The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-06-05

the common law ana the rules Oh equlty
confessedly traced to this same code,
and founded on those same great fun
damental precepts, fitted to all the vary
ing circumstances Of the human family.
refined by all the refnem ents of an ever
growing and refining christian ciyiliza-
ton, we may apply the other question,
what nation is there SO great that hath
statutes and judgments SO righteous p
And we may well apply to ourselves the
admonition, which the great leader an
nexed to this declaration Of greatness.
"Only take heed to thyself and keep
thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the
things which thine eyes have seen, and
lest they depart from thy heart, all the
days Of thy life, but teach them, thy
sons and thy sons sons"
All civilized nations have their men,
orial days, growing out Of the most
memorial incidents of their history, de-
signed to keep alive some great national
principle. BY the common consent OF
the people we now have two. The first
to commemorate the founding OF n na.
tior, the corner stone Of whose struct-
ure was the declaration that all men
were created equal, and endowed by
their Creator with certain inalienable
rights" A foundation that since the
ancient theocratic republic, no other
people bad laid or built upon. And the
one We now observe. when we lay the
offering OF May-howerS, the fragrant in
cense of grateful hearts, upon the tombs
of those who offered their lives to prove
to world awaking from the ignorance
Of ages and inquiring earnestly why the
millions of the human family should
live only to subserye the gain or the
pleasure Of II selfish lordly few, that
these words that world had heard from
Us, were more than "a rhetorical Hour
ish" or "a tissue of glittering generall-
ties;" words OF truth, inspired by the
breath of The Living God, IA leaven that
should elevate humanity, seed, when
planted the least Of all, but from whose
germ should spring 'trees Of HE, whose
leaves should be for the healing Of the
nations" The terrible struggle our ma
ton went through will never pass into
history IA a mere family quarrel "a
past unpleasantness. A million lives
were sacrificed, because our nation
could better afford ten million than that
great principle on which our republic
stands. 1t was at its moving centers
war OF principles. It's inspiration was
the question, Is universal freedom, or
the bondage Of the weaker races to the
stronger the corner stone of republics; /;
and whether the day Of the worlds pro-
gress shall brighten into MONDAY splen-
Ia ne,l. Il I,.,1 I.ln
ward more than 10 degrees; and the re-
suit settled the question for all the world
and all ages. and made the American
republic the beacon light to guide ev-
cry tempest-tossed ship of state into the
safe harbor of enlightened liberty.
The peace of Appomattox not only
confirmed our free government, but it
said to EuroI e's growing despot, "hands
of from our sister republic, and pre-
pare yourself to abdicate." And well
did he understand its import. Leaving
his tool. Maximiilian, to his sad fate, he
vainly sought To divert the rising tide OF
freedom 10y foreign war, only to make
bis own voluntary retirement more hui
initiating. And the news that the lib
erty our fathers left incomplete had be-
come the heritage of every in
habitant of our broad land, that no.
where OH the North American conti-
nent did human lungs breathe the
stiiled air of slavery, rs it passed on the
electric current through the ocean and
over the Old World, gave new life to
humanity, and bade the sons Of bon
dage everywhere to look up with hope.
Even stolid, unprogressive Spain went
into spasm Of republicanism. And au-
tocra,ic Russia began to realize which
way the event would turn, rs predicted
by the first Napolean, when he declared
that all Europe must ere long become e
Republican or Cossack and but for Athc-
istlc, Nihilistic madness, would have
| been ere this far on the road toward
popular liberty, and the shouts Of the
| triumphal procession that brings IN the
meek and lowly king who proclaims
liberty to the oppressed, has made even
the Gladstones Of England to cry out
"let down-trodden Ireland be free
And this brings us to the true answer to
the question why do we continue to
decorate with floral wreaths the graves
Of the heroes of this war to save the
Union, to which in the older states was
added, in the Centennial year, the al.
most forgotten graves OF the old revo-
| lutionary heroes
1t is not to honor mere courage. Pi-
rates and bandits display that in the
worst of causes, and the world breathes
freer when they yield up their lives;
foolhardy clustering braggarts often sac
rifice themselves to their recklessness
sam Patch could astonish gaping
throng by leaping from the dizzy heights
Of Niagara and Genesee till he leaped
into his death and Blondin risks his
own life by walking those heights on a
slack rope and Webb threw his away
| trying to swim the whirlpool; yet no
one will strew flowers over their graves,
because they gave themselves a sacri-
fee to worthless cause. Nor merely
their patriotism-the patriotism that
says our country right or wrong deserves
10 more honor than that of tae prede-
tory clans Of the middle ages. The pa
| triotism we honor is the love Of coun.
try worthy Of the love OF all its people
that says let our country be upheld and
defended because it can appeal to the
world to Judge of the righteousness OF
its cause. Every flower, then, we streN
on the veterans grave. is an offering oI
incense TO American liberty, in the
name Of our father God. Our silent
prayer, that the tree enriched by then
dust may grow and increase till it shall
o1ershadow the whole earth. Aud il
this is the true answer to the mawkisf
generosity that has begun to say, ''let u
seek to hasten on the era of good feel
ing by showing no distinction. Let u
decorate the graves Of the confederate
as well as the Union soldiers. The,
were as truly patriotic in their way. an,
as honest in their convictions" But t,
what would we thus be teaching OH
sons that honor is due. The naked fac
alone, as Carlisle has aptly said, "tw'
companies of men were drawn up il
jux,a- nosition. faced each other. and q