Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-06-01
In MEMORY OF
THOSE WHO FELL
Eloquent and Patriotic Address
by Hon. U. S. G. Pitzer
nAY 80, MEMORIAL DAY. 1870;

rlAY 80, MEMORIAL DAY, 1906
At Cir cen Hill Cemetery, Under ths
Auspices OF Lincoln Post No. I,
u. A. K.
Ladies and Gentlemen. and Members
of Lincoln Post No. i.
1t is always great pleasure to ad-
dress the old soldiersupon an occasion
like this. Not because it affords an
opportunity to uncover the dying EN-
bersof passion and sectional difference,
nor because it is pleasant in itself to
recall the days of strife and carnage
and death. 1t is pleasure because
it permits the introduction of practi-
cal lessons of patriotism and the man
Hesitation of gratitude and love to the
old war-scared veterans in blue, who,
IN the darkest and most trying epoch
of our history, defended the nations
honor, sustained and perpetuated her
institutions and made it impossible
for any system of servitude or slavery
to exist among her people.
Therefore, wien Spring has gar
landed the valley with roses and the
earth with profuse loneliness. aud has
opened the bud and unbound the icy.
fettered stream; when the skies are
bright and the birds are mating and
nesting, and all Nature responds to
the mandate OF the Supreme Father,
it is but meet and proper that com
rades should gather around the graves
ofcomrades who sleepin thequietude Of
death, and should scatter the fragrant
flower and drop the willing tear, on
their lowly graves. This scene is
duplicated elsewhere today. There
IS mourning throughout the entire
land, whilst under the Northern Star
under the Southern Cross, by rolling
stream andin the valley, in the busy
city, and III the obscure town, under
thehemlock and under the pine, thou
sands, yea, millions today strew flower
son soldiers graves and obser,e Me.
moral Day-soldier;, day-of remem-
brance, of reunion-of Renaissance.
| regret that on an occasion like
this, an address must be necessarily
brief. So, | shall only attempt to
sketch the past i'll rough colors, and
run over few Of the questions in
volved in the late war.
The early history of the nation. is,
or should be, familiar to every person
in this presence. Peopled by the
abused and down trodden, but deserv-
ing poor, Of the old world, who clear
ed away the forest ard penetrated be.
You'd the shadows, the growth and
development of the country was natur-
ally Slow, perilous, and at times, SEEM
ingly impossible. The native Indian,
protecting his own. often fendish in
his revenge. left the bones Of the ear
ly settlers family bleaching in the
wilderness, whilst the rigor OF a new
climate and iRte,niclne wranglings,
made the advance of civilization and
colonization, uncertain and discourag
ing. Still our forefathers persevered
They remembered their cruel treat
ment and their unhappy condition ii
the Old World, near thrones where
dnplicity was courted and practiced
among monarchs who best showed
their respect for what they termed the
common herd" by denying to the
poor the advantages OF education, b,
destroying the chastity their homes
by making them the SETS and serv
ants OF titled and efiete royalty
Our fathers knew that a new nation
WAS TO be born; that a new continent
would be dedicated to liberty and thai
from theirown Joins We uld spring fortl
mighty pre- geny of stalwart sons
who would preserve this new land
and create ard preserve an ASYLUM
here for the pers, Gated and deserving
Of the old world. The centuries rol
away am they toll on. The virgin
forests are cut away and dislnantlet
and by the singing stream and on the
rounded hill sides, the habitations o
man are erected, and towns grow in
10 cities, and fields wave with corr
and fruitase, and the people no Longer
dread the perils of the wilderness
They now cross the valleys and pen
citrate into the far interior, and undel
their own vine and fig tree, discus.
their condition and eoniure up the
past that wisdom and experience ma,
guide them i'll the future. They ar,
no longer children for sturdy you'll
is upon them, and they watch the az
fairs of the mother country with ieal
Gus eye. They are in no mood TO b,
trified with, and with righteous indig
nation they see old England stril
away their liberties, one by one
They must not manufacture their owl
g oods. They must not make thei
own ships, they must pay homag
to villainous governors, and delive
up their shillings for the support @
royalty. They must pay taxatio,
without representation. But only 70
while do they stand these discriipi
nations Tie pent-up patriotism o
the nation. shrill and clear as til
blasts of the tugle, is voiced by Vii
ginia's gallant son, and Patrick Hen
y fans into blaze the fury OF tn
whirlwind that hurls the red coat:
Of old England back to thei
own royalty-cursed shores, back t
the throne OF King George.
And then, my country men. com
meaced the war ior freedom. then be
gun the war for self-government. ]
ended not until the soil of This 1.e.r