The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-03-07
GENERAL SHAW
TO THE VETERANS



the Crown In the spiritual life Of man
KIND, ana so, perhaps, II Is In the life or
nations. True 1t is, that we may well
seal the volume containing the great
record OF the nations travail of soul in
the epoch of Lincoln-so far as any irri-
tating or disturbing elements of the pres
ent or future are concerned-and write
across the closed events the historic le-
gend: at is finished"
Past Deeds Of valor.
Let me go a step further and declare
that would not blot out the memory
OF past deeds of valor In the minds of
any wearer of the Gray or the Blue In
backward glance over times that tried
mems souls. Nay! Human nature will
have to be changed to full Christ-like
charity before the deeds of true heroes
can be dropped out of memory! say.
therefore. God-speed to the Grand Army
of the Republic, and to the camps of
confederate veterans-each the holy OF
holies In the most sacred and the most
tender associations possible In the stall
wart life of brave veterans on both sides
or the great war of all the ages In
the nature OF things each organization
has history peculir to itself. Neither
Is designed to keep alive the spirit Of
hates or revenges Of the war period;
stand for comradship In peace and In
memory OF the earlier services and sac
rifles when they followed the drum beat
to battle.
If anything that may say on my
present tour Of visitations should in the
sltghtest degree. tend to closer fellow
ship and larger loyalty to present con-
ditions, my highest ambition will be sat-
lsfied. We have had too much Of horrid
war; we cannot have too rich fruitagc
OF blessed peece. What we can have
In common is a Memorial Day dedicated
to the memories of our dear ones gone
to rest, when we can lay flowers upon
their graves, whether they wore a uni
form Of Blue or Of Gray--in such an OBJ
servance as may satisfy the sentiments
OF surviving comrades. of either army.
as long as any of them live.
But there should be no place for pres
ent rancor or revenges In the hearts of
living veterans-from the South or from
the North. We stand on the threshold
or new century, following one Of the
grandest In the life Of man; and our
great country holds a proud position in
the front line Of nationalities In lit
tie over one hundred years of national
life we have resolutely swept forward In
all that inspires and ennobles humanity
until the child of freedom of the era Of
washington has reached stalwart and
commanding manhood, in the epoch Of
Lincoln and Mckinley. 1t is universally
acknowledged that in war on the land
and on the sea we have witched the
world by our victories, and now 1t is
ours to press forward in the paths of
peace, In all the circle of Righteousness,
and become the ideal civilization of the
world-through the development of In
dividual qualities of head and heart,
safeguarded by the highest prudence and
wisdom born of pure and unseltish patri-
otism and sanctifed by an unquestioned
faith in God.
At the first capital visited in my south
ern tour-that of Virrinia-I feel the
thrill caused by the fact that the Father
of his Country was born in this state,
and that his body is buried in her soil.
And as I journeyed here I passed men,
Orable historic battlefeds over which,
from 1861 to 1865, ebbed and flowed the
red tide of war-in the most sanguinary
engagements recorded in history Peace
now dwels at Fredericksburg. in the
Wilderness. at Spottsylvania. at Chancel-
lorsville, at Appomattox; yea, at all the
great and small points where brave men
fought and fell-under either flag with q
desperate vaIor worthy of any cause
over problems now settled forever. Many
Of these fields OF unrivalled carnage are.
I trust, about to be set apart as national
who wrote their names in blood in the
heroic Honor Roll Of the world. Peace,
peace, sweet peace is heard over all the
Union: and its echoes reverberate
through the soul of every true American
like the notes of a great cathedral Or
gan. when touched by the hands Of a
master.
Every life is what love makes 1t; and
every nation is what the ideals of the
majority bring forth
The exaltation Of the individual or the
nation springs from the same common
source-righteousness. What individuals
or nations SOW, that also shall they reap.
Let us meet the duties of life like men,
and front face on duty's line. joyous and
united In the patriotic love Of our coun-
try, and jealous to do all in our power
to teach our children how to cherish the
great heritage we shall transmit to them
the richest treasure of freedom in all
the world. Let us join In the song of
the Psalmist, and fix in our heart of
hearts the great truth:
1.-THE counsel Of the Lord standeth for
ever, the thoughts Of heart to all genera
tions; blessed Is the nation whose God is
the Lord. and the people whom lie hath
chosen for His own inheritance"