The Lincoln County leader. [volume] (White Oaks, Lincoln County, N.M.) 1882-189?, 1889-06-08
abANR'lL DhY III WHITE 0bIS.
Prof. Richmcnd'S address.

In the hour of serene, midday
calmncss, on this day when peace br0ods
like q mighty dove over the land, the
American people are engaged in great
national sacrifice, COMMUNICATING valiant
leeds done in days OF tunult and strife.
! And how different is this sacrifice OF ours
| from every cher since the world began,
! Tor fifteen centuries the children OF HE
chosen race symbolized the hoped for re
dcmption of the race from its disastrous
dawning by sacIiical shedding of the
! blood of bulls and goats.
The great part OF antiquity, after sing
ing OF many IA combat and many god
and hero brings US at last intoa quiet
harbor. and tells us how those, the weary
warriors killed the fatts d oxen, and built
the funeral pyre apd poured oui the rosy
I wine, and with streaming tear. placed tie
she's Of The dead in Il golden ura, for
such honors Zion TO her hero paid.
And peaceful slept the mighty Hcctor's
shade" 10 day we stay no victim, the
silent tomb we drcnch not with costly
libation. no smoke from burning pile as
osnd,, no fragrant incense gree, the nostrils
-Aad h wv different is.olr ncmori, from
what we commemorate, The nations rc
cord is written in characters Of crimson
and scarlet stained monument at every
bend in HE great current Of our national
prog"c,s,
| Tie story of our Independence may be
traced in thc bloody footprints Of Valley
| Forge; We stand to day on blood bought
domain, and still With us arc the lnom-
ories Of the four gloomy years, during
which the long continued sin of the ma
ton wss biottcd ont in hleod, a1d 20
ma NJ brave men were slain, victims to
the unholy Moloch Of political ambition.
But to day it is with simple flowers and
wrcathcs that We sacrifice at the blood
stained Sltars Of The past, and render our
inadequate homage to the shades OF the
mighty dcad-these silent scninels that
keep solemn watch and ward over the
destinioS OF thc Nation.
inadequate indeed is anything that We
may say or do. TO be sure We may ap-
preciate in some degree The daring deeds
and yclf-denying lives OF them chat lived
laborious days fer the betternent Of their
kind and died thai sweetest &C deaths for
country since each of MS in daily life
must sooner or lat.r tread The wine press
OF pain and trouble and sacrifice for
other sake; we may euloIize, We may
emulate; but recempense halonss only 10
iho ha &c sheet of the Ominsciell book
keeper Of the universe,
And sadly out Of place mus, one feel
who saw the light after the dcws OF II
summer and the SHOWS OF winter had
dInmed the scenes Of our last great con
llct in addressing YOU who We're tb re
who were actors in that most stupead-
ouS Of drama'-The war for the AAcl-
can Union. What can we of this younger
day who know not war and sound Of
strife, ,c OF that golden time when n
uuiyersalI cry oil cheerful chivslrou,. ea-
thus aslic patriotism peaed over the land
like a Ginning bell and substituting for
the myth dmmed demigods of yore plain
men OF common English speech. Iaadc
here es of these and one half millions OF
Americans? What can We tel Of the
partings overshadowed with dread OF
of what might and what did in many
case, happen, partngs that must have
bsen like the swapping OF The strings If
'he heart. What came when the fsrmsr
left lis hillside, and the merchant his
couEter and the scholar his closter and
Went pouring forward with impe,uols
speed.
Aud swiftly forming in tie rahks ~ war
plugged Onward into the fiery gulf and
furnaces ofbattle What can we tell Of
bullets hiss and the Shrek Of she'll, Of the
daring charge and the gloomy retreat; Of
the sublime roar OF artillery duel. and The
awful stiffness of the naddcncd hand to
hand conflict; Of wsary weeks of anguish
81 ent on the hospital couch and of the
hellish horrors Of the pesiilential prison
pen No, gentlemen, we were not there,
aud the scenes whose indslible impress