Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1895-06-07


beautiful observance OF Memorial Day
NAV place the flower OF thankful remcm
braucc on dead brothers grave or utter
a PRAYER for the veal of a living broth
er's heart.
Coming Just now from the place where
sleep the brave and where, too. so many
OF our people have laid away their dear
ones. coming thus from the homes of the
dead, hallowed bv the recollection OF
many a last mortal parting and hv the
loving and grateful memory OF noble
livcs.-and so recently engaged in the
inexpressibv beautiful rite of decorating
the graves ofpatriuts, with sorrow re
ucwed. with gratitude fostercd, with
hearts snttcucd. with minds susceptible
to the highest thoughts, we feel that the
most fitting theme at this occasion IS of
the boys in blue and oi their deeds, IN
freedoms cause, even rs the soldiers after
the battle, mayhap around the campfire,
hold converse of the fallen. We meet
today in remembrance oi those who took
their lives in their hands aud went torth
to battle in the time at their country
peril. Our ceremonies their
service. The observance of this day is
their memorial. Our words are but the
expression of yencratiun enduring III the
hearts OF grateful people. But they
need no memorial-epitaph, eulogy orr
monument. These are FOR the living,
guiding them to like patriotic service.
Our united country, great i'll its pros
peritv, great in its people, and great III
its future, is the monument OF their work.
Again and again, as the circllng years
shall bring MAY 3Oth ever anew, our
countrvmcn will gather i'll its reverent
observance, open their hearts to patriotic
sentiment, and looking upon the thin
ranks of veterans, once a mighty host,
and beholding the enduring memorial of
their work, will hold in contemplation
side by side the limitations of mortality
and the inhnitcncsS OF immortality. Men
die, but Gods truth lives. Patriots die,
and our national principles live because
| in the breasts of patriots there beats the
| lofty sentiment, so beautifully voiced i'll
the Battle Hymn of the Republic
''In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born
across the sea,
| With a glory in his bosom that transhEurcS
you and me;
| As he died to make holy, let us die to make
men free,
While God is marching on"
The annual ceremony of decorating the
graves OF dead comrades instituted by
! the G.. A. r., is most beautiful and cnnob-
| ling unto all who have within them the
| love of beauty and truth. 1t is a sacred
service--a holy custom, purifying and in
spring the heart of the participant as
PRAYER ennobeS the life of the worShiper.
Like the ancient Greek or Roman, whose
annual offerings at the graves of his dead
ancestors and whose reverence for the
spirits of the departed became vital
part of his religion, III Guiding his CharaC-
ter and governing his life, the q. \. r.,
today makes the observance Memorial
Dav vital part its institutiOnary life.
Its Importance can not be measured. Its
far-reaching influence upon our national
life now and hereafter can not be fully
conceived BY it the g. a. r., as an in
stitution, is ennobed. In it is revealed to
the country the same patriotic and de-
yotional spirit that gave victory to
union and freedom. BY it the individual
veteran comes again into the mysterious
presence of the spirit of death, or rather
into the presence of that divinity that
gives life for death, his heart strings are
touched by hand invisible and divine,
and his lite is attuned to a sweetcr and
purer harmony. He may feel that his
service was not i'll vain and may know
an inspiring hope that in a country 5
grateful memory the end OF time alone
shall limit the benefits of that service.
By this observance the youth of our land
have the highest objective lesson of pat
riOtism, and learn therefrom that to the
patriot in the field or forum will the great
American people ever devote enduring
honor.
Veterans ofthe Grand Army of the Re
public, today your thoughts 90 back to
the War of the Rebellion. Again YOU are
in the tedious camp, or on the tiresome
march, or again you fight in the thick OF
the battle, or languish in the rebel prison.
! Would that our COuntry'S youth bloom
ing in the freshness of newer life, and
Astounding in happy hope might accom-
pany you in your thoughts. Would that
they might see as You see and know as
you know the meaning of those days.
Those were great days i'll our country s
life, and they of the rising generations
who master the lessons of them will have
gained a rich knowledge Of American
citizenship. There are periods in a ma
tons history when the people absorbed
in selfish gain and iorgetful of political
duty and danger, leave to offCe-seekers
and demagogues the guidance OF state
Then patriotism seems to Slumber, and
men forget that eternal vigilance is the
price OF liberty" Such perhaps were the
days extending far before the civil war
But not such were the days of 81. Then
indeed was a time when men souls were
stirred to understand deeply the respon,
sibiltes of citizens and of men. and tC
claim duty and not selfish inactivity as
their portion. \ loyal people rose to 4
higher plane of life The great heart Of
our country throbbed with newer life
blood. Men of prophetic vision, Of giant
canoe of those DAYS, read from the stars
: of truth a great hope, and under tn,
: guidance of One who saw even more
+ clearly, they marshalled the hosts of thu
t north for victory. There were men who
: took up manfully the burdens and re
l sponsibilities of that time. These wer
' they who in camp, on the march, in bat
S tie or in prison bore their country's bur
: dens; and today having come out o
great tribulation they lnger with us il
small groups on the Isle of Time, or il
- larger numbers have sailed far away OF
# the shadowy Sea of Eternity. Thong
e the war is long past and its wound
i nearly all healed, yet it is part of on
d life today. The experiences of the ind
+ vidual become warp and wool of his be
e ing. The experiences of a nation grow
e into its future life. The energy of patr
V otto devotion accumulated in the days {
v the Rebellion is living force. 1t ca
n never be lost. The powers and prime
e. Piles then indicated are ours today. w
IS can not treat the war simply as a stor
r of the past. 1t is part of the present
al What it all meant is stronger in our Ian
n than ever before