Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-06-09
MEMORIAL DAY GRAFTON.
Delivered by U. S. g. Pifzer. at Berk-
eIey Springs, May 80. 1904.

meu, and Members of George d
Summers Post.
always esteem it pleasure and al
honor to speak to the Boys in Blue,
and SO to-day, l have laid aside the
routine work of my profession, to be
come n of your number-one Will
you to strew the graves of your s'eep
ing soldiers and comrades. and beal
testimony with you totheir worth ane
patriotism. We are not alone in these
devotions. The North, South, Easl
and West join hands with us. and the
lowly mounds by the sea, and on the
hillside and down in the meadow
land and close by the murinurine
book, are covered with t~ear-stained
flowers, placed there by the tender
hands of synpathizing women, and
the loving, trembling hands of gray
haired time bent comrades.
This is no ordinary occasion. Fol
nearly three years you, survivors oil
Geo. D. Summers Post, marched and
calnped, sorrowed and joyed together.
Unitediy, after the tide OF battle had
exhausted itself. you shed your tears
over your fallen comrades and shout
ed your victories. Your chains OF
friendship were forged in the heat OF
battle by the heavy blows Of a COM
mon Toe. Your hearts are cemented
by the blood OF those who fell Over
a quarter OF a century has passed away
you stacked your guns and re-
turned in honor to your homes. The
peaceful pursuits OF life have engross-
ed your attention, but have not cor
roded or weak ned those chains oil
iriendship. To-day, after SO long a
time,you again fall in line, summoned
together, not by the alarm OF the long
roll, but by the sweet notes awakened
by the vibrations OF the cord OF friend
ship and memory
We have met to day to pay homage
to the memory OF our soldier dead, to
give tribute to their virtues, and to
extol American patriotism loyalty and
valor. Ours is the falTest and great
est land upon which the sun ever
shone. The nations OF the past, with
their varied forms OF government, en-
li2htened by great minds, rich in
classic lore, proficient in the arts and
sciences, had made some advances to-
ward popular government. But it was
Tor the wisdom of our forefathers to
lay the foundation and erect the state
ly edlfice OF Republican government.
1t was for them to teach imperial
haughtiness that "all men are created
free and equal" so far at least as
liberty and right are concerned, and
that across the blue, bounding pillows
OF the old ocean, there was to be no
''crooking of the pregnant hinges OF
the knees, that thrift might follow
fawning."
Under the systems OF government
prior to the rise of the American re-
public, the MIGHT OF the few, was the
WILL OF the many. Monarchs nodded
and men languished in prison, had
their property confiscated, or died at
the stake. The people" were a COM
mon herd, ruled by effete and change
able despots-drlven, as the leaves OF
the forest by the autumn winds. True,
now and then feeling their God-given
right to be free, burning within them,
they have burst their shackles, thrown
off their yokes and hurled their OPP
pressors from power. But the adj
vantage and the privilege thereby
gained, were only temporary, and the
next ruler to ascend the thone, but
added to their insult and misery. How
often in the history Of these nations,
have the people revolted against the
established government, as they did
against Charles l, only to suffer
greater h%ardships at the hands of a
Charles II, or a George III
Greece enjoyed her freedom when a
Demosthenes Numbered from the
forum, but it was soon swept away by
the grasp:ng, inordinate ambition OF
an Alexander or Philip. There was d
time when to be a Roman was greater
than a king, yet history teaches us
that at that very time Rienza could
truthfully eXclaim 1--WE are slaves.
The bright sun rises to his course and
lights a race of slaves. He sets and
his last beam falls on a slave"
Therefore, as l have declared, the
liberties of the people under the gov
erninents prior to the Declaration Of
independence, were insecure and un-
stable, the playthlngs of kings and
despots. They struggled for rights,
only to have them swept away when
ann ro,t1u moot ar.r W. I,,.1 =.