The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1897-06-02

and when he concluded MS fcndrh. ne
was warmly congratulated by all ofthe
old soldiers present and by hundreds Of
his other friends. Following j. a synop-
sis of his address. which i freely admit
ed TO be the finest Grafton of the kind
ever delivered in Somerset:
The heroes lie stin where the dew dropping
willows,
Like fond, weeping mourncrs lean over
their gnves.
The lightning may fash, the loud thunders
rattle:
They heed not, they hear not; They're free
from all pain.
They sleep theirlasi sleep; they have fought
their last battle.
No sound can awake them 20 glory again"
The flag Of the nation j. at half mast to-
day. A great people have halted In their
busy activity % stand beside the graves
Of their heroes and defenders. highly re-
solving that the sacrifice they made shall
not have been in vain. but YOU Of the
Grand Army of the Republic are in the
presence of sacred memory. The rude
trench in which you left your cOmrade
in arms opens before you for the tear OF
affection, and your heart beats again the
muffied roll 70 departed valor aud faith
] fdlness; scenes of conflict, of sacrifice and
al devotion, rush in on the swirl wing Of
/ recollection, and sweep away all but
/ thoughts of tenderness and patriotic con-
secratiOn. over :he graves of those who
| died in defense of our beloved nation, II
/ is impossible to adequately express the
I depth of feeling which the occasion
| prompts. II Is above and beyond utter
ance. Their fame cannot be increased
/ by words of oratory, even thought, SOW
ereign mistress of mans supreme domin-
ion, turns upon herself in dumb ecstacy
and establishment. By what standard
can we measure their patriotic devotion?
Our devoted age writes the name Wash
ingtOn first in the hearts of his country
men, and we can, with love and graft
tude, write the same of our heroic dead,
as we meet to mourn our country's loss,
and dedicate this day to the sacred MEM
Ory of the five hundred thousand, who
fell for the preservation of the Union.
This day the nation consecrates itself
anew to patriotic purpose, ii breathes
purer, higher inspiration, and pledges
deeper and holier resolutions to maintain
and preserve the precious heritage of
American liberty. As we fill it with this
most beautiful ceremony, the grandest
| tribute of civilization, let us resolve that
the nation shalt under God have new
| birth of freedom. and that the govern
ment of the people, by the people. and
| for the people shall not perish from the
earth"
Why did these men die? Was ii that
we might see our land filled with corrup-
tion and dishOnor, political knavery and
social decentralization? Was it that we
might see that judgment is turned
backward and Justice standeth afar off?
When truth is fallen in the street, and
equity cannot enter, and he that depart
eth from evil is accounted mad?' Did
they die that we we might see shame
sitting in honor upon the bench. in halls
of legislation, everywhere, or that we
might behold inordinate greed and sell
iishness, unbridled luxury and indul-
gence rioting upon honesty and virtue,
until our Congressional halls open only
with golden keys, and are sitting with
the atmosphere of the slum, while legis-
lation becomes speculative, and pre-
MUM is set upon vice !? Tell me, oh tell
me, ye dead men of the Republic, was it
for this ye died? No, no, thousand
times no. They fought for national
/
national equality, now and forever, a
principle behind all constitutions, laws
and offices, God-given government first
in the hearts of men.
We live in a wonderful age, i'm a coun-
try upon which the eye of the enlighten-
ed world is fixed. Oar government has
no parallel. Ancient republics were,
and modern monarchies are but the
mOckeries of human rights. We stand
alone: no nation can be called upon TO
give US light. Ii received existence from
wisdom, purity and action, which seem
to have come down from heaven; and
upon these it must depend for its con-
tinuance. No nation has ever been call
ed upon SO expressly as this, to make
man proud of himself, as maa. We must
be yigilant and active if we remain free.
Education, virtue and patriotism is tine
price of liberty. Governments are safe
while the hearts Of the people and their
rulers are sound. The liberties OF Rome |
were no. destroyed by the ambition of
their venal passions, before he became !
master of their rights and persons.
Political crimes are the lightest in the |
calendar of crimes, when they ought TO be |
the greatest offenses against the State; |
ought to be treason and punishable with |
the same certainty and despatch as trea
son. The nation is struggling harder for
its existence to-day than ever before-it /
is a moral warfare. The poison of cor
ruption is stealing softly but with deadly /
certainty into every vein. and along every
artery. Weak laws, social contests polit-
ical strifes, fostering sectional hatred and
lawlessness will sooner or later, anless
checked, combine 10 the ruin of our in
stitutions. We fear no foreign foe. Our
most deadly danger will grow up among
our own people. bet US rise above the
communicating influences ofparty power
and prejudice, and by the celebration of
such lays as these arouse the spirit of &c
and '6i, " hen
None were for party
Then all We're for the State,
Then the good man helped the poor
And the poor man loved the great
We turn from the contemplation of
these sacrifices and from the golden MEM
ories of this day to learn the lesson of the