Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1893-05-26

g1f:W "A ESLJ fitting that our
49, S+>sA (Sl thoughts turn
2se----NsAsS backward, and,
pi n
through the gloom, bitterness and woe
that lie at the roots of resurrected
nation, bring up into the air and sun
light the fruition of its sorrow.
The poignancy of our grief for the
dead has passed and Memory, be-
loved guest, stands to-day by the grave
which hides their mortal part. Their
better, nobler presence has risen above
death. 1t breathes in every anthem of
liberty, and is voiced in the gratitude
of people redeemed from bondage.
Year by year the past is hallowed by
more sacred ties. New mounds in the
churchyard are added to the number
that mark the resting place of our
heroic dead, and fewer blue-coated
veterans march to the sound of solemn
music, to lay the tribute of laurel and
myrtle, symbols of glory and immor
tality, on the graves of those who have
passed beyond earthly roll-call. 4 few
more years, and not one viii be left of
all that host that marched beneath
watching and suffering for their coun-
try. Yet this day will be forever cele-
brated, the holiest of our holy days.
Our nation hresi When its foes who
sat in the splendors of lingly courts,
and under the shadows of thrones,
viewed it, as it lay PROSTATE, they
were glad, that ''self government had
proved a failure" and eyes grown
weary with watching for the unrisen
sun of liberty, in that older world
across the blue Atlantic. wept for what
seemed our dissolution. Then mira
Gle was done, mighty and solemn. Sol
diers poured into the veins of the dy-
ing nation their own life-blood, and
revivified it. Scared and wounded it
arose, gathering new strength from
every sacrifice of its brave sons, new
dignity from the sorrow of its no less
brave daughters.
We come to-day, one people, united
by the hot blows of the stern workman,
War. as the smith YIELDS on his anvil
sundered bits of metal into one homo
geneous whole. We cover the scars with
the beauty of the spring time, beauty
born of storm and stress and winter
days. The hands of little children, the
future nation-mal6ers, bear the fra
grant tokens, the trembling hands of
gray-haired nation-savers, that once
grasped sword and muslSet on bloody
and hard-fought fields lay them over
the sacred dust, a decoration before
which the jeweled trophies on the
breasts of monarchs pale.
Above the fitting altar of freedom,
the soldiers grave, the coming and the
passing generation look into each 9th
er's eyes. Remember Gettysburg, An
tietam, Shiloh, the Wilderness! Re-
member the camp and the field, the
shot and saber stroke" says the veter-
an. Remember the flag for which we
fought, the principles for which we
contended!'' Forever" goes up
shout which echoes from ocean to
ocean. "Remember, too, the heroes to
whom Liberty turned not the face that
she wore to us. They fought for their
country and for it they fell. Patriotism
led them not in the paths which we
trod, yet as Americans we can look
back upon their splendid courage, and
be proud that we had foemen worthy of
our STEEL
Sometimes, when volcanic fires have
burned themselves out, nature covers
the yawning craters with snow, and
from it the sunlight strikes such beau
tv that men forget the deso1ation that
once reigned there. 1t is thus with our
past The craters are healed with
snow, the wounds are covered with
flowers, and the souls of the slain must
-. L. ,1,~, g aAO
that they did not die in vain, and those
who offered their all in the cause of
Freedom, and lived to see the glorious
issue, may rest assured that the lesson
of their courage has not been lost.
There is a past that is the dead
past" for in it is no seed of truth and
beauty. Our past is living, for its
struggles made our strength, its desc
lation our fullness, it's dissension our
unity. Our wars have not been for
material things, for territory, wealth,
possessions, but the ideal of repub-
lie has ever been our guiding star.
When the proud civilization of the
strongest kingdom of the world poured
its might of arms upon us our infant
nation, like young David, girt with
the power of righteousness, the repub-
lie defeated and humbled it. When
again our ancient foe would have
crushed US we ''smote and spared not"
and the ages paused astounded to wit
ness it; but world-old traditions were
set at naught, when we vanquished
our dearest foe-the enemy nourished
at the breast of the same mother,
warmed at the hearth-fre of the same
I
hands in friendship.
Like brothers and sisters made mu-
tually dearer by mistakes and differ
ences, the north and south are all the
more closely bound in the ties of fam
lily love- We do not say forgive and
forget" The atonement has been |
made in the blood of our bravest and |
best. We would not forget if we |
could, we could not if we would.
Lou V. CHAPLIN.