The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1894-06-08
DECORATION DAY.
IT'S ORIGIN AND PURPOSE.

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worlds history among the Greeks
and Romans is evinced by the fire.
quent allusions to the custom, to be
found among their writings. While
the sonnets of the early English
poets furnish abundant reference to
the beautiful custom. Shakespeare
makes allusion to it in several plays
and sonnets. Thus in Hamlet
Ophelia sing:
''Whte his should as the mountain snow,
Larded all with sweet flowers;
Which bewept to the grave did go,
With true-loves showers"
And in Cymbeline, Arviragus ad
dressing the supposed corpse of
Fidele, says
'sWhile summer lasts, -
And live here Fidele I'll sweeten thy sad grave.
Thou shalt not lack the flower, so like thy face
pale primrose,
Nor azure harebell-like to thy veins,
Nor leaf of eglantine, whom not to SANDER, out
sweetened not thy breath"
ITO fair Fideles grassy tomb
Soft maids and village lads shall bring
Each opening sweet of early bloom,
And rifle all the breathing spring.
The redbreast oft at evening hours
Shall kindly lend his little aid
With hoary moss and gathered flowers,
To deck ha ground where thou art loi1i
Each lonely place shall thee restore,
For thee the tear be duly shed,
Beloved till live can charm no more
And mourned till PHYS self be dead
The ancientS walked like our
selves, in the temple of Time, and
pondered upon the twin mysteries
of death and life. Not only did
they strew the bier and deck the
tomb with flowers, but they crown
ed the victor in the Olymian games,
with the same beautiful and per-
ishing emblems. The revival of
this custom in our day, and in our
land, dates from the close of the
civil war. To Mrs. Martha Kimball
of Philadelphia, belongs the honor
of having been the first to suggest
the setting apart of day dedicated
to the memory of our fallen heroes,
and to the strewing of their graves
with floral emblems. 1t was mainly
through her influence that General
John A. Logan was induced to
promulgate the famous order No. IL
and inaugurate Decoration Day.
General Logan wrote to Mrs.
Kimball concerning the day after
it's first observance 'I am confident
that it will never pass from the
remembrance of the American
people but will more and more
deeply ingraft itself into their
hearts. The flowers strewn over
the graves of the patriot dead give
birth to sentiments of love and OF
honor which bind the past, the
present and the future, in one con-
tinuous chain of admiration, that
the life and service of even the
humblest private. shall never be
forgotten"
Mrs. Kimball was one of those
devoted women who went to the
war as IA nurse. She has recently
died in Philadelphia and her grave
in Laurel Hill cemetery will be
visited today by delegations from
all the G. A. r. Posts of that city
Appropriate ceremonies will be held
there in the presence of thousands
of spectators, and the last rays OF
yonder sun will shine upon pyr-
amid of flowers placed there by
soldier hands in loving remem
brance of her who was the first tC
suggest this sacred day. The G.
A. r. Posts of Pennsylvania will
also build a handsome monument
over her grave in the coming
months, while her handsome resi-
dence in West Philadelphia will bt
converted into a home for aged vet
Grams and their wives. This is il
fulfillment of her often expressed
desire.
Over a quarter of a century has
past away since the close of tha1
great struggle for the establishment
of liberty throughout the land to al
the inhabitants thereof, and Gen
Logan's prophecy seems likely t.
be fulfilled. The veneration fol
Decoration Day, if l may be allowed
the expression, has increased witt
every succeeding year. 1t has be
come national holiday, which il
universally and patriotically OBJ
served. AS the ranks of the vet
Grams grow thinner and thinner will
each passing year, the Sons of Vet