in one OF those
stately epochs of history which leaves its
impress upon human destiny. Those of US
who recall the period preceding our late war
cannot fail to remember with what vehe-
mence and scorning the morallsts deprecated
the puerility and idolatry of the time. They
almost convinced us that the age Of patriot
ism was dead; that devotion, valor, her,
ism were extinct virtues; that there were
no strivings but among the disciples OF
Mammon, and that the era was indeed poor
and mean. They almost convinced us Of
the truth of their universal refrain:
s. THE divine has vanished,
The eternal splendors all have fed,
Truth and love and nobleness are banished.
The heroic and divine have vanished,
Nature has no God and earth lies dead"
Men and women living to believe such a
lesson might sigh because Of departed glories !;
they could hardly hope to resurrect the
ancient renown. Children reared in the con-
sciousness of such deterioration would de-
spair of the excelling excellence of the
former time, and would wrongly read the
impressive lessons of universal history that
the real and the ideal sustain intimate and
progressive relations. There is no life but
in endeavor. Perpetual struggle is alike a
privilege and duty. 1t is the mission of the
wise to give to effort lofty aim. But whose
shall convince mankind that with all of its
aspiration, and toll, and hope, with all its ad-
vantages of experience, invention and sacri-
fee, it is losing moral and intellectual ground
will have wrought abounding and abiding
mischief And so it is that from time to
time, along the journey of the centuries,
come periods in mems lives when the theater
of action is wide and the duty high and
commanding.
"A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene.'
These are periods which sweep from
thought and speech the despairing Jeremiads
born of partial view and little faith and
give to men supreme confidence in mankind
In the light of such eras prophecy be-
comes as easy and certain as retrospection
in skies thus cleared History and Destiny
become alike visible, perspectives thus born
ter, with clearer vision, in a serener sky.
They are the changeless landmarks which
no commotion may shake, no prejudice be-
little, no ignorance pervert
They are redolent of precious memories,
of tales of unrecorded valor. of nameless
heroes worthy of their fame, and of lessons
of wisdom which are the universal heritage
What wonder then that the CRATE
full nation for day lays aside her toll and
comes with chastened and generous I'M
pulse to remember the patriotism and re-
count the valor of her sons. What wonder
that yonder busy city crowning the hills
decks herself with banners and welcomes
from the lips of surly cannon the reeur-
renee of this day made sacred to the MEM
ory Of those who wrote the most stately epic
in the tide of time What wonder that we
sons and daughters of common country, in
heritors of common legacy, forgetful OF
party and personal strivings, have gathered
affectionately and reverently around the
graves of these soldiers of the armies to
deck them with flowers, with evergreens,
l.