The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1888-06-08
MEMORIAL DAY.
The Soldiers OF the Late War Re-
member Their Comrades Who
Have Gone Before.

NNN aus NNAAAN w w VIZ III
oil the people the memory OF the brave
men who gave their lives to preserve the
nation.
The whole country, in the large cities in
the towns, in the villages and even IN the
country church yard, honor was done to
tue brave soldiers over whose memory
flowers were strewn. At St. Paul the dc.
monstration was like that in Other
cities, and an extract from the GRAFTON OF
Col. G. ID. Kerr will serve as a sample OF
the thousands that were delivered else.
whore. Col Kerr said:
Ii indeed there be anything in past asso.
Citations mt to affect the mind OF man, we
need not strive to subdue the emotions
which press upon us here, for these men,
whom you nave met here to honor, pur-
chased our present prosperity and paid for
1t with Their blood, illustrating again and
attesting the truth as old as the world, that
only thus by sacrifice and fiery trial and sor-
row, can either nations or individuals be
purified and made fit to be prosperous and
happy. Every noble crown il. on earth, and
viii forever be a crown Of thorns. The man
who has lived in this country for the last
thirty years has attained an experience
and reached a full stature of manhood
compared with which the nine hundred
years OF tame pastoral life were
but as the feeting existence of a child. For
we live in thoughts, not years; in heart
beats, not in figures on a dial
GAINED AN EMPTY PRIZE
/ can remember as though it were but yes
terday where / was twenty-six yeals e to-
day. | hin it was lust about this time of
the day on May 80, 1862, that l marched
with my regiment overthe abandoned works
and into the deserted streets of CorinGh,
That was, indeed, q gloomy period an the
history Of the war. The campaign In the
East had proved a total failure. Beaure-
gard, through the imbecility of HaIlock, had
escaped from Corinth unmolested with his
entire army. and with all his material aud
munitions of war. Gloom had settled like
a pail upon the hearts Of the people. and al
ready the cry was reaching the army that
the war against rebellion bad proved a fail
ure. Oh! weak OF faith! Trembling in
doubt and despair when indomitable will
and fearless courage alone could save the
nation. Where would you doubters have
been to-day; on what q tempesCuous sea of
anarchy would YOU and all Of us be. drifting
now, IL these and such as these, the living
and the dead Of the Grand Army, had shared
In your doubts and partaken Of your fears2
Nothing that l can say or that this nation.
can do will ever express a 1.-THE of the graf
itude that should animate every patriotic
heart for the men who fought and died TO
retrieve the fortunes that seemed then and
for a year thereafter so near the lowest ebb
OF their receding tide.
HONOR TO THE WOMEN.
As a soldier 1 I'M deeply sensible of the
ubuOI bO lIGEll HlOWu W my uGAuC OilIdQHH.
Yet at the same time / cannot but think
that we sometimes forget, or at least under
value, the influence of the women of the
North in bringing the war TO a successful
conclusi9n We boast of being the stronger
sex, and so in pOinto Of mere physical strength
we are. But brute force alone never did
and never will conquer in q struggle like
chat Back OF every element OF this kind
must lie moral courage, mistaken faith and
nrm principle No man can overestimate
the share that the wives and mothers and
sisters of our soldiers bore in stimulating
and promoting these qualities throughout
the army, and l would 10 God that while we
decorate the graves Of heroic men we might
also eyermore strew flowers on the ground
where lie the heroines of the war-the
women whose self-sacrtficing devotion was
DO less noble and worthy because exhibited
In the silent sorrow of q desolated home. J.
Tor one, can never forget them when we
meet TO do honor to eiLner the living or the
dead OF that eventful period l see them
here to-day foremost, as they ever
are, in honoring the memories of those
whose hands they upheld and whose
hearts they cheered when so many OF my
" sex were ready to give MP in despair. is
tt any wonder that q nation which can boast
such mothers and daughters as ours, has
demonstrated the fact that II can neither be
enslayed nor dfsruptedg We awe it to our
selves and TO posteribY to ever mark the re-
turn OF Decoration day with grateful cere.
monies; not alone in commemoration of
those who died, but to perpetuate also the
principles for which they died.
I'll REBELLIoN a LoNe-cHERIsHED scHEM L.
For years the rebel leaders had nursed the
project OF a separate nation, with slavery as
its corner stone. They may nave brought
themselves to believe that their cause was
lust. But my friends, IL makes all the diff
Ference whether we pursue a certain
course because we believe It TO be right.
or Judge il right because wee pursue it,
A pretext was the last thing such men were
likely to want, and the election OF Abraham
Lincoln served their purpose, And now at
iasG tho rebel leader stood upon his sunny
Pisgah, looking back over savage deserts or
doubt and disappointment and delay and
forward to q Canaan OF promised Joy, which
he had ouly the Jordan Of secession TO cross
In order 10 possess lone but the hand that
rules ~ahovecould save the nation then. The
government and all its resources weie under
the control Of Southern 6ympathizera Wash
fngton vas fuA OF rebels openly proclaiming
their treason in the very halls Of congress
and the mansion of the chief executive.
Washington was also full of Northern men.
politicians mostly, who were crying God
save the country. but the cry simply meant
God save my place and my fortune. The
prayer OF the South Ia Washington was let
me live upon the fruit Of other msals in
dustry, and tho prayer Of the Northern poll
ucian at the capital was let me fatten upon
the plunder OF the public. Fort Sumpter
was attacked and civil war was upon uA
Then nprose that mighty host in the North,
not OF politicians, not of seekers for place or
plumber. but of the honest masses, the main~
stay and support of every republic. To
these masses belong the credit and the
honoro Of that wars success.
NOT HOLIDAY ExcURsIo NJ
1t was no holiday excursion over summer
seaE.hs you Well know At last we Thought
the end drew near. Bat the South still ma
corn bread aud roasting ears, there was still
lead and gunpowder, and while these means
Of sustaining and Destroying life remained
II seemed as though the south was de-
termined 10 prolong the struggle. The, same
bipartisan masses who had tonight the bat
ties OF the Union, fought again at the polls,
ADD In Legislative halls the battle OF recon-
struction. The result is before you to-day.
LESSONS TAUGHT.
Now. what are the lessons all this teaches
TO MS, 20 be taught IN turn by as to our chtI-
dren on occasions such as thisg Primarily,
that this is q union, and not a sc6n federacy
merely. Second, that slavery. in whatR1-
ever form 1t may rise is hydra head, has
been baniehed from this ant foreyermore.
Third, thai liberty, our sacred heritage
ffoEa the foreStthefs. Is handed down again
by III &c our Children. sanctiied anew by our
toll and treasure and blood; but, above ali
things, that the liberty thus transmitted Is
notlaWlesgnesR ltf il not the liberty "a the
on5A hand 10 die nv atofVarfon or on The I