The Somerset reporter., 1898-05-26

A NATIOa PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE
STINT EkTIkLl9Ns.
Flower sirrwn on Their LpwIy Beds Ia
Grateful Remembrance Of Their sacri-
Ace tlien Confeaerates Also Receive
Their Need of Vaior.


Their Need of Valor.
Strew the flowers. twIne the Wreaths
Above the sd .ltH-- kena!
Place the brishjcsl blooms Il May
Around the honored dead
Memorial day in its consistent eyolu.
ton has reached new epoch Nearly
all of the widows who muurned for
their hero husbands and gloried in their
fate have gone to join them in death.
Children who heard with glowing
hearts the stories of the war told by
these mothers have transmitted the
cherished inheritance to children of
their own These children and chill
drens children are the people of the
United States who will observe the
commemorative anniversary in it's his.
torical aspect, while the Scared vet,
Grams are paying their personal tributes
to dead comrades. Though the ranks
of the survivors of the great struggle
are thinning there is no diminution in
the ranks of the people who gather
yearly at these sacred mounds, that are
the real monuments of the Union
The lifetime of a generation has pass.
ed away since the young men of 1861
gave their lives TO preserve the Union
With the lapse of years veneration and
love for them increase, and it is but
fitting that we bear tribute of grateful
memory to those who gave their lives
on land and sea to preserve all we love.
The survivors do not ask especial rever-
enoe except for the example they set to
the growing generation by answering
the call to uphold the Union. They re-
member with tears not only those who
sleep in our graveyards here, but those
who lie in the unknown graves in the
mountains and morasses of the south.
Heroism in America knows no sec
tionalism North and south, east and
west, are scattered the graves of those
whose lives were given Joyously to the
service of the nation and whose memo
ries will prove an inspiration to the fu-
ture generations in which the republic
places her hope. Each state honors its
own heroes, for each state, like each
heart "best knoweth its own loss, and
the honor of each section Is the coun
trys honor. Under northern pines, un-
der southern magnolias, in the shadow
of western mountains. on the banks of
the Hudson, lie the bodies Of men who
cheerfully sacrificed home, family,
friends and wealth for the integrity of
the United States, loving wife and chill
dren much, but honor more.
The American temple of fame is linn
tied only by the boundaries Of the ma
ton, and her roll of distinction cher
ishes the names and the achievements
of such heroic spirits as Grant, Sher-
man, Sheridan, Thomas, Logan, Farra-
gut, Johnston, Lee, Shields Buell., kear-
nv, Hancock, Stonewall jackson, Nc
Clellan, Anderson, Potter, Beauregard,
Mulligan, Fitzpatrick, Custer, Carse and
Dahlgren.
Time, that great healer Of all wounds,
has not suificed to dull the heavy grief
of those who lost their loved ones in
bloody strife, though years have passed
since these beloved ones passed from
sight forever. To the sound of fife and
drum they marched away, those loved
and loving fathers, brothers. lovers,
friends, soon 10 return again, they said,
when they had made the country one
again. But their good Father on high
planned better for them than they knew.
Theirs was the martyrs death theirs
is the patriot S crown. Striking chains
from fettered slaves. God freed them
from their feshly bond. Seeking 10
keep their country one, God brought
them to his eternal city, for they had
fought a good fight and won.
But though lost to sight they still to
us are dear The magic wand of mem
DRY brings their names and faces back
to us, and their graves each year we
shall strew with sweet and silent tokens
of our grief as long as life doth last.
Under scorching summer skies, over
come with heat, some fell; naked and
starving, some died in prisons. damp
and deadly; under smoking, sulphurous
clouds, that seemed to rain ON their de-
voted heads the kissing shot and she'll,
some went down; most fell on bloody
backgrounds now hallowed 10y their
graves And so we know where some
do lie and yearly deck their graves,
and some their final resting place We
know not Of
Our Union soldier dead cannot re-
ceive their need Of praise without rec
ignition and admiration Of the magnit
cent bravery of their Confederate op-
ponents. In that greatest of wars West
Point met West Point. volunteer fought
against volunteer The bravest and best
Of our northern hearts and homes slept
the soldier $ last long sleep with tine
braVest and the best of our southern
hearts and homes. sincerity stroye
against sincerity; conviction confronted
convictions; determination defied deter
mination; sacrifice set itself over against
sacrifice, prayer plumed its petitions
against prayer
And now today, thank God, we are
brothers again and forever. The God of
nations himself has set upos 0ur coun
try, in the issue of the conflict, the seal
of an unbroktn oneness and OF an lndls-
putable supremacy.
In few years more the work OF the
old soldiers here on earth viii be finish
ed. Soon the last member of the Grand
Army of the Republic will have passed
away. To whom can they commit this
beautiful yearly service to remember
the dead heroes Of the war better thai
TO the rising generation who have learn
ed the lesson at their handsf-Detrolt
Free Press