Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1891-06-06

4e21 aOCU1 noyLtscfn 1ua<lSlilS oeau
southern tbraggarts. 1t ,waa an army
OF hons against an army OF lions. It
was flock Of eagles mid sky with iron
beak against another flock Of eagles
iron beaked 1t was thunderbolt
against thuliderbolt. 1t was archangel
of wrath against archangel Of wrath.
It was Hancock against Longstreet. 1t
was Fitzpatrick against Wade Hampton.
It was Slocuin against Hill. 1t was O.
O. Howard against Hood. It was
Sherman against Stonewall jackson.
It was Grant against Lee And the
men who were under them were just ms
gallant. and come Of item are here,
and | detain the two gariaDds that |
have twisted for the departed, and in
recognition Of honesty niid prowess put
the coronals upon these living Fedcrals
and Confe4lerates. North and South,
We will make great fuss about them
when they are dead.
There will not beroopi on their tomb
stones to tell how much weA appreciate
them, Ne shall call out thesn military
and three VOL eys 5oyeE their
g5fEaves, nlitlsitn & tile cen,ef efysElpg
under our Command Of Y. Fire we
will have long, obituaries In newspapers
telling in What battles they fought,
what sacrifices they endured, what
flags they captured. in what prisons
they suffered, but all that will coiie
too late. One word in tho living ear Of
praise for their honesty and courage
will be worth to them more than mil
itary funeral two miles long. or pile
of flowers half mile high. and ten
bands Of music playing over the grave
Star Spangled Banner" or Way
Dovn South III Dixie"
Now. while they are in their dec!in-
ing years and their right knee refuses
to work because OF the rheumatism
they got sleeping on the wet ground on
the banks of the Chickamauga. or their
digestive organs are of ON firlougil
because of the six months OF prison life,
in wl,ic!, their rations were big slices of
noth;ng, and their ears have ,iever been
alert siuce the cannonade in which,
they heard so much they have been
able to hear but little since-in these
cas,s call upon the people OF liortl,
and soutl, TO substitute little ante
nuorte;n praise for the good deal OF
post luorten cu!ogiuln. These two gar
lands that | twisted for northern and
southern graves shall not be put upon
the gross Of the toilb until they have
fire encircled the foreheads Of tho liv-
ing. I will let the front Of the wreath
come down over the scar of a scalp
wound made by the sword of n cavalry
man at Atlanta, and droop little over
tho eye that lost it's lustcr in the mine
explosion ut Petersburg. Huzza for the
living! C;ula lilies and ca,nellias and
clnaTantlIs md palm branches for the
living
THEY KNOW.
But we must not detain the two gar
lands any longer from the pillows OF
those who, for q quarter Of century,
have been p-ostrate In drealnless. skiin-
Der, never oppressed by-su,nliics heats.
or chilled 10y winters cold. Foth ger
lands are fragrant Both liaNe In
them the sunshine and tile shower
Of this springtiine. The coaofs OF both
were mixed by him who mixed the blue
OF the sky, and the gold OF the sunset,
and the green Of the grass, and the
wilderness Of the snow crystal. And l
do not care which you put over the
northern grave and which over the
southern grave. Does any one say;
What is thc usei Mono of them will
know it. Your Decoration Days both
sides Mason md Dixonr line are great
waste of flowers" All! sec you have
Carried too far my idea that praise for
the living is better than praise fox the
departed. Who says that the dead do
not know of the ilowcrsi | think they
do. The dead are not dead. The
body sleeps, but tho soul lives and Is
unhindered.
No two cities on earth are In such
rapid and constant communication as
earth and heaven, and the two great
Decoration Days OF north and sonth
nre better known in realms celestial
than terrestrial. With what interest
we viat the place OF otlr birth and OF
our boyhood or girlhood daysl And
have tile departed no interest In this
world, where they were born and ran
so,ned, and where they suffered and
xiumplleda MY Bible does not posi-
lively say 80, nor does my cateclism
teach it, but my common sense declares
It. The departed do know, and the
hammered procession that marched the
earth yesterday 10 northern graves and
the hammered procession thar marched
6 ,rontt ago to southern graves, were
accompanied by two graulcr though
Invisible nrocessions that walked the
aIs-processions OF the assembled, pro-
cessions of the nartyred, professions OF
the sainted-an they heard the m:
the,ns of the churches and the salvo of
the batteries. aud they stopped down
to breathe the incense of tue flowers.
These august throngs gathered this
morning in these pews and aisles and
corridors md galleries arc insignificant
compared with the rnigistier throngs OF
heaven who mingle in this service Which
We rontIe- to God and our country
while We twist the two garlands. Hail,
spirits ,nultitudinous Hail, spirits biestl
IInil, ipartyred ones come down from
tue Kings palaces How glad we are
that you have come back again. Take
this kiss OF welcome and these gariaEds
Of "Reminiscences, .yc who languished In
hospitals or went down under the thun-
ders and tile liglitnings OF Fredericks-
burg and Cold IIarbor and Murfrees-