The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-27
MEMORIAL DAYS TRIBUTE.
GEN. JOSEPH WHEELER on ITS Sfh'
CIAL SIGNIFICANCE NOW.

dier - Brilliant Lessons OF Patriotism.
Copyr,ohe 1900. bv Joseph Wheeler.
Devotion to the memory OF the dead Is not
the birthright of any one people. or uipe' or
nation, nor does il find its origin In any gwen
period Of history. 1t is a sentiment as ancient
as creation and az widespread as humanity
The first death recorded in sacred history lett
A broken-hearted Eve to hand down her legacy
Of tears to sorrowing mortals, and from that
time there have ever been bleeding hearts which
find solace In bringing flowers ana sweet sp,oS
and precious gifts to lavish upon the hieiess cay
once the casket of a precious, immortaisou''
Among the rudest and most savage people
we find sparks Of this sentiment Inc o"u
heathens held their most beautiful and attracuVe
festivals in honor Of the dead. and selected 'heir
most famous orators to chant the praises or
the departed. The older nations OF the East
allowed this devotion TO degenerate INTO an
cestor worship,
Our aboriginal Indians have thousands OF
quaint rites. varying with the numberless u,pes
into which they are divided, for the purpose OF
commemorating the dead and keeping alive
in the hearts Of the young the memory oi the
brave and glorious deeds Of their departed
chieftains and the beauty and virtues OF their
mothers.
sentiment so universally exhibited must be
deeply rooted in the human heart; II has us
source. indeed in the eternal youth or the soul.
which finds lis counterpart In the ever-renewed
springtime of mother earth. The heart may
be crushed and frozen by the sordid cares of life
which bind IL down with the numhness OF scores
Of winters, and yet, as the glad awakening
Aarsl Alya,E ~ ita fr,. arms IN embrace Inc
ever-renewing youth and newness of the spring
tide, Hope springs eternal, and inc soul
bowed down by grief and care and even the
weigh of years lifts itself up in the gIadness
of reawakened life TO catch the joys OF the
newborn spring The faint murinur ofthe burN'-
ing bud and blossom, the gurgling music OF
the brook, the drone OF Insects and the melodlouS
voices Of Natures feathered choristers all JON
to soothe the spirit and send a dulckened pulse
throughout the weary frame.
We look about for the dear ones wont TO share
life's joys with us, They are not visible TO
mortal eyes. nor do they respond TO our yearn-
ing call. but TO the keener senses of love and
memory they stand revealed 50 near that We
can almost touch their garments chanGeless
immortal. they tread strange and uneNplortd
spheres. reckoning rs ever upward and onward
10 higher and hoiier lives. And Wa can but
keep their memory green, we can but salfe the
wounds in the sad hearts Of those who survive
them. by enshrining in sweetest flowers the
graves Of all our loved ones gone before, even
more ardently and intensely does the heart
yearn TO express itself toward our soldier dead.
and the yeaIning leads us TO place garlands upon
the graves Of those whose heroic valor has won
for them a country's love and gratitude.
The American custom Of decorating the
graves Of the soldier dead originated with the
fair women OF the southern States. II ] mis-
take not, Alabama was the first to inaGgurate
the annual custom Of observing a day a. sacred
10 that purpose,
Bevinning with the first anniversary of the
close of the great struggle between The North and
South, the ladies' ofthe South. led by those OF Ala
bama and Georgia, have held appropriate cere-
monies each recurring spring, in honor of the
beloved heroes who fell in the Civil War. The
early spring Of the more genial climate of the
Gulf States brings its wealth of flowers in time
to celebrate the memory of the dead during the
month when he great armies of Lee and john
ston Welded TO the overpowcring forces of
Grant and Sherman: but in the Northern States
Day comes a month later.
" " vi NAY Nu' 'ii'''A' hiIN ~ i'lAN -
aside for the purpose on MAY >. 1868, in an order
10 the Grand Army posts issued by Gen, John
A. Logan. then commander of the Grand Army
of the Republic. 1he,general public took part
in the ceremonies thus inaugurated and the
custom was so pleasing to the people at large
that within a few wears most of the Northern
States had made the day a legal holiday, 10 be
sci aside during all time for the special observ-
ance of memorial services in honor Of the dead
soldiers.
There was at first inevitable bitterness and
sectional rancOr. hut these were
little felt between the veterans themselves who
survived the war. They grappled with one an
foemen worthy of their steel, mutual respect
soon riIrned into esteem and confidence. thecon-
fict had broadened, NOT narrowed their souls,
and by degrees the annual festivals Of Memorial
Dav have wiped ont the bitter feelings en-
genderpd by inter-neCino strife.
significant evidence Of this comes to me
to-day in an invitation 10 "Ih" dedication
on MAY 30, 1901, Of the monument erected
nv The State on the battlefield Of Antlriam.
10 the soldiers Of MARY land in the Union and
Confederate, armies, who were engaged at
the battle of Antietam,
letter accompanying this invitation says:
The State Of Maryland desires To make this
occasion a notable one, emphasizing the OBJ
North and South"
Many noble sentiments have been uttered
by brave mon over the mingled ashes Of friends
ana 1OtS, III " s'Il hlU l1fAIdlll NITlfR
blossoms fell generously alike upon the graves
Of those who bore the blue and those who wore
the gray.
Thirty-one years ago a distinguished Fed
pral officer. whose heart was too large for
the l~ittleness Of sectional rancor, Gen Horace
Rinney Sargent. the orator Of the day, 10
the memoirs services AT Boston, said. u
can respect the grave Of any gallant foe who
drew his sword honestly. according TO his
light. for his native State, for the spot great
or small which he had heen taught from child
hood to reverence as his supreme motherland "
He continued with these prophetic words:
Comrades. though few Of Va may live to see
il. | feel sure that the last survivors Of the
Grand Army Of the Republic will celebrate
this anniversary after some day of glory, when
the sons Of rebels and our sons shall have fallen
side by side in some common cause Of foreign
war, as our sires and their sires fell side by
side under the eye Of the great rehel-the yir-
Already have these words had a literal full
flment. Already has many a brave officer
who followed the old flag in lssi-s5 honored
the dead who r, feIl at Las Guasinas, At san
sons Of Confederatas. soldiers from every
section Of our great land who now rest side
by, side In our great national cemetery at
flag 10 the far away Philippines and died he
meath the Stars and Stripes who stops TO
ask their state or section? II is enough that
they are orr, soldiers, defenders Of this great
Republic, and no honor is too great to pay to
the memory Of the American soldier His
prowess, his endurance. his fortitude and
his courage have challenged the admiration
Of the world, and are equallcd only nv his ten
der generosity toward a fallen foe
To-day after the suns and rains and dews
Of thirty-five wears have called forth flowers
10 carpet the graves Of the heroes who gave
up their lives on the hattlehclds Of the civil War,
or in the hospitals crowded ny the conflicts and
hardships Of the struggle, We ara apt TO forget
what the men Of el-65 endured for their country,
The shout Of victory revprberating down tho
chain OF time LllpnCNs tba moan of anguish ubiph