St. Landry democrat., 1891-06-27
HONOR THE DEADHEROES
DR.. TALMAOE breaches ON
DECORATION DAY.
esnr1ands to tho Heroes of the Nortg.
and South, and to the Heroines
and Young Heroes Who
Remained at Home.

Just what my text meant by tho Nortl
and south, cannot say, but in the United
, States the two words are so point blank il
their meaning that no one can doubt. They
mean more than East and West, for al
though between those two last there hay,
been rivalrles and disturbing ambition.
and infelicities and Silver Bills ano
Worlds Fair CONT OVERSEES there have been
between them no batteries numbered, nc
entertainments dug, no long lines Of sepul-
chrsl mounds thrown up. 1t has never
been Massachusetts Fourteenth regiment
against Wisconsin Zouaves: it has never
been Virginia Artillery against Mississippi
Rifles. East and West arc distinct words
and sometimes may mean diversity ofintcr-
cst, but there Is no blood on them. They
can be pronounced without amy information
OF Wail'ng and death -%roan. But the North
sad the south are words that have been sur
Il with Tragedies. They are words
wnlch hu7 Isl LtIat for forty years the clouds
had been gathering for II four years tempest
| which thirty years ago burst into q fury
that shook this planet rs 1t has never been
! shaken since 1t swung out at tho first worlH-
building. | thank God that the words
nave lost some OF the intensity which they
possessed three decades ngo; that vast
multitude OF Northern poo Die have moved
South and vast multitude OF Southern
| there have been intermarrlayes by I,e
ten thousand and Northern colonies
| have harriet the daughters of Southern
captains. and Texas rangers have united
for life with the daughters of New York
nnoitonis's and their children arc half
Northern and half Southern and altogether
! patriotic. But North and South arc
words that need to be brought into still
| closer harmonizaton. | thought that now
| when We are half way between Dresidcn-
| tlal elections and sectional animo,ities arc
ut the lowest ,bh and now Just after
| presidential Journey. when our chief mag
| 1strate. who WAS chiefly elected by the North.
las been cordially received at the South,
and now just after two memorial
| days, one of thu III Il month ago a.
ing movers on southern sr.,e, anal the
other yesterday ,.ln"lny flowers Oh North
crn graves, it mi :ht be appropriate and
useful for me to preach u sermon which
would twist two gnrland<, one for tho
Northern dead and the other for the South
ern dead, and Lave the two nterlocked i'm n
chain OF flowers that shall bind forever the
| two sections into one; and who knows but
that this may lie the day when the prophecy
OF the text, made In regard to tho ancients
may he fulfilled in regard to this country
and the North give up its prejudices and
the South keep not back its confidence.
But before put these garlands on the
graves, mean to put them this mornlug
little while on the brOws Of the living men
and women OF the North and South. who
lost husbands and sons and brothers during
the civil strife. There Is nothing more
soothing to u wound than cool bandaye,
and these two garlands are coil from tho
night dew. What morning that was on
the banks OF the Hudson and the Savannah
when the son was to start for the WIZ! What
frthrriy and moth"rly counsel! WHAT tears
w .,.t heAi t-1Tcak>! " nat cha ,,es 10 via
homo often! What litslo keepsakes put
away In the knapsack or the bundle that
was to be exchanged for the knap,xck! Tho
crowd around the depot or steamboat land
Ing shouted, but father and mother and
sister cried. And how lonely the house
seemed after they went homs and what an
awfully vacant chair there was at the
Christmas and Thanksgiving table! And
after The battle. what waiting for news.
What suspense till the long lists Of killed
and wounded were made out.
Al along tho Penobscot an
tho Connecticut and the St. Law
James and the Albemarle and the Alabama
and tho Mississippi and tho Sacramento
there wore lamentation and mourning and |
great VICE. Rachel weeping for her children |
and refusing to be comfortcd because thy |
were not. The world has forgotten it, but |
father and mother have not forgotten 1t. |
They may he now in the eighties or the !
nlnetio<, but it in Il fresh wound and will al |
ways remain fresh wound. Coming down |
the steep OF years the hands that wouiu |
have ttcadted those t0ttoring steps have |
been tWeniy-elght years folded into the lat |
sleep. The childlessness, tho widowhood,
the orphunage. who has mcasuring-l line
depth OF it, tho infinity Of 1t? Whit \
mountain, what an Alps, what HimaIayah
of pilcd-np agony of bereavement in the |
simple statement that three hundred thou
sand men OF the North were slain and five
hundred thousand men of tho South were
slain, and hundreds of thousands long
through the eXhaustions there |
suffered, going down to death!
l detain from the top of the tomb these
two garlands that am twisting for little
while that may with Them soothe the brow
Of the living. Over the fallen the people
raid: "Poor fellow! What pity he
should have been struck DOWN. We did
father! Poor mother! Poor wife! Poor
ehld!' and so say it now. Haye you
realized that by the wholesale massacre
hn"1rcds OF thousands OF young people 1T
a'e North and the South have never hal
any chance! We who are fathers stand be-
; Tween our children and the world.
We fight the'~ battles, we plan
'or t.tcir welfare, we achiey.
heir livelihood, we give them the nd
Tlce OF our superior years. Among tue |
richest blessing. of my life | thank God
hat my father lived TO fight my battles UNI
IL | was old enough TO fight for myself. /
Have you realized the fact that our CIVIL
war pitched out upon the farul-tields of the
forth and the plantations of the South
multitude that no man can number, chill
lren without fathcrly help and protection2
Under all The advantages which we had of
.atherly guidance, what \ struggle life has
,"cn to the most OF us! But what of the
children, two and five and ten years Of age,
Who stood at their mothers lap with great.
ound, wondering eyes, hearing her read
Il those who persisted in the battle Of tho
Wilderness, their father gone down
mid the dead host? Come, young men and
women who by such disaster have had to
make your own way III life, and | will put ]
he garland on your young and unwrinkie,i
row. Yes; you have had your own NAL
ern Hill and your own South Mountain
nd your own Gettysburg all along these
wenty years. Come! And, II / cannot
pare whole garland for your brow, Twill
wist in your locks at least two flowers,
nc crimson and one white, the crimson for |
he struggle Of your Life which has almost
mounted to carnage, and the white for the
ictory you have gained.
Before l put the two garlands am
visiting upon the Northern and Southern
ombs, detain the garlands o little while
hat may put them upon the brow of the
wing soldiers and sailors Of the North and
onth, who though in variance for long
nile, are now at peace and in hearty 10y I
lty to the United States government and
eady IL need be to march shoulder to
boulder against any foreign foe. The