National Republican., 1883-05-31

as not 10 know that no generation Of men within
historic times has escaped without witnessing or
sharing in wars Of more or less magnitude, and
that many an entire generation has never known
,s nge year % o, pesee our IT own S0dny sSssnee
behind It, has spent hilly fifth OF that time In
foreign or domestic wars
try may need again the services Of her strong
limhed sons, With souls attuned TO dare, and DO,
stand to.dsys WSo can or will, int in the light of
these facts, deny the wisdom of coming-as ior
Year, p coo we plsSse n IbeSyen we Wo lay on
these graves the offerings which tell not only oil
their noble deeds and deaths but of our desire %
emulate their courage and their patriousm-it
and when another such necessity shall arise
Surely none who hold that national disintegratlon
would have been disaster. Not those who think
that national unity was worth fighting for, nor
those who believe II worth while TO keep our own
and our childrens souls turned up that pitch Of
patriotic feeling which will make us and them
capable eliminating those whose services this day
has been set apart and these ceremonies instituted
10 honor and commemorate.
But this days observauces have two fold sig
nihoance, and are held not only TO honor the per-
Bonal bravery OF those who sleep around us, or to
give expression to the fond emotions which com
rades living feel for comrades dead. They have
political meaning as well but political IN its best
this belittle the OCCASION or myself, by descend.
ing 10 that small type of partisanship which would
fight, and of those who shared and survived its
dangers, no small proportion differed then. and
continue TO agree on the broad. safe basis of a
country which shall be "forever one and INSOFAR
able'-of one government and one flag for that
country, aud above all, on the doctrine of gov
ernment by the people, for the people, and Of the
people" II is 70 these sentiments, no less than to
those who died for their maintenRnce we are pay
ing tribute in these memorial rites,
see around me not only those who bravely
nag of nationality, Sut many who were then too
young to know there was war, or what II meant,
or what twas for; and some, too. who fought as
bravely against us then, as believe they would
now with us, IL the nations call TO arms rang out
TO meet foreign foe. can even fancy that If n
rebellion should break out anywhere north Of
mason and Dixon's line" these former foemen
OF ours would take patriotic pleasure In fighting
union and II such state of affairs should ever
come, Heaven send them better luck In fighting
us back Into 1t than they met in the effort to fight
their own way out. IL may be that to-day they
come to lay their votiye offerings on the graves
of former foes more in honor of their bravery
than Of the cause for which they fell-for brave
foes love foeman brave, and stack their arms
while round his grave. Even SO would welcome
them aud their ofleringsIfor ioemen who have
cerIty are far on the road to peace and friend
ship. only because, and so far as 1t might be
msconstrued into concession to the "lost
which made the effort at secession possible,
grave who fell lighting for what he thought tV was
right. hold now, as then. that they were wrong
and would not for my right arm or my life utter II
before that strife ended learned TO believe them
sincere, aud to know that they possessed the cour
aye oil their COnVlCtlOnS. Mnlle would not
again, as l once did unite in ajoint ceremony,
which could be construed or misconstrued as a
tribute lS anything beyond their Fl honesty Of pur,
Whatever may be thought OF said by those
selling beef and weaving shoddy-who never
bled, save through their pocket-books in
hiring substitutes 70 fight and die for them by
proxy--I know my comrades Of the grand army
will Join me in the admission that they fought
like brave men, long and well, with daring
fhaI tuaa nrth nf haf aat1g No frta
soldier Of the union side will wonder at or blame
them for coming together, as now and then they
ings which tell Of their regard for those who
shared their dangers, their temporary triumphs,
and would have shared, fliving, their final utter
defeat. We who fought against them know too
well how victories and dangers, privauons and
defeats, won and borne together, endear men to
human If they forgot the companions OF their
bootless and most uIwise struggle. We can SYM
pathize with them In the tenderness of the re-
membranes that such gatherings must recall, as
our own hearts are swept to-day by sad and ten
der memories Of those who marched and camped,
aud fought with us beneath our banners, and
went with us into battles from which they never
came back. But they do not ask, aud cannot ex-
-Four funerals" nor that we Shall mourn with
them, II any of them still mourn for their lost
widowed heart fos every orphaned child lid mail IN al
the Sunny South" have, and all my comrades
have, tear Of sympathy; But here. amidst these
home made desolate as theirs; almost in sight of
Arlington, where dwelt the chief who led the
rebel hosts and where now lay twenty thousand
other union dead; and nearer still, to the many
thousand more who sleep beside the Soldiers
Home, on this DAY, when At more than n, 4. hundred
my comrades and fellow-citizens have gath
cred TO lay on countless graves the nations
yearly Offering OF flowers, and speech, and song,
cannot help but curse anew that most damnable
of political heresies which made possible the at
their primal and supreme allegiance was due to
the state in which they lived, instead of TO the
general government in which, by solemn com;
pact, the original states of this union had vested
supreme authority, and from which all the other
states had derived their very existence. 1t was
this fallacy, honestly held and bravey fought for,
by true men, which alienated the two great sec.
tions ofour common country-which desolated the
graves, or who fell on either side. Il was thai
which made demagogues, ambitious of higher
place than they could hope to- reach in II united
country, with but one central government, will
ing to wreck and divide the nation to attain their
ends 1t was that which swept the south, from
Virginia TO the gulf with destruction of life and
property that would shame cyclone or an earth.
quake into humiliation at their comparative in
capacity f9E i5 mischief II IT was u that h Which made
taxed this and must tax the coming generation,
though already half reduced, and In process OF
more rapid extingushment than any other nation
save one has ever approached.
These are historic facts which, regardless of
party all men must concede to be true What
better time or place for their discussion than now
aud here? How better could occupy your time
to-day than by recalling them TO your considera.
sion, these graves recall them better than any
words of mine eau do. Let us, then go at once TO
the discharge that sacred duty for which mainly
we have assembled, and, having decked these
graves with flowers let us carry away with as
Inaxims these truths: that he who brayely dies
for what he thinks is truth is worthy of high
credit; but he who dies for what he knows d
true, Is nobler still that no amount of personal
bravery can redeem a bad cause from final defeat
and, finally, the only solid political basis for our
country is In the supremacy of the central general
government, embodied In the motto OF " One flag,
country, and one government, beneath whose
sway all the living shall be equal before the law
aud all her dead sons, slain In war; be worthy of
as glorious sepulture as those who lay in these
green graves, with roses crowned to-day"
The formal exercises were then closed with
singing and the graves were decorated
The monuments of Gen. John A. Rawlins,
Isaac Chancey, who was president of the
board of navy commissioners in 1910; Gen.
Alexander Macomb, Commodore Daniel +.
Patterson, Capt. Beverly Kennon, Surgeon
General Joseph Lowell. Maj. Gen. Jacob
Brown Maj. Gen. George Gibson Charles w.
Chancey, who commanded tho U. S. S. Spit
fire in ls47, and Col. Chas. Kitche Gardener
all in the Congressional, were very hand
somely decorated with flowers. The grounds
were almost covered, and great many of the
graves were entirely hidden by flowers.
A newly-made grave was beautifully decked
with two white pillows, one of which had the
word Rest" in the center in purple flowers ;
three anchors, one harp, and number of
bouquets and loose flowers. Tho graves of
Chauncey Smith and his wife were decked
with a crown and pillow. Around the
monument erected TO the young ladies who