Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1901-06-06

0
timent which prompted that order had
already found Judgement in the hearts
of old soldiers, and the people at large,
that the response was both hearty and
general, and since that time we have
seon the day and its observance recog-
nized by the laws Of the land, and
more and more generally observed, un-
I'll today standing upon the threshold
of the new century, we greet it and do
itobeisance as one Of the Nations most
cherished holidays Year after year we
have seen increasing thousands wend
their way to the graves Of the Nations
dead, their hands laden with flags and
garlands and their hearts filled with
tender emotions and memories. Today
in more than eighty National Gene
teries, containing the graves of more
than third OF million Union soldiers,
we see thousands and tens of thousands
of veterans, stopped and tottering with
the telling results Of exposure and SER
vice, and bowed beneath the weight Of
years, turning aside from the busy tur-
moil a2d strife of life, seeking out the
last resting places of their comrades,
and tenderly laying upon mounds of
earth and sod fragrant flowers and the
Nations emblem.
And l may say that this imposing
spectacle is not confined to the Nation
al Cemeteries proper. In thousands Of
cities, towns, villages and hamlets with
in the borders OF the states, where the
uniform and awe-inspiring gravestones
marshalled into files, companies and
battalions, as it were, are unknown, but
whore the tired soldier has been laid to
rest among his loved ones, your ritual
is read, and there too are, the rose and
the flag upon their mission Of love.
Nor is the spectacle on this day con-
fined to the states proper. This old
earth is today all but girdled with pat
riot graves whose occupants have laid
life upon the altar Of freedom in follow
ing and upholding our beloved stars and
stripes. Our brave boys and sea lad
dies sleep beneath the palms of tho is
lands of the' Pacific and in the rice
fields of the Orient, and their graves
are as q picket line thrown about the
globe whose Office it shall ever be to
warn the people of the earth that the
Youngest and best of the Nation, while
always preferring peace to war, is yet
sleeping upon her guns and ready to rise
in her might to smite cruelty and op-
preston.
To these newer patriot graves let US
hope that this imposing spectacle will
extend today. We have right to ex-
peot that it will, and to expect that
the number of persons who partici-
pate in the observance of Memorial
Day both at home and abroad will be
greater today than ever before. And
let me say to you, gentlemen, that in
this yearly increasing throng, prompt
ed and impelled in its work of love by
that character Of patriotism which
builds and preserves nations, and swell
ing its ranks in spite Of the an
nual harvest Of the grim reaper, l see
an augury of good for the future of this
government. The battle-scarred Veter-
ans of that memorable struggle of the
sixties are fast falling by the way. AS
Marion Douglass has beautifully couch
ed it in verse:
Another and another wreath
We deck new graves each Spring;
And smaller grows the gray-haiEed
band
Whose hands the garlands bring.
Grave veterans, we follow slow
The dull beat of the drum;
There's one brief march before us
now,
And, comrades, we shall come
One sleep to share, and DER each grave
Tho starry flag we love shall wave!
We mourn you not; the days seem far
Since side by side we fought,
And onward to the meeting place
The way is now so short!
Not many May-times shall we hear
The summons of the drum;
We wait, with unforgotten hearts,
Till, comrades, we shall come
Our sleep to share, while DER each
grave
Thank God! the starry flag shall
wave"
Yes, they are rapidly going to renew
that comradeship which our beloved
President has recently characterized as
being second only to that OF family.
But in the tenderness with which see
their sons wreathe garlands for the
dead when Decoration Day approaches,
and in the eagerness with which see
them take up the musket when the bu-
gle calls, l see at once the hope OF the
Nation and the practical benefit which
our Country receives from this celebra.
tion.
And, while cherishing the memory oI
those who have fought for their country
and gone to their reward, while giving
place in the fullest measure to the SEN
timent which prompts the recalling
and recounting OF the valorous deeds
and sacrifices Of those whose loss ha:
made US what we are, deem it no lest
our bounden duty to expect, to encour
age, and to dwell upon the practical
benefits to US, individually, as citizens
and collectively as a Nation to be dsriv
] na frnn, a nrnnar nhsarvanca Of Darnra.