The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1900-05-31
l / } |I!.IVAL OF PEACE.
The Graves of the Soldiers Of the
Spubiic Were Covered With
darIands Yesterday. ..;
4 n d sI gt ----- .s5.s@ 4 49,
Gen. smes O. Pierce Spoke at the
Opera House-A Synopsis of the
8 b n. Memorial Day Address.

80:
Opera; House-A Synopsis of the
Memorial Day Address.
ii t1he5boys of 81 had had 3. the max
ing otfghe weather for Decoration Day
themaslVes they could not have turned
out ashetter article than that which
|5blessedsthis section of the country
yesterday. All day the sky was clear
and |: a ss breeze blew--just what was
needed III
| There we're no morning exercises
but promptly at l:30 the column formed
and nlaf ched to the opera house, where
the Rrlncipal exercises were held.
lThefswas a prayer by Rev. Roberts,
followed BY q song; by the choir, and
thensg.|A, Dickey read Lincoln's Get
4 tysbuf speech Another selection
/ fromsthe choir followed and then Gen.
! JameaO. Pierce, of Minneapolis, gave
the Mem orial address, brief synopsis
Of witch follows. In substance he said:
DuMng the past two years, when the
i proWess and the achievements of the
4 American arms in the war with Spain
have.been discussed, we have heard
! mucRpfs:the men behind the guns
FOREIGN public opinion has credited
the american soldiers and sailors with
a peculiar quality, not common in the
armies or navies. Of other lands,
namely a disposition to take the ini-
tiativesso that often our battles would
II havesbeen as we'll fought without as
! with Sofders, and indeed sometimes
Ewere sofought. To this especial ele-
mentin the makeup of the soldiers
land sailors has been ascribed much of
our surprising success in that recent
war ssIt is only justice to the men who
foughtfor the Union in the civil war,
) to- reeognize in them certain distinctive
traits Of character, which even then
distinguished the. work of the Ameri.
can arms.
: Great deeds do not deserve to be
called great by reason Of their relation
I Ito th ails SURF undings,. sos@muehs as b.
d and p,ar
T poses which. have called them in tosbe'
: ing. Alexander and Napoleon were
4 called great, but'their greatness was o.
a far different kind from that of Lin
coln.. He did nothing as brilliant as
their famous achievements. But he
was UNNECESSARILY the greater by rea
son of his grand motive. To have
> toiled and agonized and achieved anc
suffered for the preservation of govern
ment by the people, furnishes his title
to greatness, beside which Alexander
and Napoleon were little.
.. Lincoln in his Gettysburg address!
admonished US, who survived thu
war, to increase our devotion tt
j.. that cause for which the dead on tina
} field had given their full measure o
!. DEVOTION. We shall understand an(
value Alright their sacrifices, and thu
/ deserts of those dead in whose memor,
! we are gathered to-day, if we observe
the traits and qualities Of character
! which animated their action, and thu
motives which inspired their deeds
! Let us consider together the element
/ of manhood which were behind tn
; Union guns in the civil war.
LOYALTY.
First in our thoughts is the fact tina
J they were citizen soldiers. It was be
) cause they were citizens, of and iron
the people, that they were able to be
: come great soldiers. Fighting 70
: their own government and it's institu
tions, whose value they knew AM
whose perpetuity they desired, the.
; put into their efforts the same discrim
mating intelligence, determination
I and energy that he exhibits who fight
: for his home and his freside. It wa
bone for which they fought, for it wa
the land of their love- Like unto tina
of the Revolutionary fathers was thei
patriotism. The institutions that thu
fathers loved because they had bull
and established, the sons loved because
they had tried and tested. They hat
a threefold interest in the subject
in that the government they sought tt
maintain was of the people, by the PEG
pie and for the people, and they were
j. part Of the same people, and thus par
of the same government. Who better
! than they could know its merits, o.
= measure the extent of effort warranted
!, for it's preservation? Theirs was thu
:. high resolve SO eloquently voiced b,
! Lincoln, that the government of thei
love should not perish from the earth
s Their service as soldiers made then
4 after the war, better citizens. A
soldier-citizens they appreciate NOR.
u highly the privileges, and performee
more faithfully the duties Of citizen