Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-05-31


! the sacred spots where sleep the boys in
blue and their once great enemy, the
boys in grey.
As we gaze backward through the
vista of years, somewhat dimmed by
advancing age in the case of some of US,
how wildly we recall and how well we
remember the early gray of that April
morn, when thirty millions of people
were awakened from slumber by the jar
of the falling walls of Sumter. Then,
| for the first time, North and South, did
the country realize that it was involved
| in earnest, determined, cruel war.
How from the great centers of popula-
| ton, from every county and parish, from
every city and borough, from every viii
lage and hamlet, from every store and
workshop, from every field of mans
labor, and from every scene of human
industry, sprang, as the months rolled
by, and as if by magic and inspiration.
armies OF ability and of courage, armies
with brains and with banners, and went
forth to do and to die for that which was
conceived to be patriotic and right.
| A nation not used to war, untaught in
arms, turns to the current OF its great
internecine contest more than two and q
half millions of men, and yet her farms
we're cultivated f.; her plantations, unless
made bloody fields of battle, still waved
with cane and bloomed with white prom
ises of harvest. Her whirling spindles
and buzzing machinery continued to
bring forth the products of busy hands,
and her commerce, even, still held its
place upon the waters of the globe.
What country and what people But
this day is set apart to honor the dead,
and not to praise the living. Our coun-
try, thank God lives-lives in its mighty
history and in the mightier love of its
people.
How we'll we remember when she
trembled beneath the laundering tread
of armies How vivid is the recollec-
ton of the shock OF battle Do you re-
member the advancing columns, the
dashing cavalry, the belching batteries,
the unbroken lines of FURNISHED
steel, the rafting of the musketry,
the shout of the charge? And do you
remember, when it was all over, how
you hunted for your lost companions,
for Tom, or Jack, or Bill? How you
looked over the ground ploughed and
torn by the engines of destruction How
you searched beneath the waving trees
whose grateful shadow calmed the suffer
ing and dying moments of the mortally
wounded, and at last you found him, but
his spirit, which had made merry many
camp and joyous many march, had
gone where wars are unknown and
where peace reigns eternal! You heard
his name no more at roll-call. He had
answ cred the last reveille.
You wrote home TO his mother, or his
wife, or his sister, or his sweetheart; to
the girl he left sobbing at the garden
gate. How carefully you worded those
sad and tender messages How you re-
turned to loving hands some keepsake or
trophy of the departed hero How you
recalled his stories at the bivouac fire
and his songs upon the weary march.
Y our eyes grow dim with tears, and the
grateful silence of sorrow closed around
you. Today we place flowers upon his
grave in continued and heartfelt re-.
membrance of his manly life, and of his
tragic and heroic death.
When the war was over and peace
serene, heaven born peace - reigned
throughout the land, and you returned a
sadder and wiser man from the strange
and unexpected experience of a citizen
soldier; when to the music of rolling
drum and piping flute you marched down
the old road in the old town, in sight of
the familiar scenes of your youth, in the
presence of the friends and neighbors of
your early years, greeted by the glad
shouts, waving hands and cheering well
come to a returning soldier, the only
thought that marred the full enjoyment
of the days reunion was the thought of
| the hero and martyr who sacrificed his
| life that his country might live.
When you assumed among men your
former vocation, how often in the busy
hours of the day and in the daily walks
of life the thought would steal upon you
of the memory and the life of your
loved and lost companions More
precious than mountains plated with
silver and ribbed with gold more valu-
able than great fields of ripening grain
and golden corn; more to be priced than
vast plantations Of waving cane and
snowy cotton; more to be cherished than
nations commerce upon thousand
rivers, lakes and seas more to be
esteemed than all the cunningly devised
implements and inventions of mechan-
ical genius; more worthy of being pre-
served and fostered than any and all of
our country's material interests and re-
sources are the services and the memo
ries of the defenders of our national flag.
Then, upon this Memorial Day place
your offerings of love and remembrance
upon the last earthly resting places of
those brave and gallant men who, in the
hour of the darkest conflict, or from
wounds received in fighting the battles
of our common country, gave up all, that
we might behold in joy and gladness the
rosy dawn of the day of peace, which
ushered in the long years of prosperity
and happiness which have marked our
country's course along the great highway
of our worlds history.
| Upon the yearly return of this day let
every patriotic and loyal man and woman
throughout the land remember, with
grateful heart and floral contribution, the
| illustrious and beloved defenders of
honor, right and national unity.
| Keep their graves green. Teach your
children to revere their memory, to
emulate their noble example OF patriot
ism. Hand down to coming generations
the legacy of love and of honor for the
immortal soldiers and sailors of the Grand
Army of the Republic.
The Grafton was frequently interrupted
with applause, and at the end the room
rang with cheers.
Mrs. Beeaon then sang "The Star
Spangled Ranner," in a clear, strong
voice, and received quite an ovation from
the audience. The Rev. Mr.. Holloway
introduced some resolutions which had
been prepared by committee, setting
| foruyo r1 tba pood of q pronar 0bcaryopoa