Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1885-08-13
THE FUNERAL KNELL,
In Honor of our nIustrious Dead
ToIIed In Napoleon, Telling the Tale
ofthe Last Sad Rites.

TOlled In Napoleon, Telitng the Iaie
ofthe Last Sad Rites.
Saturday morning, Aug. sth, 1885, the day
that witnessed the final obsequies over the re-
mains of Gen. U. s. Grant dawned upon us
with a cloudless sky. The very air seemed
hushed in sympathy with sorrowing people,
mourning over the death of Americas most
illustrious warrior. Early in the morning
the business portion of the town began to
take on funeral appearance. Most of the
fronts of business houses were profusely
draped, and flags in different portions of the
town were hung at half mast. The striking
of the hour of o'clock was the signal at
which to begin preparations for the memorial
services here. At half past one all of the
church bells, the school, court house and
Engine house bells began tolling and con-
tinued until O'Clock when company F. 10th
Reg't., o. N. g., filed out of their armory,
and headed by the Napoleon City Band,
marched to G. A. R. headquarters, where the
old veterans who faced the cannons mouth in
the war of long ago, fell in for the last march
to be made with the gallant old leader at the
head, fell in to follow the remains of the hero
of heroes to their last resting place. All be-
ing in readiness the procession moved down
Perry street to the river bridge, thence back
to clinton, thence to the court house, the
band all the while playing solemn funeral
dirge. In the court house the following pro-
gram was carried out:
Music by the Band.
Introductory remarks by Commander G. E.
Reynolds.
Regular G. A. R. funeral ceremonies.
Prayer by Rev. Houser.
Song, "Thy Will be done" by male quartette.
Address by Rev. Clemons.
Address by Hon. j. H. Tyler.
Address by Hon. J. M. Haag.
Song by male quartette.
Music by the Band.
Benediction by Rev. Donahey.
The court room was crowded to its full
capacity, and during the rendition of the
ceremonies many eyes of the old soldiers
were dimmed with tears. The addresses of
Rev. Clemons and ]. H. Tyler were both
touchingly appropriate to the occasion; that
of Judge Haag we append below.
JUDGE HAAG's ADDRESS.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:-Silence sadness
and tears are the best tributes people can
bestow upon its departed great. History will
embalm the memory and achievements of
Grant. As a soldier, his ability is attested
by his success; as a statesman, his acts are
interviewer with the history of his country;
.as an author, he, too, is on record for the
judgment of posterity.
This is not the time fitted to speak of
him as a soldier, as a statesman, or as an
author. ''We come to bury Caesar, not to
praise him." we come to weep, not to iolify;
to mourn, not to rejoice. In his life he has
been brilliant, and from it we can all learn
lessons by which we may profit; in his death
Grant has been truly great-and we need not
quarrel with the word to agree upon this.
War, which is ever destruction, has long
since ''smoothed his wrinkled 'front.'" and
| it is now the mission of Peace to build up; to
again bring prosperity from the desolation
of destruction, and to make the rose once
more bloom above the crushed skeleton.
England's real prosperity began when the
war of the Roses had terminated, and the
houses of York and Lancaster united in the
house of the Tudors.
Grant clearly seen that the prosperity and
future greatness of his country, in the his
tory of which he was to become one of the
brightest consultations, depended upon fra
ternal unity and harmony of the several sect
ions, and in the recognition of that peace in
which no animosity exists. Thus, in the
calm of approaching, certain and conscious
death, his vision, like that of the seer, became
most clear. No aspirations to allure, no am
bition to prejudice, no friends to reward and
no enemies to punish, his country-its well
fare and its history-was then his only
thought. Under such circumstances great
ness becomes crystalized, and Grant, indeed
With all his country s honors blest.'
While we all deplore his death, we must all
rejoice in the happy reconciliation the great
loss cements. With Sherman and Johnston,
Sheridan and Buckner, the pall-bearers,
standing at the grave of Grant, we may well
repeat the poet-priest: