Omaha daily bee., 1883-05-31
Continued from Eiahth Pane

Continued from Eighth Page.
disabled by disease, and the total subtrsc-
ton from the productive force OF our
country because Of the rebellion reaches
the %ttupendous aggregate of one million
men.
A CLEAN Of light is thrown on this som
bie picture of Mr.. Greeley's by the record
Of what pitying hearts and generous hanis
did for the soldiers Of the union. Again l
make n brief quotation from the same
source: The soldiers in the field, still
ipore In the hospital, sorely need comforts
md delicacies which no government does
or can provide, and these were
SUPPLIED TO OUR ARMIES,
but especially TO their sick and wounded
in o profusion and with a regularity wholly
York City in aid of the sanitary commits
sion realized no lees than 81, 35l, 1915. Phil.
adelphis, Boston, Baltimore, Chicago,
Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and many other
cities held similar fairs with correspond.
ing results. The aggregate of contribu.
tions received and distributed through this
channel amounted TO about five million
dollars in cash and nine million dollars in
supplies. And to this the public subscrip-
lions for the equipment o d subsistence of
volunteers en- route, Vanderbilt's present
of a noble steamer valued OF 81, 600, 900, the
Union refreshment saloonsin various cities
for the supply of free meals, baths, etc.,
To each passing regiment and soldier, the
State Relief associations, the rivers Of
benificence flowing In q constant stream
from a thousand rural neighborhoods, and
it will be quite within the truth to esti.
mate the aggregate value Of free.will
offerings in aid of the national cause at
$500, 600, 900, equal to 800 for each family
inhabiting the loyal states Of the Union.
1t is well for US from time to time to re-
vive the recollectiops of those eventful
| days. Nationsas well as individuals, yes,
| even more than individuals, are prone to
| forget the teachings Of the past. Past
| favors, past trials are alike consigned to
| oblivion, crowded out Of mind by the
pressing events of the present hour. Be.
fore the attack on Delhi, during
H GREAT MUTINY
In British India, the soldiers Of the En-.
| glish army were promised oil contained
| therein In the way Of booty. After the
| assault and capture this was denied them.
| One of the soldiers cut with the point of
| bis bayonet on q stone at one OF the gates
OF Inc CITY JHe IOLOWluR Fetbe.
"When war is rife and danger nigh,
God, and the soldiers all the cry;
| When war IL DER and danger righted,
God is forgot, the soldier sighted"
It was q wise thought, the establishment
| of this Memorial day, else 1t Is to be
feared the hardships and privations of the
march, the camp and the bivouRc, the
! costly sacrifice of life on tho battle fields,
| the mental and the physical anguish Of the
| prison pen and the hospital,-all that was
| done, endured and suffered to save our
| Glorious land from disruption, would In
| time have faded from the minds Of men,
or would have lived but In the pages of
history. The war Of the rebellion would
not have been to our children the living
fact the annual recurrence of this day tends
to make e. Better than bronze or mar
1 BILE Ia this memorial to those who from our
ranks have gone before, for while we re.
count their deeds we cannot fail to recall
the object for which they died and be re-
newediy impressed by the lesson Of pat
riotism to our country, fidelity to the
right, and valor in its defence they silently
teach. Treason Is q crime, and the soph'
istry Of men csnnot make it q virtue. Let
us remember that while we are e%njoined
by holy writ to forgive the sinner we are
nowhere told to condone the Gin. Let US
honor the bravery, the magnificent fight.
ing qualities of the soldiers of the confed.
eracy, but let us remember to profit there.
by, all there was involved Ia the mighty
issue they forced upon us.
Through suffering and finally through
blood thu Almighty brought Israel out OF
Egypt, and that the lesson of
THAT AWFUL NIGHT
when Pharaoh's rebellion against the Lord
| received its final punishment in the death
Of the frst-born Of every Egyptian house.
hold, should not be forgotten, the annual
feast of the passover wat established In
its commemoration, and to perpetuate the
lesson Of punishment and delivery. The
| Lord said into Moses, "And 1t shall be
when thy son asketh thee In time to come,
saying 'What Is this?, thou shalt say unto
Him. and the story of the delivery was
to be retold. BY this memorial service WI
expect to keep alive, and through our sons
to hand down to remote generations the
memory of our honored dead.
Napoleon proclaimed to his veterans as
they stood on the sands of Egypt, "From
the top Of those pyramids, forty centuries
look down upon you, soldiers Of France"
To all who claim a heritage in this broad
land comes 0 proclamation from the
mighty host Of patriot dead, whose names
are written on the pyramid of liberty
built of their bones and cemented with
their blood, "stand fast in the liberty
wherewith we have made you Free" The
fame Of those who died In the war Of the
rebellion was not won In any common
strife; the cause In which they gave up
their lives was the grandest that ever en-.
nobled war. What was 1t but to save
from destruction the life of the nation; to
preserve the constitution as founded by
the fathers Of the republic; to c the
advancement OF Christian civilization;
the progress Of mankind towards the
attainment Of the highest personal liberty
consistent with the we'll being Of general
society! The soldiers Of the republic,
whose memories We honor to-day, fought
to suppress o rebellion born of the bar.
barism of slavery and contaminated In VIC.
lence and fraud.
THE MEN WHO FELL
In the swamp Of the peninsula, in the
forests that cover the bluffs Of the Cum.
berland and tho Tennessee, and that sick.
ened Ito death In the inhospitable region
that lines the Mississippi, were
defending the constitution of the United
States. The martial vslor.o of our soldier wat
displayed ut Vicksburg and Gettysburg
that the starry banner that symbolizes q
united nation should not be trailed In the
dust. Their courage and devotion wss
shown at Autietam and J~onesboro as well
as on the slopes Of Chiokamaugas ridge
and a thousand other fields that the free
institutions which are the strength and
ornament OF our land should not die amid
the pillows Of q rebellion that was sapping
their foundations.
1t Is not given to all men whe bear arms
to fight in 80 righteous o cause as led these
dead heroes to the field. The mass Of our
soldiers volunteered from pure patriotism .
They felt themselves to be but instruments
in the Lords hand to do q righteous work.
They died that they might build around
the temple of liberty an i~mpregnsble de.
Tense, and their graves scattered as they
are from the Potomac to the gulf were