The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1895-05-31

Out from the long past comes the
memory Of nameless soldier grave
and Of heart that broke because her
love was not. Out from the past come
the shadows OF numberless unknown
and named heroes, who gave their all
uf life TO pcrpetuate the union. In
the trying times OF strife and carnage,
when cannons belched and mnskets
flashed death everywhere, little mounds
Of earth sprung up in rows here and
there in the southland The memory
81 thesc lfao@n and unknown dead sug-
rcs;eG 'bc beautiful custom Of deco
rating the graves with the choicest
flowers OF spring. the practice pro
claiming to the children and children's
children forever that the deeds OF these
men who died for God and country
shall. be memorialized ms long as cour-
age rates as virtue
AS time passed members Of the army
Of veterans who returned to their
homes dropped out Of life. 80 that now,
besides the great national burial places
in the sonth. every cemetery Of the
north is hnllowed by the presence Of
sleeping soldiers. Wherever these
heroes lie flowers are taken at each re-
curing anniversary and placed as yo-
tive gifts upon every sacred altar
grave of liberty. History tells OF sky
piercing monoliths, of colossal statues
and artistic mausoleums erected to the
memory Of great captains of conquering
Armies, while thought-if thought
there was at all--of the hosts of com
mon soldiers who poured ont their life
blood for the glory OF these ehieftains,
was as q Citing fancy ut eventide. BAN
ished with its birth. 1t remained
for the American people. who govern
for themselves and are alone supreme,
to declare that the humblest life sacri-
feed in the cause of freedom is as
sacred as the penates of the household
las priceless as that Of the general
who barred his breast to death-dealing
bullets.
The problem of human government
must be sought to be solved by each
successive generation. Blessed is that
one which throws such added light that
the next one may discern with clearer
vision the working of the stillto-be-
solved question. The errors of peo-
ple-their discomfort and mistakes,
may sorely try the safety as well as the
perpetuity ofa government. The labors,
the pains and the sorrows of the soldier
army must ever serve as warning, as
entreaty, as encouragement and us
strength TO the living and their success
sors. Each returning Decoration day
teaches the lesson of the pricelessness
OF liberty and union.
For the soldiers who sleep and the
cause for which they died the wooded
dells are searched, the broad fields are
scanned and cultivated gardens are
stripped of their choicest gifts. Hail
the nation that honors its defenders,
dead and living, and let Decoration day
be and abide forever, holy day in the
nation. Time has softened the asperi-
ties of other days: the opposing pas
sions of men, whose differences were
based upon honest conclusions, have
been snbdued into respect and admira-
tion for the courage that stamped the
action of each in the trying times of
Infinite peril, and common country Is
the heritage of all. The custom of
decorating the graves is in no sense an
awakener of strife, hut a sublime trib.
ute TO exalted worth.
Tie once ensanguined fields of the
south are now icing turned over by
bright plowshares. and will presently
yield fair harvests TO the peaceful
workers; the voices of the mockingbird
md brown thrush I'LL with melody
the groves through which once passed
hostile armies. The sound of war is
heard no more in the land. and may the
memories and lessons of Decoration day
preserve an everlasting peace to the
nation. The one great baptism Of
blood should be efficient 10 the per-
petual sealing of the republic in peace
md harmony throughout the length
and breadth of the land.