Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1901-06-05

the ranks of battle into the multitud-
 inous lines and walks of civil life and
 it's members became lost in the peace
 fui vacations of an industrious peo-
 pie.
 How different was the home com
 ing of the Southern soldiers. The
 news of Lees surrender was the sig
 nal for the immediate disintegration
 of the remnant of the Southern army
 without regard to system or military
 method. Officers had not the resour-
 ces at their command by which the
 difficulties and hardships of the situa-
 ation could be mitigated. Men recog-
 nized the fact that their former leaders could not help them. Each was
 thrown on his own resources. They
 faced a future of uncertain promise.
 Each for himself, turned his face to-
 ward what had been home, and as they trudged, weary and footsore, the long stretches of devastated country spoke to them in a language their hearts well understood. This silent speech told a story of sorrow and suffering; of blood shed in a
 hopeless and unrighteous cause; of widows and fatherless children; of maidens who looked in vain for a lovers return; of fields laid waste; of stately homes reduced to ruins and habited onlyby those tenants who come and go unseen by mortal eye; it told of the upheaval and destruction of a social system grown strong through the precedent of ages; and it told of all the miseries that follow in the wake of the blighting breath of war. Yet most cheerfully and courageously did these men go about the work of re- storing order, renewing industries and rebuilding cities and towns out of the ruins and stagnation produced by four years of war. Each and all per formed any work necessary to be done and men of the highest breeding and education went to work pulling down walls, clearing bricks and laying fonGations, thus showing the sturdy spirit common to all Americans.
 But any effort to do honor to the dead would indeed fail of eff feet should I not mention one valiant name that of him who went nearly half century ago, from Springfield to Washington to guide our govern ment in the hour of her severest trial. What better service can any of us render the nation than by seeking to in ourselves the kindliness, the courage, the benevolence, the pa triotism and the reverenceof Abraham Lincoln. He comprehended within himself all the strength and gentle ness, all the ma lesty and grace of this great republic To him, life and na- ture were great teachers and he their student. He inquired of the earth and the air the secrets they lold for man. He looked into the hearts of men and there learned the essons that made of him the pro-
 ector of the weak ones of earth. His speech at Gettysburg, masterpiece ,f oratory, reflects his deep devotion; lisimmortal proclamation, upon which ne invoked ''the considerate Judgment ,f mankind and the favor of Almighty Sod" shows forth the high aim. the will, and the noble purpose )f its author.
 And so long as men shall love lib ,rty and hate oppression; so long as
 here shall be on earth one man to whom memory or tradition brings the story of the slaves sad fate; so long IS there shall be one earnest lover of lis fellows right; so long as human soul looks up to God from out the sanctuary of colored form; so long Is the boundary of equal right and is marked and determined in he least degree by the color of the ,reedman's skin; and so long as pen hall write or human eye shall read he story of our yesterday-so long, will the name of Abraham Lincoln be leld in loving and grateful remem- Orance by those who love liberty and hold the heritage of his sacrifice.
 Young men and young women, the graves of the defenders of our coun- ny have been decorated today. They were the saviors of the republic and you are the children of the republic. If you honor their memory you have earned lesson in loyalty. If you and stand by their graves without | ,ne thrill of emotion, without one sentiment of loyalty, go home and | cad the history of your country; read | LOW, before these men died human beings were sold for slaves; how hus- ,ands were sold from wives and chil- lren, from mothers; read how our
 rms and ammunition were turned gainst us, threatening the union; cad Lincoln's speeches in the hour i trial; read the memoirs of that -reat soldier Grant; read a history of he great battles from Donelson to Ippomattox, and you will be Letter
 ualifed for the high office of Ameri- an citizenship.
 The phrase Decoration Day" leans a multitude of graves filled 7ith as many heroes. These heroes ashioned liberty into the corner stone f freedoms temple. Their struggle as the ripening of that long dawn lg sense of the divine right of liberty } all men. In history, in the records f ages, of revolution from barbarism ) monarchies and from monarchieS } self sovereignty, the change came ! moment. But it should never be that to the glorious day of lossoming when the shackles of ages
 ere cast from the slaves, all the pre- eding days of hl manity's long sea )n had lent their sunshine and their lins, the ripening of their warmth nd the resting of their frosts.
 These patriotic days should, instead fading from year to year, grow in ltorest as they come, because they fitness each May a greater nation, nd because they can be celebrated ith more and more of charity toward
 l and malice toward none. While lese soldiers were dying none could ,ad in the future such blessed re- its as We behold at last. Over all lese union graves the good result rows larger as the summer suns 'me and go. Should the past few ears be an emblem of the coming me, all the prairies of the west and , the rose gardens of the south and
 the Pacific coast cannot, ere long, row flowers enough for decorating in fitting manner these soldier beds. he glory of those lives and those