The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1897-06-04

bleeding and died in the turmoil of bat
tie, mangled by shot and shell, crushed
under the iron hoofs of maddened
horses, wasted away by disease, per-
ished in prisons of the enemy, died that
the country might live. 1t is through
sacrifices like theirs that civilization was
made worthy of survival, and it sur
wives only by the sacrifice of such great
souls. The soldier gave all, he gave
his life. That he gave it is evidence
that it was worth living, that it was a
great, noble life, magnanimous, patri-
otic, devoted.
To many, decoration day has not the
meaning it should have. Even those
whom the war for the union bereaved
do not remember it as formerly, for
time is clever in the healing art, and
mellows sorrow. The war was over
long ago, and even to the participants
is but dream. Yet we feel the pains
of sorrow and of loss, and when age
draws near at last. when the shadows
begin to fall, we share the solemnity
and sublimity of the gathering dark
ness, and we think of the great army
in the mystic realms beyond the grave.
Today the poetry of memory no less
than the pathos of bereavement come
to us all. The dead recall the past.
Though many of them calmly waited
for the gentle ministry of the final rest,
we yet think of their sacrifice before
they passed to the "breathless darkness
and the narrow house." The dead of
the nation the people of the nation will
not, must not, forget. 1t is the fate of
man that oblivion covers millions, and
fame immortalizes the few, but today
we remember our dead, those who
passed thro' the straight and dreadful
pass of death" that we might continue
nation, that mankind should know
freedom, that the republic should en-
dure
The love of country of the dead can
not be questioned. They gave life to
preserve the unity of the nation and to
make secure the great experiment of
self-government on this continent. The
troublous tide of time is stilled for
them, and today we realize how many
have passed over the mystical river to
the other shore. Shall they be forgot
ten. though 80 years have passed since
the end of the great war? No! Rarth-
er let us remember the injunction of the
first commander-in-c chief of the Grand
Army of the republic, that loved Cen
eral, who was the peerless volunteer
soldier in war, Logan, when, 20 years
ago, his general order was issued
for Decoration day, he stated it was his
purpose to "inaugurate this observance
with the hopethat it will be kept up
from year to year while survivor Of the
war remains to honor the memory of his
departed comrades"
The soldier carved from adversely, per-
il and gIievous trial glorious perpetuity
for free institutions, and the people hon
or the dead and the living for their valor
and suffering; for never, in the centuries
that man has struggled from barbarism
to freedom, has there been a cause more
just or one that had more willing defend.
ers. Therefore, my living comrades, see
to it that the day is never unobserved.
1t is good to join in paying annual tribute
to the memory of the fallen comrades
those legons whose shades march down
the other side of time. See to it that the
flowers are placed on the tombs, for flow
ers are the most precious emblems of liv-
ing faith in the dead. Even when you pass
away, and if this service is forgotten by
those who come after us, "God will carry
the flowers in the deft fingers of the sun
shine and the rain drop, and will weave
wreaths and garlands by the agency OF
the winds, and will make melody by the
orchestra of all Nature" A writer of our
land recently wrote this sentiment:
THE unseen winds
Breathe endless lamentation for the
dead"
THE LESSON.
The lesson of this day is impressive.
Those who stood in the fiery crater of
battle need not the lesson the day teach
es. The mastering of the freemen of the
North was crusade for liberty. On this
annual strewing of flowers on graves still
"wet with the spray of Nations tears
each citizen will discern more exalted
standard OF duty, and each of the coming
men of the nation will note new mean
in the exhortation, cit is sweet and good
to die for ones country"
AS the story of the redemption of the
nation from peril and shame is contem-
plated and studied in the swiftly passing
years, the seed sown in blood and watered
with tears will spring into rich fruitage
in the minds and hearts of all, as they
realize the blessings shed by our starry