The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-06-01

were born and ransomed and where they
suffered and triumphedi My Bible does not
| positively say so, nor does my catecbism
teach it, but my common sense declares 1t.
The departed do know and the hammered
procession that marched the earth yesterday
to northern graves and the hammered pro-
cession that marched a month ago to south
ern graves. were accompanied by two
graDder though invisible professions that
walked the air, professions of the assembled,
professions Of the martyred, professions of
the sainted; and they heard the anthems of
the churches and the salvo of the batteries
and they stopped down to breathe the
incense of the flowers. These august
throngs gathered this morning in
these pews and aisles and cor
ridors and galleries, are Insignificant
compared with the mightier throngs of
heaven who mingle in this service which we
render to God and our country while we
twist the two garlands. Hail spirits multi
tudinousl Hail spirits blestl Hail martvred
ones come down from the Kings palaces
How glad we are that you have come back
again. Take this kiss of welcome and these
garlands of "reminiscences. ye who languished
in hospitals or went down under the thun-
ders and the lightniDgs of Fredericksburg
and Cold Harbor and Murfreesboro and
Corinth and Yorktown and above the
clouds on Lookout Mountain.
north and al the south for Decoration days
am conscious that this service Is unique
and that it is the only one in which there
have been twisted two garlands, one for the
graves OF the northern dead
and the other for the grave
of the southern lead. o, Lord God of the
American union, is it not time that we bury
forever our old grudgesl N.Y. Myi Can
we not be at peace on earth when this mo-
ment in heaven dwell in perfect love,
Ulysses s. Grant and Robert E. Lee, William
I. Sherman and Stonewan jackson, and
tens of thousands of northern and southern
men who, though they once looked askance
at each other from the opposite banks Of the
Potomac and the Chickahominy, and the
James and the Tennessee. now are on the
same side of the river keeping Jubilee with
some Of those old angels who near nineteen
centuries ago came down one Christmas
night to chant over Bethlehem: "Glory to
God in the highest; on earth peace, good
will to menn
l have been waiting for some years for
some one else to twist the two garlends that
to-day twist but, no one doing it, in the
love Of God and my country put now my
hand to the work, and next spring about this
time, if am living and well, l will twist
two more garlands for northern and south
ern graves, and every springtime until some
man or woman whom may have cheered q
little in the struggle of this life, shall come
out and put pansy or two on my own
grave. But if the time should ever come
when this land shall be given over to sec
tional rancor and demagogism, and North
and South, or East and West shall forget
what the good God built this nation for and
it shall halt on its high career of righteous
ness and liberty and peace, and become the
agent Of tyranny and wrong and oppres-
sion, then let some young man whom have
baptized in infancy at these affairs go out to
Greenwood aud SCOOP up my dust and scat
ter it to the four winds Of heaven, for do
not want to sleep and will not sleep in a
land accused with sectionalism or oppres-
sion.
And now ha nd over the two garlands,
both of which are wet with many tears
tears of widowhood and orphanage and
chlldlessness, tears of suffering and tears of
gratitude. and as the ceremony must be per-
formed in symbol, there not being enough
flowers to cover all the graves, take the one
garland to the tomb of some northern SOL
der who may yesterday have been omitted
in the distribution of the sacrament of
flowers, and the other garland to the tomb
of some southern soldier, who
may, month ago, have been
omitted in the distribution of the sacrament
of the flowers, and put both the wreaths
gently down ever the hearts that have
ceased to beat God bless the two garlandsl
God save the United States of Americal