The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-10-29

been and so 1t always will be; man may In ..
vent and contrive and plan, he may work
and fight, but at the beginning and ending
and all through his life, he leans upon the
''help meet for him, best type Of woman
hood, brave In peril, patient in suffering.
heroic In endurance, tender in sympathy,
loyal In affection, help mate and help meet
In very deed and truth.
No one can forget, for history never tires
Of repeating the story of woman's work Ia
the civil war. Money could not, money can
not buy such faithful service, for in every
town. In every village, and at every fireside,
In the great hospitals, all along the devious
thoroughfares, leading to the 'front.' on
transport and on train, in bivouac and
camp. even on the perilous edge Of battle;
wherever work was to be, done the worker
was ready to do 1t, and 1t was done.
Mothers gave their sons. wives their hus.
bands, maidens their affianced lovers, and
clutched at their hearts to stifie the throb-
bing, and pressed back their tears, and
farewell.
What wonder that the soldier sick or
wounded unto death. fancied in his delirium
that the face bending DER his pillow, scarce
ly distinguishable In his fading sight, was a
face OF some one dear to him at home; that
the gentle hand which ministered to him was
hand he had held in his. when he said
the last good bye.
Sweet, noble sisterhood Of charity, all
honor to those who are still among us. The
dead have gone to their reward the reward
Of the righteous; for to the stranger and the
prisoner and the hungry and the thirsty
aud the naked and the sick, they mlnstered
in the Masters name, and 1t Is written In
words which carry with them Eternal Hope
"lnasmuch as ye have done it unto one Of
the least OF these my brethren ye have done
Ii unto me-"
Comrades of the Grand Army of the Re
public, companions Of the Loyal Legion,
veterans OF the war, you are most welcome
here. This Is your long deserved, well earned
night of rejoicing. The men to whom this
your friends, your companions. all of them
were part OF the great loyal gathering of true
and tried patriots Of which you form part.
1t was inevitable that this monument should
rise In their honor and TO- their memory. IL
others may have hesitated you have not; If
others have doubted you have not; IL there
have been laggards you have been firm; IL
obstacles have arisen you have treated them
as you treated the abattis and the entrench-
ment viii b stood in your way, you have
pushed on. have broken them down, pushed
over them and planted the flag on the other
side. The thoughts of tonight bring back
the thoughts of quarter of century ago.
You areyoung again, the blood flows quick
and strong, tingling In your veins, the gray
hairs turn blonde and brown and black
again. Once more, even If 1t be for one brief
hour, the past comes back, what is petty and
mean Ia human existence vanishes In the
in war man Is tested by true standards and
valued for what he Is worth. You knew
these men, the living and the dead, and you
felt the touch of elbows and moved on to the
call of duty side by side. Can you forget the
free hearted life, proud and conscious of
right, sober and serious In its isolation,
bright and even merry In its choice and va
ried c0mpanionship life full of work and
full of worth dreary marches and comfort
less bivouacs. fierce engagements with some
t1f.nnc MI nd loE.-
ways hope; q life crowded with good and
bad, with jest and joke and good fellowship
and pain and sickness and mortal suffering
and death. You who survived recall 1t now
with pleasure and pride, and rightly so. be-
cause 1t was a school, in which ali that was
best and most beautiful and most generous
and kindest and brave and loyal came to the
front and put out OF sight with an irrevoca-
BILE verdict, the mean and sordid things of
life.
10 you this monument means much. NON
are honored by IL, it Is not your fault that your
names are on the roll Of the dead, for every
one who performed his part, took upon him
self the hazard. encountered the same
danger, was prepared for the same fate.
Honor and grateful remembrance to the
the dead. Equal honor to those who daring
to die survived
The war was in many ways a teacher, and
tha military and naval service a school.
Sometimes In the evolution Of national au-
tonomy and perfection Of national life, such
hard schooling Is necessary. 1t was neces-
sary from ,6l to '65. and all the sacrifices
North and South, were as nothing in the bal
ance against the Union of the States, this
Empire OF freemen. How little any of US
knew then OF our southern neighbors, and
now little they knew Of us. Ignorance, will
1ul Misrepresentation, arrogance, depre-
ciatlon, were barriers which could only be
carried at the point of the bayonet. To
Know OF Wnat stun men are made, they must
oe, not behind entrenchments, not at either
end OF legislative, executive or diplomatic
conferences. They must be out In the open,
within reach of each other, looking into each
others eyes. That was one OF the.things the
wal dia 1or you, comrades; you looked into
your adversaries eyes, and you found and
tney found 10 that death struggle, hand to
hand, that what was worth dying for was
worth living for. and that men who were
wiling to die were good enough to live.
90 TOO, you learned the power Of human en-
Cuiance ana became self-reliant and strong
ana you learned the necessity of subordina-
tion, the virtue of obedience, without which
gOou government Is not possible and SO Won
laid the foundation Of a higher citizenship.
Lutte py little knowledge came, and when
! tne Army passed in its last review and melt
= I'D away and disappeared, then began a new
2 : career Tor new nation, new aspirations.
pew progress aud new life.
3 ~ mas been considered somewhat anoma-
shas tne companionshp Of military ser
r | Ot. NosoiOpo Tue more amlaOl0 traits
a q coharacter COZ us rather natural for real
t6anl9asa IvPna mean, soSd fellowship and
Some. pain. The pranks and isssa and and
a and TIP stories and songs :of ths blyouac
= @ wearing rinsamp =. soon drove out Of mind the
agony osaba 81 tne arch or the short but sharp
o pleasant epsodes az wha, ha tnelr nell bright and
can now, They kep the o bsapt .pte yOnns 70 ne
: Long may Sn meet ts,etber 70 sseps "a ofd
= jests, waiting WITH the tn ,augn at tne old
r a true soldier fofthe last 'ls opeuiencS . Sa VI
Taps, put out tl lights. sr That ~ u Iao to 16s BE-
! the faithful soldier Who closes rs al, Dns