Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-05-31

All this they have done, and yet not half
has been told. They delivered our nation
al integrity from the rending grasp of
those whose mistaken ardor tempted them
to tear asunder the fabric of our union
They gave to us firmly reunited nation;
united not only in name and boundaries
and geographical position, but united in
spirit, in interest, in aim, in fact
Let him who doubts the fact of our
present essential national unity. who
doubts the bond of loyalty and patriotism
that unites the North and South but re-
view the events of the late Spanish-Amer-
lean war. and he will there find such a
lesson in the philosophy of history as will
teach him that the greatest event in the
life OF mankind since our Saviour's time
occurred beneath the folds of our starry
banner when the boys in blue and the
boys in gray put on robes of peace, and
beat their swords into plough shares and
their spears into pruning hooks What do
| mean? I mean that when, at the close
of the Civil War. the American soldiers,
North and South, put aside the fierce
weapons OF battle. and in their stead took
up the implements of peaceful industry,
all uniting for the common good of a COM
mon country; that then the American ma
ton arose to an altitude on the heighths
of Christian civilization never before
more than dreamed of. never before even
distantly approached by any people.
Why, thirty-five years ego our land
was split in twain at Mason and Dixon's
line. in 1898 a Grant and Lee marched
side by side against a common enemy. In
1862 the Yankee Monitor and the Rebel
Merrimac engaged in deadly duel; in
1898 into the mouth of Santiago harbor
young lieutenant from the State of Ala
bama steered the American Merrimac To-
day the blue uniform of your Uncle Sam
uefs soldier boys is welcome at rebel
Chickamauga and the thrilling notes OF
Dixie mingling with the strains of the
Star Spangled Banner echo over hill and
dale from Maine TO California and from
the lakes to the gulf. Q. it is glorious,
this people reunited. Phoenix-like. the
American Eagle has arisen from the ashes
of dissolution, and to-day she scars nearer
the zenith than she ever reached before.
North and South have shaken hands,
One sweet country, one proud nation,
Not slave in all the land.
This is the heritage bequeathed to us
who stand on the threshold of the TWEEN
tieth century. by those who wore the blue.
All, what a country they gave us.
century ago Europe looked with scorn
upon the young Republic of the West;
they called US an experiment, an imprac-
ticable Utopian scheme. incapable of de-
velopment and doomed TO disappointment.
Little did they dream that in the ten
short decades of the nineteenth century
the puny bird of liberty would grow and
wax strong until at the twentieth CEN
tury's dawn the very shadow Of the
American Eagles wings would cause the
thrones of kings to tremble. When our
revolutionary forefathers fought to Sc
cure the blessings of liberty for them
selves and their posterity, little did they
think that the labor expended, privations
endured and blood poured out to that end
would mark the laying of the foundations
that support the superstructure OF the
mightiest temple of liberty under the blue
dome of heaven; little idea had they that
the flag under whose starry folds the inn
mortal Washington led them to victory
would a century later be the proud en-
blem of the proudest republic on earth.
the symbol of life, liberty and love OF
home to seventy million freemen; and yet
such is the fact.
On this day made sacred to its defend
ers, our duty would be but half done were
we to fail to do honor to the flag 1t is
the banner that waved over the victory at
Yorktown. 1t is the emblem that floats
over the tomb of the immortal Washing
ton. 1t is the escutcheon on which the
finger of God has written in letters OF Iiv-
ing light, that magic word Liberty 1t is
the roof-tree in whose protecting shades
seventy million free Americans enjoy the
blessings of the recognized equality Of
man. In design, is il all art A blue field
like the eternal canopy above us. bedeck-
ed with the twinkling light Of a myriad
stars. each star separate sovereignty in
itself. and yet all immovably fixed and
bound together in one common plan Of
unity The red and white stripes are like
the streaked eastern sky, heralding the
dawn of another day, day OF universal
peace on earth and good will among men,
a day Of breaking chains. day OF loos-
ing bonds. Again, in the brilliant red we
have ever before US the memory OF the
blood OF patriots poured out in the cause
of liberty: in the pure white we see the
symbol OF Columbias purity, unmarried
by the soiling touch Of ambitious tyranny:
in the deep field Of blue we see the fixed
purpose Of Americanism, true to itself,
true to humanitys upbuiIding. true 70 tho
cause of liberty. Those stars are the
lamps OF liberty those stripes are the
scourges OF oppression. That flag is the
shield of safety and the sword OF justice.
Who clings to It, not all the tyrants on
earth can tear from its protection. All
honor to the ones who bore that flag to
victory, all honor to the boys IN blue
who fought beneath those folds.
Thirty five years have passed since Lee
surrendered. Thirty-fve years. Year by
year. as the ranks Of the survivors Of the
Civil War grow thinner, the number Of
those who take part in the exercises OF
Memorial Day grows smaller. The boys
OF 81 are no longer boys; the sprfnging
stride OF youth has been replaced by the
faltering step Of age. Many Of those who
are still with US are unable TO fall into line
and march 10 the city Of the dead ard
decorate with flowers the graves Of those
old friends whose memory il so dearly
cherished. Many Of them must spend this
bright spring day in the old arm chair,
recalling the time when those who now
sleep beneath the sod went out IN the
brightness Of their young manhood never
to return. Soon the last Of the boys will
- rxrttf, 4ss M, rx4nwa. his y,fa~a s4f ~. 80