The National tribune., 1883-06-07

tary glory but it is not the glory of one man. rising
far above his fellows and towering ike demi-god
among men; it is the glory of the masses OF man
kind. When France thinks of Marengo and AUS
teTitZ il is Napoleon, Ney and Soult whom she
dei6cs. When Britain boasts Of Iral gar 1t IS only
the form of Nelson that she sees through the smoke
OF the YictoTy's guns; if she rsyeEts to Benheim,
it Is Marlborough, OF to Waterloo, then it Is vel
hngtOn. The common soldier IL forgotten; IT II
only the one heroic man who is remembered The
American Republic has her individual heroes, the
luster of whose achievements viii not pale by
parison with any of the great captains of other
lands and times. She has her Grant and her Sher-
man. her Mcclellan and her Meade. her Thomas
and her Sheridan, her Hooker and Hancock, her
Farragut and her WinslOw, and score of other
dcGthleSs names Of men whose courage and skill
commanders are part of her imFseTlshsDle TenOwn-
These have their fitting homage and their just re-
ward. But let US thank God this day that their
deeds, brave and brilliant as they were, dazZied
but never dazed the republican sentiment of the
people When they came TO erect statues and mon
umentS, and to decree q day of remembrance for
the perpetual conservation Of that great conflict
they inscribed and devoted them all 20 the mem
ories OF the common soldier and saiIor-the men
who went out from the farm, The factory the work
shop and the counter, and made the glory Of Grant
and the fame Of Farragrt alike possible. j..
They saved the past and they secured the future
They reaffirmed the judgment OF Yorktown, and
destroyed the last hope of kings this continent.
They redeemed the Republic, and washed from her
robe the stain OF slavery. They made the final
award between Webster and Calhoun, and affirmed
that this Is, and forever must reIIlsan an ndisso
this continent to republican government, and re-
wrote Uannng's ePigTam: i called new world
into existence to redress the balance OF the old"
They preserved the integrity OF q nation OF doOt-
coo OF peOple-alTeady q nation OF nearly double
that number pays them the annual homage of its
gTatitude-and when we have grown, as statists
tells us we shall grow to nation of 100 0069O of
people, their resting places shall still be the Meccas
of patriotic pilgrims, and the pledges of our per-
petuation under one flag and under one Govern
nent, the dominant and dominating democracy of
the earth The flowers of s hundred springs We're
all too few TO cas jpon their graves. They died that
the Nation might i've, and these poor offerings
which we bring once year to scatter or their
dust-whst are they? Mere tokens and symbols
of q boundless reverence, nneager dividends on a
debt OF gratitude that may never be paid in full
Yes, it's all that can give On those clear
heights, where now their happy spirits walk what
flowers? The deathleSs blossoms Of Gods eternal
garden are theirs,
Where everlasting spring abides,
And neyer-wltaeTing flowers"
Il is for US, not for them that we strew the first
fruits OF cur gardens above their clay. They need
them not. They have entered into their rest and
nothing We may do or leave Hnaone can touch them
more. But for there is inspiration and impulse
IN this day In the presence OF their bright memo
ries, and spUrTed by their exalted examples, we
may, perhaps, be lifted for day IN the years
duh round Of days on TO mount OF tFaIl tIFLOn
where, coInUuning with their spirits we may dis
cerfl, though but for moment the sublime grand
eur OF the Republic for which they died-$he vast
ness of its destiny, the height of the hopes that
iiuiiilAlisS cSi!teIS upon lts sc-SS> anu the ai.A
OF the despair that would yHwn like q pEeCiPice
upon its failure 1t is in this spirit feIIow-ltizenS
that -
j. with tilicoSIrsd head
Salute the sacred dead
Who went and who return not. Say not so!
IT'S not the grapes OF Canaan that repay,
But the high faith that failed not by the way;
Virtue treads paths that end not In the grave;
No bar Of endless night exies the bzave;
And to the saneF mind
We rather seem the dead that STAYED behind
Blow, trumpeis, all your exultatiOnS blow
For never shall their aureoled presence lack
see them muster in q cleaning row,
With eyeF-youthfui brov's that nobler show;
We fad in cur dull road their shining track;
In every notler mood
We feel the orient OF their spirit glow,
Part OF cur Iife's unaIterable good,
OF all our saintier aspiration;
They come transfgured back
Secure from change IN their higf-hearted ways
Beautiful evermore, and with the rays
OF morn ON their white shields OF expec<ationE r