Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1885-06-12
Memorial Address Of Dr. 5. J. Allen.
oFive score or more years ago our fail

Five score or more years ago our faith
ers brought forth on this continent new
nation conceived In liberty and dedicated
to The proposition that all men are created
cqual" We are here to-day 10 do honor
TO those who fell, testing with their lives
whether that nation OF any other nation
can lung endure, governed on the princi-
| pie of freedom and eqnaliiy. The brave
men who struggled and died then and
there, have not died IN vain, for by their
beroism this nation had new birth uf
freedom from iis threaienings.
| While we deprecaie war aud sincerely
wi-h that all nationsl controversies could
always be decided by arbitration rather
than the sworl, yet II cannot but be
acknowledged that war has been the most
prominent ngcnt IN shaping the destinies
uf the world. and IN this regard hrs been
, great benefaclor, We, Tor all the good II
has done il haa demanded u terrible price,
and must I've deemed most costly bene-
factor. IL always seems Ia take more than
II gives, nnd its trumpet blast, which may
herald resurrection, seems like the doom
Of the world. Humanity cries ont against
it. Social science ciphers ont a balance
against il. Merchants. trembling for their
gains, protest against il. Morality, on a
loftier key, denounces 1t, anl science, in
the interest OF all these elements, may
sometime come forward and make IL i'm
possible. She can do this by reducing the
art oi war to simple process. no tina. II
can be wrought out on paper instead of be-
ing fought out by trute force.
Unlaught by trial, ignorance might
suppose that all our fighting must be done
by blows. Tue individual and national
greed for possession OF terriiory-wlich in
word il wealth, money-is at the very
foundation OF all controversies, individual
and collective. Money bribei the orators
OF Greece and caused them to pave the
way for the usurpation OF Philip OF Mace.
don. Money caused the downfall Of re-
publican Rome. While Rome was a ma
tion OF agriculturists and soldiers doomed
10 toll and 6gh, for subsistence, 30 long
was she invincible and liberty abode with
in her temples and spread it's blessings DER
her smiling fields, but when she became
enriched with the conquests Of other ma
tons then it was that her liberties gave
way; her stronghoids were then broken
down and she became subject to the most
nnfeeling, unpily ing, and relentless tyran
ny that ever scourged and tormented any
portion OF the human race.
The Northern soldiers, in saving the
Union, paid debt Of gratitude 10 the
country which had given them and their
families the blessings Of peace, order and
liberty, freedom of speech and religion.
They baked the state sovereignty move
ment which threatened this security. The
rulers of the old world were glad when
they saw the outbreak which threatened
the continuance of republicanism on this
continent. thereby promising the perpet--
l nil ~ nf tI,oir RAJ al knv q
upheld the integrity OF popular sovereign
~ and taught the world lesson. The
voice OF prayer was heard from both ca mps
before every battle, but God answered in
his own way and gave the North united
government and tile South increased ia.
cililies for business and social prosperity
There is no subject more touching or
that awnkens deeper sympathy IN the
human heart than TO hold intercourse with
the venerated dead. The mind is in stinc
; lively beguiled and irresistibly inclined
10 share u silent colloqny with our ghoslly
companions in nlnsing over their long rest
ing places. Mans home is in the grave
here dwell the multitude; we read theii
memories in the hearts of the living motl-
er. wife, sister, brother, friend, comrade.
The custom OF decorating the graves OF
, the dead, originating with the Greeks ant
[ Romans, is fraught with the most delight.
full associations, and induces an elevation
of sentiment calculated to invest the sepul-
cher with the kindling emotions Of hopt
and immortality. These flowers tell wha
, words can never speak so we'll. The rose
blended with the lily, the emblems Of i'm
: mortality,-lh eloquent though frai
. memorial of those who once loved. N,
sculptured marble could so fttingIy EN-
. balm the memory of the venerated dead
q venerated though unknown venerated fo
4 their heroic valor; veneraled for their Inf
:, sacrifice for their country. Though un
great fountain of human character lies be
yond the limits Of mortal life, where til
- passions cannot invade it,
n 1t is in that regior, that among innum
4 cradle proofs of mans no,hingness, NJ
= preserved the records Of his immortal d,
n scent and destiny. Ii is there the spiri
4 OF all ages. after their sun IL set, are gail,
a !. cred into one armament to shed their un
I quenchahle light upon us. Ii ia in til
great assembly of the dead that the pairi,
:, completes his beneiaction to man. Beyon
'. the circle OF those private affections whic
10 can but shrink from the shafts of death
a. there should be no grief for the departLi
N OF the man who gave his lite in defence 1
. this great and glorious country. No teal
: but those OF gratitude should fall into Ill
% grave of such as are gathered with so gre'
n honor to their fathers. Cyrus in his la,
- agOnies desired the Persians to rejoice .
his funeral and not to lament as if he wei
really dead.
# The IDEAS usually entertained of dis
=. solution are very unphilosophical. W
are accustomed to associate the separatio
"a Of the soul and body with horror and drea
v as ii death were necessarily agonizing, br
:, this is far from being the case.
"a How beautiful ia the memory OF th
" dead. What holy thing il ia in the hu
:, man heart, and what Christening infiienc
"a IL sheds upon human life! How it sub
!. dues all the haraliness that grcwsup witt,
in ns In the daily intercourse with III
world How it melis our unkin,lnes
Il sofens our pride, kinding our deepesl Low
a and awakening our highest aspirations
a Ia there II spirit to which heaven il M
n brought nearer by holding some kindre
!, soul? How friend follows friend into Il,
> happy dwelling place OF the dead, until 4
length those who love and look down froi
the heavenly shore are more nnmereu
than they who dwell among us. Let u
talk pleasantly of the dead as those VIII
no longer suff.r, as those who no longe
o pursue the fleeing but have secured III
Is real. With them the fearS, the longings
;. the hopes, the terrOrs are paat the frui