Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1891-06-11


sense in which "thou shalt love thy neigh
Dor as thyself;" by honor | mean reyer-
entail love
We are met here then, to offer honor,
to offer reverential love, for the soldiers
who laid down their lives in defence of
the Union; whether they were officers or
privates, whether they died for victory or
in defeat. In body we know. alas that
they are gone from us forever In this
world. Yet year after year We love 10
gather TO listen to the speaker as he sounds
ers. They seem to live with US again,
and instinctively, perhaps. we seek them
among their comrades. We are told that
they were the saviors of the nation, the
martyrs of liberty; and the sacrifice is
sweetencd now by the thought that they
We're ours. They are ours still Let the
thought sink as soothing oil into the
wounded heart.
For the grave is not It's goal.
Dust thou art. Ia dust returueth,
Was not spoken OF the soul"
'Ts "a pleasing doctrine which teaches
that the souls Of the dead are not insen>i-
BE To the living We are here TO honor
them aud our honor is not empty.
But we are not here to mourn. Twas
but natural that this day should have been
for time devoted to mourning; tor many
a heart was dcsolate Bat generation
has passed since then. And time has tenn
pered, mcllowcd, swestcned our sorrow.
OF the hosts who lived to mourn Of the
shattered legion, that returned, with fame
alone unwounded Of the passions, hopes.
ambitions peculiar TO that dav. full the
better part has yielded to the common Law
dust to dust "
But from out the dust.
sole mcmrnto Of the FRAY.
Blooms for u in flower
The honor of TODAY.
Figuratively then we lay that honor. that
flower, the perfume of which We enjoy, on
the tomb OF the soldier who died IN reach
ing for It. And right over each tomb.
NA'oi az AAN AAlA as-4at W haN "I'i' -
might be easily seen by the Young patriot
eye, We would willingly place that line Of
the poet Horace
"pnlce ct iecorc pro pairia mort"
Nfis sweet, III noble. for fathcrland 70 lie.
We are met not slune To honor the dead,
but also the living. Men of the Grand
Army, the elder citizens well remember
ynur departure for the war. They recall
your record. your return. on this day
consecrsted to memory kind fancy calls
back that other day 80 like, - unlike, thi~.
Then. A. now. the graceful slopes OF Els
worth were rendered even more p!ctur-
gallant six hundred" You remember the
flag that was given YOU. The speeches On
that occasion were neither long perhaps
nor over dIguifri for when hearts are
fall there j. >caut room for display. Nor
WAS it needed. That flag spoke for all
Twas the haniiwork Of mother. wife aud
sister, iva. the emblem II the nation
Twas the souvenir of fair Ellsworth and
the monitor OF home, and whether In camp
or In battle it, destiny was 10 whisper of
dear ones dwelling in the land that you
love the land where the Union waters
flow
The last embrace was given. by many
twas indeed the last embrace and YOU were
gone. Then came tidings Of the actual war
The war the war-oh, well-it seems like
a dream, wild dream. now but it ended.
And then you came back but not, not
the >ix hundred" You brought back the
flag, all that was left Of IT. the rest was
buried with the dead.
For all that these few words imply, men
Of the Grand Army, We are met here to-
day to thank you, to honor you, and in ad-
dition we offer honor for the work of the
present day. We have known you mind
tul Of the call to arms We have heard Of
the wild charge where death stood waiting
to chill the warmest blood. We now see
you bending with springs first offering
over the grave where comrade sleeps.
Loyalty, valor, sentiment, the picture is
complete; 'tis the likeness Of true man.
We honor true men.
'Tis well to honor the dead who died
that We might live as freemen. Tis well
to honor the living who freely live because
they freely dared to die. But we honor
them especially because we are here to hon
IA ,;.I /, u n.
and such lives. That idea is the funda-
mental principle which binds us together
as nation of freemen. In brief, It's this ::
the noblest thing in man is man, or. if
you prefer the word, manhood.
From that, as its proper root, rises the
beautiful tree of life, the life Of our ma
ton. AS the root lives so lives the tree
above it. Twas blessed at birth with the
apostolic number of branches-for / count
St. Paul. Has the number thirteen proved
indeed unlucky, as some would have it?
1t has proved to christians, it proves to
our tree. our nation, a number of most
gracious omen. For its branching shade
extending and embracing proves it to be
of the true banyan type. Its success in
life has been, also, apostolic. May its
prophetic future be found in that given to
the apostles mission-"Lo! am with you
all days, even to the consummation Of
time"
We love to speak in glowing words, Of
ten in an exaggerated tone perhaps, of our
nations character and success. Tis best
to remember, however. that before all
things under God, its character and its sue
cess depend entirely on its root principle.
That seems to have been the view of JEFF
fersons For in writing the Declaration
of Independence he placed that principle
in the preamble, and It's the keynote to
that remarkable document-thus,.' 1--WE hold
these truths to be self-evident: that all
men are created eq ual; that they are ell
dowed by their Creator with certain una
lienable rights; that among these are life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 3"
The force Of all this, as of the spirit of
what follows, rests on the word equal as a
statue rests upon its base. Now the word
equal here can evidently have but one true
meaning. We know that men are not
equal if considered mentally, physically.