Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-05-31

! baptism. and from Lexington to Val
| ley Forge, and from that midnight of
gloom to Yorktowns cloudless day.
there waged long. life-giving contest
| for independence. A generation later
while in its youthful vigor, the repub-
! lie successfully. but not with bloodless
sword and cutlass, maintained the free
dom of the seas, and the rights Of
American sailors.
And again, as the nation attained its
manhood, strong, growing. not yet
healthy, because of its sin and shame.
was third great conservation de-
manded for the publication of the body
polite.
Lastly (and would to Heaven and
The Hague it We're to be our LAST came
the contest in behalf of down trodden
humanity beyond our own borders
Other wars of minor importance and
less worthy of present mention have
place in our history, but these four
furnish notable illustrations of exalted
sacrifice which have given to this re
public its grand liberties and illustri-
Gus renown, oblations on the altar Of
eternal right and justice.
The record of our Civil War, my
comrades and friends, far surpassed all
others. History with all it's record of
patriotic achievement, discloses no
more brilliant chapter; nay, nor any
parallel.
Fellow-citizens, recall those stormy
eventful. absorbing, oppressive years
from 1861 to 1865, so prolific Of daring,
danger and death.
The war clou1 which 1npu
lowered over the land, gathering force
from the Notwithstanding, never-set-
tied questions and issues of our previ-
)us history. at length burst and rent
in twain the American republic. One
lncessant drum beat echoed through
every city and town, and along every
hillside and valley, sounding the dread
alarm. and peaceful Columbia seemed
peopled in day with hosts of war
riors. flushed was the busy hum of
industry, quiet We're the varied chan
nels of trade and the myriad vocations
IF brain and labor were thinned of
heir followers, now hurrying on tocamp
field and battleship. all engrossed with
the untried arts of military and naval
life. The heart of the American peo-
pie beat responsive to the national
summon, and libertyloving, loyal
Mortimer seized musket, sword and
sabre with an eagerness beyond the
supposed demand of the hour. Wives
and mothers, impelled by a sublime
sentiment. weepingly gave their all in
the hour of a nations peril. Review
that host of youth and manhood.
leaving to other hands the pillow and
forge. the hammer and trowel, the pen
and type, the shop, the office, the field.
leaving behind all treasures of home.
save only the love and benedictions Of
kindred and friends, and marching
forth to war-not to empire, not for
conquest. nor for glory, but for the su-
premacy of law, the honor of the ma
tons flag, the unity and life of re-
public.
Recall the wearisome march, the
coarse fare Of camp. field and dismal
bivouac, days and nights of snow and
rain and piercing wind. the noxious
swamps, the burning sands, the anxi-
Gus watches of picket and vidette. the
deadly skirmish line. the fatal work Of
musket. sabre and bayonet, of can
mons shot and she'll the mad uproar
Of charge and counter-charge. the
eVer-changing battle front, the terrific
carnage and carnival of death, whose
pale victims lay with face upturned to
heaven. or kissed the kindred dust, the
CHASTITY wound. the surgeons knife and
saw. the bed of pain and anguish,
wasting disease in myriad form. and,
worse than all these. the lingering
starvation and death of the prison pen
recall all these. and untold exposure
from a thousand sources, and thus
gather a faint outline of a picture of
soldiers lot in that struggle which
monopoliZed the attention Of the civil
lied world.
Four long. weary. anxious, crowd
ed years the people watched this
ever-changing panorama of strife and
suffering. diversified with its alienation
of defeat and victory.
Donaldson, Shiloh, Antietam, Fred
ericksburg. Nashville, Chattanooga,
Gettysburg. Vicksburg, Atlanta. Win
chester. Spottsylvania, Petersburg,
savannah, Richmond and AppomattoX.
with Hampton Roads, Port Hudson.
Mobile Bay. these and unnumbered
conflicts DER land and sea are mile
stones in that highway to the final vic
tory-but these historic names are but
| sepulchres for a long roll of Industrious
| dead. whose galantry. fortitude, en-
durance, patience and death are en-
| balmed in the hearts ola grateful people
and history will writes their names in
| her most shining pages.
| To what end was all this toll. danger,
disease and death? What was the con-
sideration of all this treasure. this sac
rifice? Yea. verify, that their surviv-
ors and descendants might enjoy the
| priceless blessings of enduring peace
and national unity. that a purer and
noble civilization might occupy and
| adorn our beloved land.
| The absorbing question sank deep in
| all loyal hearts, namely, shall we cult
yate seed which shall ultimately ripen
Into a glorious free republic, whose his
tory shall illumine the vista of coming
ages. noble example to all nations,
or shall the tares of incipient monar-
chy, or centralized and arbitrary
| aristocracy whose chief cornerstone
should be mans inhumanity to his
brother man. shall these grow here on
American soil and drive out the purer
civilization which had been the worthy
ambition and purpose of the founders
Surely the issue was mOmentous: .
Humanity with all its fears.
With all the hopes of future years,
| Js HESS