Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1885-06-12

ity OF the whole people, It means better wages
as well as larger incomes, and when this is for
goiien.when one class is enriched at the expense
Of another, you are sowing seeds Of future dis.
cord, arraying. with the knife at each others
throats,and glazing vengeance into each others
eyes, those who with mutual kindness and justice
should be joined together lndissolubly.
Another peril OF prosperity is an intense world
illness, with its sad train OF frivolity, luxurious
ness and moral efieminacy, and following these.
inddelty and seHsnality. sapping the foundations
Of the homes, rObbing manhood of its nobility,
womanhoOd Of It's sweet mOdesty. and childhood
OF its heaYen.born simplicity.
MormOnism with It's 200 600 disciples bound
together by faEatcism aud lust, and legazed
iniemperance, the Medusa head Of all horrors
Now other Republics have gone down in tins
very maelstrOm, and there are signs on our ma
tiOnal sky which make us tremble for the future
glory Of this land, for whose perpetuty and
power so many brave men gave themselves unto
death. Prosperity is TO a nation, with its millions
Of throbbing hearts, just what a good strong
breeze is to a ship. The breeze is a blessing, in
that it drives the vessel faster on its voyage; but
il there be no ballast. no strong, skiliu hand on
the helm then there is danger, even certainty, OF
shipwreck. It was in the hour of her greatest
prosperity that there was written on the palace
walls Of Babylon by the finger Of a forgotten
God, Thou art weighed in the balances and
found wanting" for the Babylonish ship had no
ballast - iee', aAid sad tie great ehlei o.
etis IN :, 40 helmsman, and her earthly glory
drove her on the rocks OF death. l tell you
friends, that not only the stern handwriting Of
history, but the sterner facts Of to-day should
make us rejoice with trembling. There are mo-
mentous problems yet TO be solved, great issues
yet to be settled i'm which there is the possibility
Of strife and bloodshed il we fail 10 our duty.
The grand remedy is in the elevation Of our mil
lions up from ignorance to knowledge; from
moral degradation 10 moral principle; from poll
ticians to statesmen, and from legaliz.d intern
perance to constitutional prohibition.
Now may seem TO have come far short Of
what IS demanded by an occasion like this.
may have failed to add tribute Of mere words
to the beautiful floral offerings with which you
have dCcked the burial places Of your heroic
dead. But can any words from human lips tell
the story Of our devotion to their memory as
AAlNob ullEnA AuMGAo tell II
Could paint the lily! Could add perfume to
the rose? How could /. with eulOglstic speech,
enhance the glory of your sleeping comrades
I yield TO no man in my appreciation of the pa.
triOt zeal Of twenty years ago. Lovingly and
gratefully would cOAsecrate all the powers Of
my miEd to erect a monument DER their dust
more enduring than marble. But they need
none OF the arts of rhetoric. none OF the gorgeous
trappmgs Of Oratory. Their very names are en-
shuned in the hearts of the people, and while it
is the proudeSt boast Of man 81 am an Ameii-
cam" those sleeping dead at Gettysburg. at An
tietam, in the Wilderness and at Appomattox,
can never be forgotten. But they fought bIavely
on the other side, TOO. The prayers OF North and
South met at the same Mercy Seat. And all
over the Sunny South loving ones arc
placing sweet tributes of remembrance on
the graves OF the Boys in Gray" Both sections
are clasping hands in the fellowship of suffering,
and IN honor OF fidelity that was faithful unto
death. All Of this is wise and well. But again
| say,ln view OF what is before us, let US repedge
ourselves by the sepuchres of the dead heroes,
to an enlistment hearty and entire on the side
of liberty and of truth. As we leave our gar
lands Of love. wet with our tears on the graves
of those who counted not their lives dear unto
them for the honor Of their country and their
flag, let us resolve to be loyal to the grand herr
tage which they have bequeathed us, and to SC
transmit it that our descendants throughout all
generations shall look back to US and honor Oul
memory and decorate our graves, even as we
honor those whose memory is green to-day
May these annual reunions and their impressive
features ard lessons, make cur love OF country
purer and stronger, our lives more beautiful in
patriotism, more unseldsh in devotion to the
highest interests of our iellowmen, and more
thoroughly consecrated unto the perpetuily anC
power of our free Institutions