, 1888-06-14
MEMORIAL DAY.

AT THE tlfEhh IlotSF, p'ONhNi
FALLS, SUNDAY, MAY, 27, 1888.
(BY Il. NJ. wHERLoCK,
Greater love hath no man than this
that he lay down his life for his friend
John, Is, 13.
Through all past time, among al
past peoples the memory Of the solder
dead has been sacredly cherished
For conquering kings pyramids were
built, for chiefs, warriors, heroes, tri-
umphal arches reared their stately
fronts. Pillars pierced the sky to
point the victories of nations, while
the monument and the mansoleum
testify to the grief for the fallen. The
chiselled marble, the sculptured vase
and urn, the cenotaph of brass are the
enduring monuments Of grief, the
tributes of II nations sorrow to her
most gallant and deserving sons.
But the American republic year by
year decorates the graves of its citizen
soldiers, not in sorrow, not in mourn
ing, not with the cold symbols of
metal and of stone, but rather with
tho high gladness of solemn festival.
So in the springtime Of nature, from
every city and town and hamlet of this
broad continent, gather the people Of
this, the proudest of all nations, to
commemorate the valor and the VIC
tory of their soldier dead. They
strew their last resting place with the
most fitting decoration that can be
brought to II true mans grave--tloH-
ers, fresh as the remembrance we car
ry in our hearts for the departed brave /;
flowers fragrant rs the full-blossomed
glory of their deeds in the annals OF
the age; flowers perishable like the
bodies of kindred dust, but like the inn
mortal soul OF man to be renewed year
by year forever. Their true symbol is
the starry flag which they carried to
enduring victory from sea to sea; their
of free and equal laws which they made
10 span the continent like the bow
OF promise, giving assurance of equal
ity of duties and OF rights under laws.
founded on the will OF the people
alone.
Thus arises grander and more i'm
perishable memorial, than ever the
pomp of kingdoms or the wealth of
selfish conquest have raised to COM
their warriors and their
II national purpose which has
the dignity and solemnity OF funeral
rites without their sadness. We cele.
brate not new bereavement but an
old one; not around a freshly made
grave, but remembering those already
clothed with grass and blooms. To
natures signs of tenderness we but
add our own. Not ashes to ashes dust
to dust, but only blossoms to blossoms,
laurel to the laurelled. After war
peace; after carnage flowers; after
death the new life of the soul.
The great volunteer army OF the ma
tion was long since disbanded. Its
tents were struck, its camp.fires put
out its muster rolls laid away. But
there is another army that no presi-
Dental proclamation could disband,
and no general orders reach. In every
cemetery we stand amidst camping
grounds; those white stones are its
tents, it's muster rolls are in our mem
ories, its camp fires burn in our hearts.
When the great soldier of Napole.
on, La Tour d Anvergue, surLamed
'the first grenadier of France" fell
in battle, the Emperor ordered that
his heart should be embalmed and
cBrried always at the head of his regi-
ment, that his name should be called
at every roll call, and some comIade
should answer for him "Dead upon the
the field of honor" So have we en-
balmed the hearts of our heroes in our
affections: we carry
them to the front, and when we hear
read their heightened muster.rolls,
our love will make answer for each,
Dead upon the field of honor"
"On Fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead"
They had learned the great lesson
hat
whether on the tented field
Or in the battles van,
The fittest place for man to die
Is where he dies for man."
We read in the old Roman story
hat one day in the centre of the inn
perial city, and right through its for
um, the earth suddenly opened and II
vast chasm yawned to the bottomless
leep. Every hour it crumbled and
widened until it threatened to engulf
the proud temples and palaces OF
Rome. Vain was every effort to stay
The growing horror. The whole popu-
ation labored in vain to fill it.; all that
ihey cast in disappeared. The tired
swarms of laborers returned at morn
ing from their brief slumbers to find
their toll of yesterday wasted, and the
guilt still wider and deeper than before.
Despairing and dreading the vengeance
Of the offended Deities, of whose wrath
they saw in this the visitation, the
senator's of the trembling city consult
ed the soothsayers and the seers. The
xyos cyiypp that tho CbosO,