Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-06-05

only sufferings of war were to be found
in the gunshot wounds and the swamp
fevers, in the heartrending cries Of
water. Water!" heard at night from
the wounded lying between the con-
tending lines, III the colds, the heats,
the hunger, the WEAKNESS and the
homesicknees suffered by the men at
the front. But l have always believed
that the wives and mothers and the
sisters and sweethearts who stayed at
home to weep suffered far more than
the husbands and sons and brothers
who donned their uniforms and went
forth to die. Think Of their sad, weary
nights! Think Of their startled ears
when the rumors were heard that a
great battle was about to be fought!
Think Of their wet eyes, scanning the
long newspaper columns Of the dead
and missing! That awful word miss
ing" Think Of the poverty which the
young widow had to face, with four
or five children at her back! Today we
honor the dead soldiers who wore the
blue and the gray.l' We ought also
to honor the wives and mothers, the
sweethenrts and the sisters. who were
willing to give those soldiers as a sac
rif1ce, as well as the heroes who were
willing to die.
To show what the women at home
had to suffer I want to read what is
perhaps the spddest letter ever penned
by mortal HIND 1t was written by
Abraham Lincoln to humble woman
who lived in Massachusetts,. Many
such letters could have been written
to other women. north and south, who
were called upon to suffer in the same
way and perhaps to make equally great
sacrifices:
Dear Madam-I have been shown in the
files of the war department statement
OF the adjutant general of assachusetts
that you are the mother Of five sons who
have died gloriously upon the field Of bat
tie. feel how weak and fruitless must
be any words OF mine which should at
tempt to beguile you from n loss SO over
whelming. but I cannot refrain from ten
dering to you the consolation that may be
found in the thanks of the republic they
died to save. l pray that our Heavenly
Father may assuage the anguish OF your
bereavement and leave you only the cher
ished memory OF the loved and the lost,
have laid SO costly a sacrifice upon the
altar of freedom. Yours very sincerely
and respectfully.
But, though the noble women Of the
north and south may have suffered
greatly, yet by their very sufferings
God was able to heal the wounds, the
bleeding wounds. Of this nation. The
breaking hearts Of the north reached
out toward the breaking hearts Of the
south. and they found that IN their
troubles they were sisters. Some of
the bereft mothers had sons fighting in
both armies. As such a mother sat IN
her family plot between the two graves
between the grave Of her boy in blue
and that Of her boy in gray-she prayed
that the past civil strife might be for.
ever buried. She pleaded with earnest
prayer because her boys who died had
come from the same cradle and had
looked up into the eyes Of the same
mother.
When Bunker monument was being
dedicated, the crowd was so great that
by the pressing and pushing a panic
was threatened. The presiding officer
tried in vain to still the tumult. Then
the orator Of the day arose, and DAME
Websters deep voice called out, Stand
back" Some Of the people cried, ut IL
impossible to stand backw Then Web
ster's flashing eye swept over the null
titude as he answered: Don't use that
word impossible in a place like this
Nothing is impossible at Bunker hill
Some pessimsts said that the bitter
ness Of the civil war would never end
But as Daniel Webster said in ref
erence to Bunker hill, so nothing was
impossible in the suffering presence OF
broken hearted American womanhood
Their common griefs and sorrows for
ever forbade men to revive the horror,
of our civil strife.
QUIZ Consecrated Homes.
The dead of our American battle
fields are intensely alive today because
they have proved that the strength o.
this country is to be found In the multi
tudes of its consecrated homes and no
!, in the size Of its standing armies. Whel
} the civil war broke out, there were no
enrolled upon the muster Of the wa
, department more than 1000 men. TIL,
, traveller could go up and down tn
, length and breadth Of the land withou
, seeing an American soldier in uniform
: except in a few forts built for protec
, ton against the Indians and in place.
like Governors island and Fort Sum
, ter All Europe was shaking under tn
. 1o o~xi aI u; on
, marshaled upon every frontier; yet IL
, America there were not enough soldier
to make respectable looking nationa
t awkward squad. But no sooner di'
the bugle blast Of war sound than tn
volunteers came from everywhere
: They came from the pine woods o
: Maine and the Louisiana plantations
S from among the California flowers an
G the Alabama cottonfields, from the Da
g kota prairies and the Mississippi fiat
= boats, from the Pennsylvania mine
@ and the South Carolina tobacco fac
tories. They came by the tens Of thou
:. sands. They came by the hundreds o
t thousands. They came by the million
G They came to prove for all time tina
. for this country, at least, there is n
e need Of great standing army.
s When war breaks out, nation has
t use the ships which 1t has constructe
e in times Of peace. 1t takes years I
+ build a floating fighting machine. BIZ
- what 7 ha vo cotH 10 fruo In rofarop m