Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1897-07-31
Peck's speech.

Illinois is proud and happy. Waiting
patiently for a fitting time, she opens al
her welcoming gates ana DldS the word
take note what breed of men she rears.
Here Is the product Of her soil, and here
she brings a mothers eXultant heart 10 be
enshrined. This great city, the lake WIN
all It's breadth of waters inc pr3iieS
stretching outward to the west, and the
eky mingling light and cloud in an ever
changing picture, are respondent witness
es Of the scene. The event, the hour ana
the mon arc historic.
once upon a day like this. the pulse OF
summer was beating hot and fierce, when
q great leader fell, as leaders must fan,
IL IL be so appointed. Some are here to
whom il seems but yesterday. They re-
member the clustering pines, the thlckets,
dark with the foliage of July, the Spires
of Atlanta wooing them forward, yet a 1t
tie farther. they remember, too, as
they will remember always, tho message,
speeding like an arrow i'm its flight, that
told how Mcpherson lay dead in his hdr-
ness, ere yet his fame had passed it,
dawn. Surely, ] am not wrong in saying
that never was this nation in more deadly
peril than when the army of the Tennes-
see was left, like some great ruderiess
ship, In the grasp of the storm.
cor what avail are men," says Carlyle,
'when we must needs nave a MANI, But
the MAN came; nay, he was already thcfc,
flashing, as was his wont, in that imperi-
Gus way which soon to parley with fate,
but subducd ii with II glance. on that Gay,
July %, 1864, John A. Logan was born to
immortality.
Here we place mis- image for all gener-
atoms. Here we salute the soldier, the
statesman and the man, In memory or
that sublime moment when he took into
his keeping the flag, the issue and the
cause,
Anniversaries are harmonles; and, in OBJ
serving them, we set history to music. On
that day, none looked forward to THIS.
But time has a magiclan's hand, and when
It has transformed real things into
dreams, touches the dreams, and straight
way they are real again. Behold the
bronze eplcarma Virumque, TO all VINO
shall gaZo on these heroic features. out
OF the past tho battle OF Atlanta comes
back, distinct md cloar, though then but
a welterins struggle. The years give us
the perspectiTe; now We see, as we
could not, when the smoke Of battle was
over US, that devoted a~rmy-which was
the incarnate west-dosperataly facing the
foe, while one great thought filled every
heart, Logan II here" In their agony,
having no other refuge. they took coun-
sell of faith, and bravely trusted that all
would be we'll II he guided their fortunes.
Art has a subtle vision. II worsh!ps
shows It's wisdom, Poems and songs are
links which unite 1t to nature, and 10 hu-
man nature, which is the flower Of all
things. 1t puts light and color upon can
vas, only that the picture raay speak the
universal language. 1t shapes ideals into
forms, as Phidtas carved in the rude mar
bic those dreams of beauty that haunted
him when he thought OF Marathon. How
can we ever forget, while this brave figure
guards the city's front, that art is the
true minister OF life? Its nOblest concep-
tons rise from events which have moral
grandeur in thom, from illum.ned mo-
ments, when some soul has reached its
highest exaltation. Seeing that they are
beautiful, Il keeps them so forevcrmora.
And yet, art does not create beauty. but
only serves il. The CLEAN OF a sword, the
bright colors Of a nag carried forward
with the advancing limo. the depths of
| nyna 'with the G1np 0f hqftlp n. thDnnH
are true artistic inspirations, but they In
spiro only because they have n meaning
visible, not to sight but 10 insight.
The soldier I'm battle, does not conscious
~, arrange dramatic situations. When
John a. Logan summoned destiny, rode.
sabered and spurred, along those bleeding
lines, beautiful in the deep sense that
makes tho heroic always beautiful, he lit
tie thought OF the banners that wave for
him today. Goethe declared that genius
could always be known by its doing first
the duty that was nearest. The readiness
IL ALL" IL S~hakespeare's way of speaking
the same great truth. The Crooks be-
lieved that ships, steered by the gods, al
ways came to port. but the truer knowl-
edge counts upon the practical skill Of the
man at the helm.
That day at Atlanta had none Of the ro-
mantle surroundings which give artificial
renown to battle fields. No pyramids MD
ing the grim secrets of the centuries,
looked down upon them. II was not Lodi,
where q general could dash across a
DriuSe 10 Victory lHeTe were no narrow
paths to glory. II was breaSt-to-breast
lighting. such as seldom come In any war:
a confused mass struggling against an
enemy that vas everywhere. And in the
midst of them WIS Logan, chlef-not be-
cause OF his ~epauiets, but because the
command has fallen on one who knew
what to do, and could not breathe until It
was done.
He is past all nattery. Shall we call him
brave? Others have worn that crlmsoH
badge. Great men become types. Tho
people single them out. with the ready