Cañon City record., 1901-05-30

lives in peace purchased by patriots
blood. Our soldiers went forth to bat
tie, to suffer and die, not with selfish
motives, but simply at the call of duty.
See that long dark death
line of array against them? Yet, un-
dismayed, with no hope of gain to
themselves, with conviction of victory
only because theirs was part of the
eternal conflict which has ever waged
between right and wrong, they laid
down their lives, asthe veterans here
would have done, willing sacrifice.
have been told that out of
the 49, 900 men who were confined
in Southern prison pens not one ever
deserted the flag in order to gain his
liberty. Back over the sweep
of years our thoughts turn to those
gallant soldiers who died that the
Union might live. Does the history
say that many of them went down in
cloud of defeat? They rather rose
above the cloud into the clear sun
light of victory. Whate'er the time
or place, they died as they lived,
PATRIOTS. No matter un-
der what flag they were born, native
love of liberty made the stars and
stripes the flag of their choice.
The strife through which our soldiers
passed was freighted with great and
unprecedented interests. The momen-
tous event was to disclose whether it
was period of dissolution or of a
higher development; whether to per-
ish utterly and proclaim to the earth
that our form or system Of govern
ment was a huge fallacy, unfit to
stand the ordeal of domestic dissen-
sions or TO survive with a confirmed
and renovated constitution. ! tell
you, my friends, our profoundst SEN
timent today, next to gratitude to
God for our deliverance, should be
gratitude to the soldiers, for we re-
member that they loved US with a
love SO deep that the bitter cup OF
death was sweet to them If they so
might give US happy days and length
of years as nation. Veterans, am
glad that so many of you are spared
TO be here today.
/ Rightly proud may you be that
you are identified with the dead braves,
your nations defenders. Glad and
thankful should you be that you live
to see this time of peace in our own
dear land. Such scenes of
carnage as were enacted in the war
of the rebellion were never before
dreamed of. Yet you turned not
back; you were true. You may have
marched with the rank and file, yet
beneath your faded coats of blue
there beat hearts as heroic as God
ever gave the man who commanded
As for your fallen comrades, their
warfare is ended; they march no
more with measured tread beneath
the starry folds of "old Glory" No
alarms. 90 whizzing ball from startled
pickle line can reach their ears or
break their rest. Many of
them sleep, like Moses, in unknown
graves. They are sleeping on all the
battle fields of the war; on the wide
prairies, on lofty mountain sides,
down the dark ravines and in the
deep waters. They sleep beside the
broad Potomac, by the Rappahannock
and the Rapidan: in the wilderness
along the Shenandoah winding down
between the evergreen mountains and
by the Mississippi ilocod. They sleep
along Sherman's broad track 20 the
sea, and down where the orange
groves of Florida whisper softly to
the dimpling waves of Mexico. All,
well do you, their comrades, remem-
ber the hastily hallowed bed, the blue
cape drawn over the face, the piece
of paper with the name, company and