Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1890-09-20

i, ''"u oiioh1iS uroP IL upon Ju'
foeman's grave.
We would not pluck one laurel from
the wreath which crowns the bravery
of them who stood before our glistenine
bayonets. They, too, fought for /,
principle they gave up their young
lives in support of their doctrines
and now they slumber, side by side
with their northern foes.
Oh. ye misguided dead Lured as v,
were by the hellish devices of design
ing traitors, we would yet not cast on,
impeachment upon the bravery with
which ye resisted that which ye
believed to be unjust. Now rest they
there
''ludcr the sod and the dew
| Waiting the Judgment day. a
Under the Un" the blue,
| Under the other the gray;
1 Under the sod and the dew
! Waiting the judgment day
Tears and love for the blue,
Love ana tears for the gray"
God knows these people all, and we
leave to him the judgment of their
motives.
The histSay of those nations which
have failed to honor bravery and
patriotic devotion, clearly shows that,
as Il result, their people have degen-
Grated, their national flag has ceased
to command the respect of the world,
and the dust of decay has settled over
every one of their public institutions.
oIt is, then, that we may develope in
the hearts of the people of to-day the
true spirit Of patriotic devotion to our
nation, and its grand principles of
freedom and equality, that we meet
with the battle Scared remnant of this
grand old regiment, which barred it's
breast to rebel steel, and to the deadly
iron hail from traitor guns.
! 1t is well for us, and for the rising
generation TO follow these brave men
through the cloud of battle. To gaze
on them, in imagination, as they
shoulder their muskets, and march
grandly away from sOrrowing mothers,
wives, and sisters. 1t is good that we
should yet review with them their
heroic efferts from the day when the
first powder cloud burst upon them at
Try Mountain, to the last stroke which
they gave to the expiring confedera ~
at Sentonville.
We should follow them through the
terrible ordeal at Stone Fiver, where
Tor three long days they gallantly with
stoo3 the enemy to their flag, and
Hhere many of their dear. comrades fell
g sacrifice TO freedom.
Cn, on, they go,-to Ckickamagua,
to Mission Ridge, TO Reseca, to Kene-
saw Mountain and its noble assault ;
On, on, oa,-to Peachtree Creek, to
Atlanta, to Jonesborough, and the
final siege OF Savannah.
1t is well forsus to-day to picture in
our minds the Ave end twenty terrible
battles OF this regiment, ana to aim to
comprehend 8he sacrifices made by
these brave man who have come into
our midst.
The living heart can be ine2irea,
and d burning desire &c perpetuate
unchanged our grand institutions, can
be kinaled in every breast.
This can not well be done in the
unjust manner di the present Cay. So
long as the rising generation is accus-
toned to beholding the spreading OF
g. few garlands OF roses upon the graves
of the dead soldiers, as the only mark
of appreciation, they must feel that a
great injustice is being done to the
living soldier, who is entitled to as
much honor as they who fell.
When we behold great, fat, sleek
Congressman busily engaged in legis-
lating in the interest of the American
hog: when we see them sleepless lest
American hams shall not be permitted
to enter Europe; when we see how
they are exercised over a few Goldfish
upon the bleak coasts of Newfoundland,
or u boat load of seals from frozen
Alaska's disputed seas. we feel like
crying in disgust, where is the
American soldierp' is the hog more
worthy of legislation than heY Where
would you have been to-day had it not
been for these poor fcllows2 Where
would your Congress be? Where
would your boasted surplus be +?
Let us drop the Goldfish into his
briny element and forget him forever;
let US care nothing for Samoa,-let her
sink into the profoundest depth of the
sea, for we would never miss her,
and let us attend to the crying needs
of those who made our country, and
then rescued it from the hands of
traitors who sought to tear it asunder.
The government of the United
States can not afford to give us the
lesson it is teaching us to-day let her
give us Il lesson in gratitude, that we
may say to the boys who are growing
up about us,-''Behold how the Nation
loves its protectors Behold how they
who have sustained the Nations honor
are cared for by IL grateful people ~
We can not say it to-day. We are
compelled in sorrow to say, Republics
are ungrateful." The men who kept
our flag flying amidst the iron hail
are in poverty to-day. Their
health is gone, they languish
in the alms-houses of the land, and
meet only the sneers of the men whom
they have made rich; they are driven
from the lands Of them who would to-
day be paupers were it not for the
results of the unselfish patriotism OF
our soldier-citizens.
Time will do all justice; there is n
liberal spirit in the air to-day, this
spirit will grow, and it will, sooner or
later bear fruit of national gratitude.
May the fruitage day come before the
living soldiers have all passed to n
reward beyond the grave, is our desire. |
There is another lesson to learn