The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-05-26
BEAUTIFUL ARLINGTON.
The Sacred Spot Where slumber Thou
sands of Our Loyal Dead.

bhiOs Va W.T. Loyal Dedus
Nor shall your glory be forgot
While Fame her record keeps
Or Horror points tie halowcd spot
Where Valor proudly sleeps.
-O'Hara
Arlington holds within her emerald bos
ON $4,000 heroes. Likean Egyptian queen
in nlourful majesty, gazing ON the eternal
waters of the Nile, Arlington rears her re-
mantle head to the sky and battles her feet
In the murmuring waters of the Potomac
Tie gnarled oak, the cedar and signing
pine echo back the cry of the raven and the
song of tie wild bird, and through the
morning sunlight and evening twilight the
various voices Of nature chant requiem
over the moldering remains of our loyal
dead. This sacred spot is dedicated to hero
ism Its greensward shall be the mauso-
leum of patriotic hearts, its dome the bend
ing heavens and its altar candles the watch
ing stars Of God
As the years glide away and coming CEN
turtles usher into life millions of human
beings Arlington shall be q mecca for the
unalterablc principles of truth, and around
its undulating wales and green hillocks the
spirit of love and loyalty shall kneel at the
vespers of nationality and swing perfumed
censers at the holy shrine Of prayer and pa
triotism
Monuments of marble, granite and bronze
lift their modest or pretentious heads, ap-
pealng to the memory of those who wan
der near the lowly bed where valor sleeps,
but when these emblems Of love and re-
membrance have crumbled into impalpable
dust the truth for which they died shall
shine out like tina rising sun and be as last
ing as eternity.
The home of romance and wealth has be-
come at last the sepulcher of the dead, and
the laughing, musical voices of the proud
past are but memory in the columned
| mansion of General Lee. Sheridan of the
army and Porter of the navy sleep their
last sleep in front of Arlington mansion,
and the stars and stripes floating from q
tall staff throws its glinting shadows over
the heroes that rest below. Long, regi-
mental lines of white headstones fade away
into forest vistas, and Sheridan Seems to
ride again down the valley Of Winchester
to turn retreat into victory. Tempted, UNI
like the Roman Pantheon, its divmities
are dedicated to patriotism, and its wor-
shippers are a Christian people From it's
columned porch the eye beholds to the east
and north, across the Potomac, the man
sions, temples, steeples, domes and monu-
ments of Washington city and Georgetown
framed in by the rolling hills of Maryland.
The brave hearts that sumber forever at
Arlington, as well rs those dear comrades
at Shiloh, Chickamauga, Fredericksburg
and Gettysburg, dedicated their lives to
| liberty and immortali4ed their devotion by
death Who will care for their loved
mounds when we are gomez Who will then
strew roses aud plant bright flowers in the
Maytime of nature? Other patriotic hands Of
brave men and fair women will take up the
roll of duty, and even when all but liberty
has persisted from the earth the robin and
the bluebird, the jay and the hooking bird
| will MARBLE at sunrise a reveille over the
| green sod that wraps their sacred clay. Ma
ture herself will deck the graves of our fall
en- comrades, and the winds Of heaven will
chant requiem to their memory and kiss
the loved spot where heroes sluraber.-
Washington Post