The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-06-04

hungry, clothed the naked, and gave
homes to the homeless. We took the
victims of oppression from despotic
laws and set them in, the sunshine and
fresh air of American liberty We
gave so fair a field to all that the sons
of European peasants, with hundred
generations of heWers of wood and
drawers of waiter behind them, became
our chief rulers.
But in the midst of all this wondrous
growth and national graduer, shot
was suddenly fred which startled the
world. Slavery, which had been the
one dark blot upon our fair land, could
no longer endure the spread Of liberty;
so in an hour of frenzy her misguided
champions fred upon the flag of free
dom, and undertook to undo all our
forefathers had accomplished, and to
establish upon American soil an alien
government, and an alien flag. In an
instant, from mountain, prairie, hill
and valley, from village, city, hamlet
and plain, came the tread of armed
men, filled with the spirit of '76,
marching under the stars and stripes
proclaiming with voice mightier than
that OF many waters that to the end of
time there should in this land be but
one government and one flag, and that
government should be the government
established by their fathers, and that
! nag should be the flag of the American
union. The struggle that followed was
the greatest and costliest known in
ancient or modern times, but, ended in
the glorious triumph of freedom and
the right, and with the surrender of
Lee at Appomattox, notification, Sc
cession and human slavery found a
| common grave from which there will
be no resurrection. So the republic
| founded through the sufferings and
sacrifices Of our forefathers was made
forever secure by the valor and hero
4 ism OF their sons, and we may rest as
sured that nationYso conceived, dedi-
Ecated, established and redeemed. will
never perish from thu. face Of the earth.
a few years ago, visited for the
tirst time since the war, some Of the
battle fields of the South. To me they
were places of intense interest, but I
found that time had removed most of
the. evidences of the sad strife. Here
however you could trace the faint line
of rifle pit overgrown with briar and
bush. There you might see disman-
tied redoubt which once brave men
tried in vain to scale, but over which
now a child could climb with ease.
Yonder stood acluster Of rugged pines
whose stately trunks were scanned and
! fretted with ugly scars made by shot
and shell a quarter of a century ago,
and under the sombre shade and sigh
ing of their branches might be found
] the significant mound which marked
the last resting place of men who went
down to death in the storm of battle.
The cheering sunlight played hide and
seek through the deep foliage of the
trees, the birds sang with soft melody
and bright flowers of spring with quiet
grace kept watch over the dead
It was to me hallowed ground, and
as l stood where such deeds of heroism
had been performed, I could, in imag-
ination, recall the tragic scenes there
enacted. could again hear the clear
notes of the bugle awake the echoes of I
the woods. [ could see the vidette..
alert ard anxious as he watched for
the advancing foe. I could hear the
ominous shot of the picket warning of
the approaching storm. [ could see
the hurryingS sqadrons as they pushed
resolutely to the front. I could see the
nodding flags as the compact lines Of
Infantry came into view. I could hear
the heavy rumble of the artillery car
riages as they jolted over the rough
and narrow way. could see the
resolute faces of men, pale with ,ex-
element, but determined to do their
duty at any cost, and then, the crash
of arms, the roar of battle, the con-
fusion of sounds, the suppressed moan
OF Inc dying, Jne dead, the nasty
burial, the deserted field, and I said,
How terrible is war;
But when remembered that these
scenes had passed away like some
frightful dream, never again to be re-
peated; that the swords had been
beaten into pillow shares and the spears
into pruning hooks, that the birds now
build their nests in the silent lannon's
mouth; that goodwill and brotherly
love once more fill the land, I ex-
claimed, How great are the blessings
of peace. 3
Interesting as were these battle
fields, they did not speak to my heart
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