The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1898-04-28
GENERAL GRANTS BIRTHDAY
Occasion Duty Celebrated at Gal-na.
Eloquent Tribute by Judge Speers
Of (SeOrvia-

Occasion Duty Celebrated at Gal-na.
Eloquent Tribute by Judge speers
of Georgia.
GALENA, Ills, April 2S.-Galena, the
home of General u. S. Grant, cele.
brated the 18th anniversary Of the great
leaders, birth. Mrs. Nellie Grant Sar.
,Aris, accompanied by her daughter,
Vivian. represented the Grant family.
Judge Emery Speer, a Confederate vet.
eran of Macon, Ga, was the orator of
the day.
Upon the arrival of a special train
from Chicago, the public demonstra.
ton began. A street parade was
formed at the depot, composed of cav
airy, veterans, civic societies and thou.
sands of visitors. which marched to
Turner hall, where Judge Speer deliv-
cred his oration He said in part:
I'VE are brethren now, shoulder to
shoulder, under the glory. bright ensign
of u common country, and l thank
God that with the clear vision of the
dying, the noble patriot whom we com.
memorate lived to see tits truth. In
simple phrase he wrote. i feel that we
are on the eve Of a new era, when there
is to be great harmony between the
Federal and the Confederate. / can.
not stay to be a living witness to the
correctness Of this prophesy, but feel
it within me, that it is to be SO. The
universal kind feeling expressed for me
at the time when it was supposed that
each day would prove my last, seemed
to Inc the beginning of the answer to
Let US have peace" With such,
emotions in his heart, this great Amer.
lean died. And, my c%ountrymen,
His Prophetic Words Were True.
Now in our country's need we are a
united people. His magnanimity to
Southern men; his soldierly fidelity to
his great adversary, has found its re.
ward in the devotion to his country of
that other Lee. who, amid the curses
and the treachery Of the stealthy Span.
iards, the pestilence among their vic.
TINS and the cruel massacre of our
sleeping sailors, with consummate cour-
age and manliness, has maintained the
honor Of the Stars and Stripes. Far to
the south, in the state of my birth and
love, in a park in beautiful Savannah,
noble men and gentle women have
reared a monument to the Confederate
dead. On its face, taken from tine
grand poetry of scripture are these
words: Come from the four winds, o
breath; and breathe upon these slain,
that they may live"
The Prayer Has Been Granted.
"The prayer has been granted. They
live, o my countrymen, in millions of
their gallant sons and kinsmen, quick.
ened into life and power as American
citizens, by the generosity of Grant,
and the m~agnanimity Of the country
he served; and in the day Of our coun.
try's need, under the flag Of our fathers,
in even line with the veterans of the
Union and the noble manhood of the
North, the ground shaking with their
measured tread, and the cries Of the
enemy drowned by the rebel yell, clear,
ing the way with their flaming volleys,
they will bear down upon our country
foe. Then the truth will be seer
of all men, that the Union which
Washington fostered and Grant did sc
much to save, will be indeed perpetual.
the greatest citadel Of civil and relig'
ious liberty on earth, a glory to the
most high God, and a blessing to hu
mainly in all the years to come"
The celebration was held under the
auspices of the Grant Birthday asso
citation. President Mckinley addressed
the first meeting, which was held il
1893.