The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-05-31
Che aahita 1ailu Eaele ghursdas 7ornig au s 1894.

speaks with vim aud enthusiasm and so
| rapidly at times that the pen OF the
steuographer could not record souie OF hl
best utterances.
| One or tic characterized his address
| thus: "Tne first half of il IVES the best
| Decoration Day address Rave ever heard
| and the last half was the finest Fourth OF
| July speech | expect to hear for many a
| day"
| The speakers voice was 10 splendid
snaps and his gestures We're simply elo-
quent. He swayed the immenss - udience
with magic effect and daring his
| climaxes he held the heart of every man
and woman present in his hand
| as 1t were. During the entire address
be remained apparently as cool as an icicle,
notwithstanding tue burning words lie
uttered.
He said that he came there not to widen
the chasm that separated the north and
the south for that was not the idea of the
celebration. He was somewhat surprised
tnat some one was not assigned TO his
position who participated actively IN the
great civil contest, but he supposed that
ne Was selected because he belonged TO
the generation that followed the war. He
said that while he regarded the Union
soldiers as the braveS5 that ever followed
| "A banner, he did not mean to detract from
the fame of the southern soldier. for III
| many hard fought field they demon
Strated themselves To be worthy OF the
valor of their loyal brothers OF the north.
He said that the IDEA OF Decoration Day
WAS tribute TO patriotism. 10y
atty and valo-. He said it was
fitting tn set apart day in memory of the
heroic Union dead that a grateful country
may come together IN memorial meetings
to speak of their deeds and perpetuats the
~. ,t.aAn i.I fo
lay down their lives for their country.
The foe fought for wrong cause but
fought bravely; you fought for the right
cause and because you were right you
fought with the yalor OF those who made
the name Of Thermopyiae famous through
out all time. Mr. Colt then lifted the
curtain OF the past and traced tue idea of
liberty involved in the recent war down
from the glorious days of ancient Greece
to the present time He recited the i'm
perishabie defense of L-onidas, the Spar
tan king, against NerXes of Persia and
said he and his famous band fought for
the idea that Grant and Sherman and
Sheridan fought for-liberty. He recited
the struggle the barons OF England
made for Magma Charta and their
final triumph over King John at
Runnymede. All this, he said, was for
the same idea-libertv. He then detailed
the struggles of the Puritans and followed
the various changes in time down to tie
Revolutionary war when Washington
plucked a continent from King George and
erected on it, the greatest monument TO
liberty ever conceived By the human nina
or executed by human power.
He said that the homes or liberty were
the homes of the great bene.actors and
geniuses of the world. 1t was one of the
little republics of southern Italy that gave
Columbus to the world aud il WAS there
he was inspired to discover a continent.
Dante and Michael Angelo were also the
children of nations shat loved and cher
ishsd liberty. He dwelt on the retorma-
ton and said the idea that eliminated in
t was generating III the lands OF liberty
for two centuries.
He thought 1t would have been a
glorious thing 10 march with the crusader
10 Rescue the sepulcher of our Savlou:
from the hands or the infidel as did God
Trey of Bouillon, the mirror of Knight
hood, Richard Occur de Lion the English
king and Friedrich Bar 1arossa the German
emperor, but iG would be more glorious
still. ia his opinion, to march with the
Union soldiers TO strike the shackieS or
bondage from millions of enslared human
beings. He then went on to give the
history OF slavery and showed remark
able knowledge on the subject. His
assertions were all historically correct and
many of them were new and quite inter
esIing.
He said the hearts of the liberty loving
people throughout the world thrilled ut the
brilliant campaigns of Grant, Sherman
AMI Sheridan and saddened when the arms
of the no: Tia suffered defeat. The cause of
liberty was in he balance and they watch
ed it with solicitude. He paid glowing
tribute To the heroes of the war aud the
bai ties they fought He deuominated the
BATTLES of Missionary Ridge and Lookout
Mountain AS the poetry OF the war and
compared the cattle of Fredericksburg to
Bala klava famed III song by Lord Jenny
son.
He paid a glowing tribute &c John Brown
and said that as IA patriot kossuth of
Hungary did not compare with him.
He said no country has produced men
who could not be eGualled in America,
and referred TO u ant as the hammerer,
Snerman as the sistaple, and Sheridan
AS The brilliant.
He said that he was not one of
those who cried ''Americ., for Americans. F"
He did not believe in that. He said Amer
lea should still continue 10 be the asylum
tor the oppressed of every nation. but that
when .hey came here they should he
taught to have but one flag, and that The
stars and stripes. He said That the English
language SHOULD be the only language
taught III the public schools, and regretted
tie fact that i'll some places the German
WAS Included in the curriculum. He be-
lieved in the language of Shakespeare and
other renowned scholars that be named.
He also said that no school house in the
land should be dominated by anybody but
the public, and did not except Catholics,
Lutherans, Methodists or Presbyterians.
Referring ID pensions. he bad no use for
the mercenary spirit that was moi
willing to reward the soldiers for saving
their country. He thought it was better
to pay $3.50. 10000 a year for rewarriing
the old soldiers than to pay 500ON.0O0
year for a standing army. He said that
Roms the mistress of the world, held the
sway of the empire las long as she honored
the valor of her sous, but when this spirit
died out IL fell prey to the sarbarians of
the north. America should profit by
the fate of Rome and honor the men who
saved it.
The speaker was interrupted several
times with applause and when he had con-
cluded his address people fiocked TO the
front of the stage TO congratulate him.
AT the end Of the auditorium exercises
a long procession Of soldiers and citizens
pl oceeded TO tae cemetery where honors
were paid the dead, both public and
private.
HARMON SPEAKS AT BENTON.