The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1890-06-04

of the Garfield monument. 1t was an ideal May
day. the heat of summer being tempered by
gentle breez ,. which modified its intensity very
appreciably. The program heretofore published
in the PRESS was followed, with the exception OF
music between the invocation and address. a
double quartette. composed of Mrs. W. NJ. Wright,
Mrs C. J. Stanford, Misses Eliza Dalrymple and
Eraily Carothers, and Messrs. L. A. Olin, G. R.
Braden G. W. Gockel and E. Y. Lacey sang the
following selections: I'VE Come with Beau
tiful Flowers" Cover Them Over" Let
Them Rest and Requiem of the Brave" The
singing of 'Amorica" by the entire assemblage,
concluded the exercises. At the Cemetery moth
ing was done beyond the decoration of Memorial
Cross and the Soldiers graves. The plan here
tofore adopted of decorating all the graves alike.
placing potted geraniums at the head and foot of
each grave, was adhered to.
The following is the admirable address deliv-
cred by J. W. HoLCOMB. Esq:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: We are met
today to execute in part a solemn trust.
This surely is Gods day. 1t is the nations |
communion. No part of the year is as sa-
cred to this Hberty-loving people as this
day. During the long and sanguinary |
months from 1861 to 1865, no battles were |
fought upon this day. Nature was at peace |
with the world and the blue and the gray |
| seemed to realize that they were brothers |
| of the same household. From then and |
until this glad year none are so wanton as |
to desecrate the 3Oth day of May. As we
visit our beautiful city of the dead, we see |
the little mounds about us. We look into |
| the patriotic faces of the members of the |
Grand Army of the Republic before us and
are carried back to that awful day, the day
| Fort Sumpter was fired upon. To many l
see before me the recollection is as but yes
terday. How at half past o'clock on the
morning of the 18th of April, 1861, the
murderous gunS-champions of an ungodly
cause entered upon their mission that
bathed this country in blood for four long
and dreary years. How that little band of
loyal men, true to the flag they loved so
dear, for thirty-siX hours endured and suf
fered hardShIps unknown to US save in the
subsequent four years. How Maj. Ander-
son, with less than one hundred brave boys
in blue, withstood ten thousand destroyers
of the Union, only Surrendering upon terms
dictated by himself, and upon that sacred
Sabbath morning, with the proud step of
victors and the stars and stripes floating
defiantly over them, he safely delivered to
his country its ensign of freedom. The
world regarded it victory loyalty called
r them heroes.
The South, intoxicated by the oStensible
f victory of that hour, had no thought or
place in its being for the carnage it invited
' to its door. Bleeding hearts, bitter tears,
3 vacant homes, sacred treasure, found no
5 comfort in the Southern heart that was
S wont to traffic in human chattels.
We recall the patriotic expressing of the
loyalty of the North at this insult to the
nations flag, and we witness what the
world had never seen before. Loyalty per-
vaded every heart. Party distinction was
g obliterated. A patriotic people arose in
In, TI,o4
= must be preserved. Mothers blessed their
sons and bade them go forth to battle and
e if need be, make the stars and
stripes their winding sheet. Wives gave
}. their husbands, sisters gave their brothers,
t and all marched away at the beat of the
: drum, some never to return, and some phys
y ical wrecks Of their former selves.
= We are not met to revive the animosities
of those times nor to kindle anew sectional
y strife, but in the language of Douglas,
''There can be no neutrals in this war
only patriots or traitors" and justice to the
e silent heroes speaks forth, and the living
e patriots demand that loyal sentiment be not
IS stifled, nor lips be sealed to truth. No
e patriotic citizen with the future prosperity
g or religious glory of his country enshrined
: within his breast can for one moment de-
,, sire that we place Lee by the side of Grant,
" nor that we remember Davis as we cherish
e the memory of Lincoln. Self-preservation,
o if naught else, is a conclusive argument
n why each citizen of this government should
n unhesitatingly proclaim lis love for the
d blue; no allegiance asks this for the gray.
. . You recall the excitement that came with
II the war, how the little standing army of
Ii ten thousand was augmented by seventy
five thousand at the presidents first call,
is and so great was the patriotic sentiment
II | tba pati Ha hot wit
ii in fifteen days from that memorable procla-
g nation more than three hundred and fifty
e thousand volunteers offered themselves in
: defense of our country, but the immortal
}. Lincoln, still confident and never wavering
e in his devotion and confidence in American
g patriotism, believed that ninety days would
suffice to convince our Southern brethren
d of the evil of their cause. But the seventy
e five thousand call was followed by one for
u three hundred thousand, and that i'll turn
e by others until two million men stood in
: line, and the ninety days widened into
long and dreary years, bringing with them
n sickening scenes of prison life and battle
y fields with heroic deeds.
S Northern homes participated in this great
i national struggle, and their valOr was only
d equaled upon the field of battle. Untiring
: energy, long toiling days, sleepless nights,
. relate the anxiety and care for dear ones
9 sky.
History is crowded with sanguinary
events that mark the capricious path of
ambitious kings, and for countless years
the world has been one vast campaign.
Continental Europe is but a battlefield dot
ted with AS monuments to fame, where
warm breezes watt the lay to heroic gods
5 But language and song have no force ade-
quate to portray the proWeSS of the Ameri-
can common soldier. His answering devO-
ton, his daring courage stand pre-eminent
upon the worlds escutcheOn. His love for
his fellow-man remained unSatiSfied until the
! immortal Lincoln, that greatest civil hero,
placed the last jewel in the crown of Liberty.
We will meet today upon sacred soil to
pledge anew our love for those who fell
that this nation might live. While we
mourn it is with fearful gratitude, and we
bring with humbleSt devotion flowers to
decorate their graves. We cannot do more.
Their Just reward will come from other
hands. Upon each succeeding year, as we
Journey with memorials to their hOnOred
dust, we will cultivate more and more an ap-
probation of the cause for which they died. !
and the sacred lesson it brought with it. |
All that has and may be said of the hon |
ored dead, can justly be repeated of their /
more fortunate comrades. History tells us !
it is but an accident or they, too, would be
numbered with the slain. They offered /
themselves a sacrifice, if need be, i'll de- |
Tense of their country, and no greater or /
patriotic devotion can be than this. No /
compensation within the governments eS-
tate can ever repay the debt it owes them.
We will always honor and revere them, and
| when they are again called and join their
comrades upon the other side, the nation
with bowed head will mingle its tears and
brightest flowers over their sacred dust.