Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-05-30
IN RLINGTON CEMETERY.

all prisoners of war had an offer to do. In this
great conflict $4,000 federal soldiers went
down, but they went down, thank God, to hon.
ored graves.
such patriotism, such bravery. such en-
durance, such obedience, such self-sacri-
fee, such adherence to principle, such love
of country, and such devotion to the unseen
are unparalleled in the history OF the world.
These soldiers followed Grant and Sherman and
Sheridan and Hancock from Forts Donaldson
and Henry to Vicksburg, and from vicksbnrg
to Atlanta, and from Atlanta toward the north
again, and finally to Richmond and to Apo
mattox- They cut in two the greatest rebellion
of modern times if not of all ages and gave us
one flag instead of two, and gave us also a
united country from the surges of the Atlantic
to the sunset sea, whose waves make music in
the golden sands of California.
"On the Boston Common is q costly granite
monument, on which read and from which I
copied this description: TO the men of Boston
who died for their country upon land and sea
in the war which kept the Union whole. de-
stroyed slavery and maintained the Constitu-
ton the grateful city has built this monument,
that their example may speak to coming gen.
erations'
my friends. that monument and inscription
are expressions of trne patriotism, and that is
the feeling that should be expressed by all
Americans toward not only the dead, but the
surviving soldiers of the war for the Union. II
l mistake not the indications of the present,
act toward them after a few more generations
shall have come and gone.
LINcoLNs WORDS.
''The immortal Lincoln-and let me sayright
here, it makes no difference how high on the
pyramid of American statesmen and patriots
the names Of other great men may stand all
unbiased persons will admit that the name of
Abraham Lincoln stands pre-eminently above
all the rest. The immortal Lincoln in his great
speech at Gettysburg expressed in language
that seemed to be on fire and is blazing yet
that sympathy and love which should be cher
ished within the breast of every true American
when he said: 1T is for us, the living, to dedi-
cate ourselves to the great work which our SOL
diers, living and dead, have so far so nobly
advanced. 1t is for us, the living, to conse-
crate ourselves to the work remaining to be
done, that from the graves of these heroes We
take increased devotion to the cause for which
the dead soldiers of the republic gave the last
full measure of devotion; that we here highly
resolve that these dead shall not have died in
valni that this Union, under God, shall have a
new birth of freedom, and that government of
the people, by the people, for the people shall
not perish from the earth
Fellow citizens, more than any other one
thing patriotism constitutes the state. From
1861 to 1866 our citizen-soldiers were the
state. IL was not the powers here at Washing
ton, during that dark period, that were the
government. 1t was the soldiers in the field.
lhey we're the state. High-raised battlements
or thick, massive walls or proud cities or starred
and spangled courts do not constitute a state;
but proud, noble men-men who know their
rights, and knowing dare maintain them; men
VINO back the sovereign law and are loyal to its
teachings; men who will crush the tyrant while
they rend his chains, and if necessity require
II, offer themselves as a sacrifice for their coun-
try good and glory. These constitute state.
Such were our citizen-soldiers in the late war
for the Union. Those of them that are vet
alive are the nations wards, and a grateful
people will see that they are cared for, because
they were participants in the greatest war of
history.
My countrymen, we rejoice TODAY over a
united nation. 1t was Prentiss who said: 4
can stand by the far-away Penobscot and say
my countrymen- i can stand by the ripping
waters Of Lake Erie and say my countrymen
can stand under the shadows of the Rocky
mountains and say my countrymen, and here
beside the father Of waters can saw nv eoun-
trymen! So, standing here today on the sum-
init OF these historic heights, while the Poto-
mac river, ever memorable as the name of one
OF the divisions Of our great army, sweeps by
Its base On its ever wandering way to the sea,
and the nations capital, with its domes and its
spires and its ninarets and its monument to
the father OF his country, towering above all
other stone monuments on the earth-here in
this historic, this magnificent presence l can
say with Prentiss, Ny countrymenr Our citi-
but IKE the patriotism of our soldiers, living
and dead, 1t has the majestic sweep Of the con-
tinent-
THE ORIGIN OF DECORATION DAY.
Decoration day was first instituted upon
the motion Of Aristides the Just in the Athe-
mean senate, shortly after the great battle of
Platea. Thucydides, in his history of the Pei
loponlsis, gives us q brief report of a decora-
tlon-day address delivered by Pericles, the ora
tor, more than 1000 years ago. The graves of
the heroes Of Marathon and Salamis and Plat@a
were strewn with flowers precisely as YOU have
covered these graves today, generations. ave
centuries, before the beginning of the Chris
tan era.
This ceremony does the dead no good. but
1t educates the living, and instills into the
respect for the brave and manly virtues Of
their heroic ancestors. The classic literature
OF Greece Is the natural outgrowth of the
martial glory of her people. They refined
every true and honorable sentiment that could
adorn human nature in their day. and by it
created an imperishable record. Their patri-
otism, therefore. can never be Justly cues
toned, and better than all they loved their
fellow men. So il may be said Of the educated
Romans After Pompey and Cesar had fought
terrible battle, Cato. as he looked upon the
bleeding bodies of a thousand dying Romans.
covered his face with his hands. and weeping
loudly exclaimed: Though they were enemies
they were my countrymenn So. too, it NAV
be said OF us. Although the confederates were
our enemies they were both our brothers and
our countrymen. and quarter of o century of
time, after the smoke from the last battle field
Of the republic sscended to the sky has driven
from our hearts the last vestige of hatred that
was engendered by the war
".No more shall the war-cry sever
Or the winding rivers be red;
They Danish our anger for ever
When they laurel the graves Of our dead
~
tended over a period Of four Years, caused
more lavish expenditure Of money and called
into the field larger forces of men and arms
than any other war of modern times. The
fighting was desperate on both sides, and Off
GERS and soldiers exhibited courage and Prov
ess equal, II not superior, to any hitherto on
record. The war began with slavery in the as
eendant with cotton ruling the commercial
world, the south boastful and defiant and the
governments Of Europe predicting the speedy
downfall Of the American republic and its d.
vision into petty provinces and dominlons. 1t
closed, thank God, with slavery effectually
abolished, the nations Of the world freed from
their thraldom to the southern staple the
south humbled, and though somewhat sullen,
yet improving In temper, and the European
governments ready to acknowledge the power
OF republican institutions to pass through an
ordeal which would have involved in ruin MANY
OF the older and supposed stronger govern
ments Of Europe.
1T Is said that no nation becomes secure
without three wars, and it is pleasing thought
that we have had ours. The frst was for indie
Pendense, the second was to justify ourselves