Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1897-06-10
"THE UNION SOLDIER. y
Memorial Address Delivered by Hon.
r. c. Richmond. at Mineral Point,
Monday. June 81. 1897.


life and limb, and all that man holds
dear: to those who gave their lives
that. In this land of ours, the freest
government founded yet by man should
live to bless the world: TO those who,
though survivors OF the greatest fra
tricidal strife to history known, yet
bear about upon their persons evidence
of dangers braved, of duty well per-
formed, of victory nobly won: to those
who are honored In the name they
bear--the soldier of the union.
We dedicate this hour to them and
gladly pay our tribute of affection,
gratitude and admiration.
We dedicate this hour to them, and
in these simple services recall the mem
cries OF the time when freedom came to
those in bondage, light to those In
darkness, and real liberty to land
now destined to be u beacon light to
the worlds down-trodden and OPP
pressed.
We dedicate this hour to them, and
in simply speech would tell just who
they were and are, would tell their
deeds, would speak their praise and
voice n nations gratitude for what
they did.
The true man admires the brave and
honors the heroic. A great nation
will always hold sacred the memory OF
its defenders.
Among all great people the patriotic
sentiment IL strong. Love OF country
Is deep and abiding. In n sense II in
cludes all other loves. AZ n sentiment
more than that, M II passi0nit ~
woven into the literature and becomes
~ very important part of the daily life
of people. Said the great Scottish
poet:
"My dear, my native soil
For whom my wnrmest wish 10 heaven IL
sent"
And again:
"Whcre groves o. sweet myrtle let foreign
lands reckon,
Where bright beamlng summers cxnlt the
Far dearcr to me yon lone glen o green
bfecknn,
WI burn stealing under the lang yellow
bloom"
Said Cowper:
England, with all thy faults love thee
still."
When responding to II toast once,
the gallant American, Decatur, gave
expression to the thought:
"Our country In her intercourse with
foreign NATIONS, ftlly she always NE III inc
right; but, our country, right or wrong
Webster once said;
81 c, our object be our country our whole
country and nothing but our country,
And at another time he said:
81 was born nm Americana ! lived nm
American; ! shall die mn American"
Pope put great lesson Of patriot
ism into one line, when he wrote:
"Who dare To love their country and bc
poor"
And Moore, Ireland loved poet,
threw his whole heart into the song,
Dear Harp of My Country"
~ the pulse Of the patriot, soldier or lover
Have throhbcd NJ our lay us thy glory
alone;
was but ms the wind passing heedlcssly
over,
Aud all the Wild sweetness | walked was thy
own
Our own Longfellow sung, in his
" Building of The Ship"
""Our hearts, our hopes, IRE all with thee.
Humanity with NIL It's fears,
with all IN hopes OF future years
IL hanging brenthless on thy fate"
may close these brief quotations
with the following from Goldsmith:
"Shc PATRIOTS boast, whore Ger We roam,
His first best country ever Is NJ home,
Thus the literature Of every nation
il rich IN patriotic sentiment Indeed
there can be no such thing ns Il nation
without patriots, without citizens, the
Warmest corner in whose heart of
hearts il kept for native land. TO
love one = country, Is to have larger,
stronger, deeper love of home, broad
cning our sympathics, cXnlting our
conceptions of duty; to feel the mighty
throb of the great heart OF humanity.
We may truly say that progress
without peace is impossible, and peace
can be preserved only when the nation
has defenders brave, true, patriotic.
So long ~ mankind was divided into
clans and tribes, SO long Ms there was
constant war, the energies OF the pco-
pie such M they were, were exhausted
IN the work OF destruction rather than
in the work Of production. Barhnrism
rcigned. Human advancement was
impossible. Accumulation of wealth
was hardly thought of. The arts of
peace practically unknown and the
art of war was practiccd 10y all. Every
man was, or WAS supposed to he, II
soldier. The division of labor had
not yet como. The weak were the work
crs, the producers; later military or
gani2atiOns came. The family, the
elan and the tribe began to melt into
the nation. Large numbers of people
began to recognize one sovereignty, to
form part of one national life: to pro
serve peace in increasingly larger Soc
tions OF country; TO develop lahor to
develop and strengthen social order,
to learn that wonderful truth that man,
member of society. Is infinitely
stronger, greater, higher, than man II
member of u savage elan or harhar-
Gus tribe. And so out of the savagcry
of the past, where man was practically
II wild beast, where might made right,
where physical strength, cunning and
cruelty were the requisites for leader
ship: whore superstition, darkness and
prejudice ohscurcd the little mind thcre
was, whore ignorance and fear were
the chains that held IN slavery the
race. by slow and painful process,
through much strife and bloodshed, by
toll and labor, 10y discovery and in
vcntion, 10y united effort and patriotic
purpose, have come the splendid ma
tionaliticS OF to-day, Where less than