The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-05-31

patience, wisdom GOODNESS and unset
| fish patriotism of General Washington
and our revolutionary forefathers were
rewarded by the grateful prayers ant
blessings of a free people.
Thus it was the soldiers of our coun.
try gave to us the American union. We
shall see how in later years they also
| saved to US the self same union.
THE LAST GREAT STRUGGLE.
Omitting special reference to the war
with England of 1912. and the war with
Mexico of 1916, both of which had their
heroes, whose graves should be kept
green with tender care still gazing
down the years, let us listen to the
eloquent words of Colonel Ingersoll in
his Vision of the Civil War"
THE past arises before me like a
! dream. Again we are in the struggle
for national life. We hear the sound of
| prepare tion-the music of boiSterouS
| drums-the silver notes of heroic bu-
giles. We see thousands of assemblageS
and hear the appeals of orators; we
see the pale cheeks of women and the
flushed faces of men; and in those as
senfblages we see all the dead whose
dust we have covered with flowers.
We lose sight of them no more. We
are with them when they enlist in the
great army of freedom. We see them
part with those they love. Some are
walking for the last time in quiet,
woody, places with the maidens they
adore. We hear the whisDerings and
the sweet VOWS of eternal love as they
lingeringly part forever Others are
bending over cradles, kissing babes
that are asleep. Some are receiving the
blessings Of old men. Some are part
ing with mothers who hold them and
press them to their hearts again
and again and say nothing. Kisses
and tears, tears and kisses-di-
vine mingling of agony and love. And
some are talking with wives and en-
deavoring with brave words, spoken in
the OLD tones, to drive from their hearts
the awful fear. We see them part we
see the wife standing in the door with
the babe in her arms-standing in the
sunlight sobbing-at the turn of the
road a hand waves-she answers by
holding high in her loving arms the
child He is gone, and forever. We see
them all as they march proudly away
under the Haunting flags, keeping time
to the grand wild music of war march
ing down the streets of the great cities
through the towns and across the
prairies-down to the fields of glory,
to do and to die for the eternal right.
We go with them, one and all. We
are by their side on all the CORY fields
i'm all the hospitals of pain-on all
the weary marches. We stand guard
with them in The wild storm and under
the quiet stars, we are with them be-
tween contending hosts, unable to
move, with thirst the life ebbing
slowly among the withered faaves. We
see them pierced by balls and torn
with shells, in the trenches of the forts
and in the whirlwind of the charge,
where men become iron, with nerves
of steel. We are with them in the
prisons of hatred and famine; but
human speech can never tell what they
endured We are at home when the
news comes that they are dead We
see the maiden in the shadow of her
first sorrow. We see the silvered head
of the old man bowed with his last
grief. The past rises before US and we
see four millions of human being gov
erned by the LASH we see them bound
hand and foot; we hear the strokes
of cruel whips; we see the hounds
tracking women through tangled
swamps; we see babies sold from the
breasts of mothers-cruelty, unspeaka-
blel Outrage infinite! The past rises
before us. We hear the roar and
Shrek of the bursting shell. The
broken letters fall. We look. Instead
of slaves we see men and women and
children. The wand of progress
touches the auction block, the slave
pen, the whipping post, and we see
homes and firesides and school houses
and books, and where all was want
and crime and cruelty and fear we see
the faces of the free. These heroes
are dead. They died for liberty-they
died for us. They sleep in the land
they made free under the flag they
rendered stainless under the solemn
pines, the sad hennlocks, the fearful
willows and the embracing vines. They
sleep beneath the shadows of the
clouds, careless alike of sunshine or of
storm, each in the windowless palace
of rest. Earth may run red with other
wars-they are at peace. In the midst
of battle. in the roar of conflict they
found the serenity of death. l have
one sentiment for soldiers living and
dead-cheers for the living; tears for
the dead,
UNION FOR EVER"
While it is here intimated that the
war was caused by slavery, and that
the soldiers fought for the emancipa-
ton of a race it will be remembered
that slavery was not the direct original
cause of the war but secession. Our
states are sovereign and have a right
TO secede when they think they have
was the southern view. You
are a part of the Union, which forms
but one nation and to break UP that
Union is rebellion was the northern
answer. But the passions excited by
the bitter debate over the question of
slavery lay at the bottom of the strug-
gle Neither side dreamed of the long
and bloody conflict that was to fol-
low Each expected to settle the mat
ter in two or three battles. Both found
out what stubborn work it was to
fight against Americans.
Union forever was the inspiring
battle cry that buoyed the soldiers on
many cherries march and renewed
their courage for many a stormy bat
tie. 1t is q sorrowful story the history
of our country unfolds from the time
the first gun was fired on Fort Sumpter
in April, 1861, to the disarmament of
the armies in the summer of 1865.
Then flowed as river the best blood
of our nation and Rachels by the tens
of thousands were found weep
ing for their children because they
were not. In these times of peace
and plenty we are prone to think
but little at what terrible cost of pre-
cious life and property we now enjoy
them. FROM OIIlcldl reports the HuIIl-
Der of those whose lives were sacri-
feed in the great conflict was S51,674.
THE WORDS OF LINCOLN.
But if we shudder at those enormous
figures let US read again the words of
the immortal Lincoln and draw COM
fort from his inspiring philosophy. At
his second inauguration near the close
of the war he said:
"On the occasion corresponding to
this, four years ago, all thoughts were
anxiously directed to an impending