Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-10-07
Daily kennebse Journal
G. a. 2. VETERANS
Continued from page ~

the honor of the country are threat
ened, when the national conscience is
aroused, an army will spring from the
soil, so vast, so docile so intelligent. SO
formidable, that it need not fear to try
conclusions with any army on the face
fof the earth.
! But that was only half the lesson;
the other half was equally important
that when that citizen army has done
its work, ii makes no claim. it eXacts
no conditions of disarmament, but
melts away into the vaster body of the
nation, as the foam crested'Sunlit wave
melts back into the profound depths
of the ocean. The great host of 1865
ceased to exist as an armed force; but
| in every town and hamlet of the land
| it lived as a part of the body politic-a
nucleus everywhere of courage, patri-
otism. and self sacrifice. This was a
neW product the republic might proud
| ly show to the world. saying, These
| he the peaceable heroes l breed from
| great wars
| There We're many brilliant deeds
done in the war that resulted in endur
ing fame to fortunate individual SOL
| diers; but the disbandment of that
army, flushed with victory and idoliZed
by the country, reflected honor upon
| all our race a glory in which individual
claims are lost, like atoms of cloud in
| the crimson splendor of IL stormy sun
set.
| For four years you showed your
| selves good soldierS-equal to the best
! the world had seen. For 81 years you
have been good citizens; and who shall
| say i'm which capacity you nave
| wrought best for the republic? Each
gear you come together with thinned
ranks but undiminished spirit to feed
| anew the undying ilame upon the altar
Of patriotism. | should not have said
| your ranks are thinEed, for the place
! of each fallen comradc is filed with a
| loving memory. And who can ever for
| get the faces which never had a chance
| to grow old-the brave young warriors
| who fell in battle and gained the prize
| of immortal youth?
| For them there is no shadow of
| struggle or poverty; no trouble OF gray
| hairs or failing strength; no care of the
present nor fear of the future. The
| unftdine light Of morning is forever
| in their eyes; the blessing of grateful
| nation hallows their names. We salute
| them with loving tears, from which the
| bitterness is gone. We hear'their youns
| voices in the clear notes of the bugie
| and the nurmur of the fiuttering flags.
Our answering hearts cry. Hail and
| farewell, young comrades, till we meet
| again
| Our fathers ordained that in this re-
public there Should be no distinctions:
| but human nature is stronger than
| laws, and nothing can prevent this pe"-
| pie from showing honor to all who have
| deserved we'll of the country. Every
man who has borne arms with credit
has earned and is sure to receive Il
| special measure of regard. And 1t IS
| our peculiar privilege to remember that
our armies and navies. regular and
| volunteer have always been worthy of
esteem. In distant generations, under
different flags in conflicts great and
small, by land and by sea, they have
| always borne their part nobly.
| The men who fought at LouisburG
beneath the meteor flag of England:
| thc men who stood with Washington
at Yorktown: with Lincoln in the Black
] Hawk war. with Crockett At the Alamo
with Taylor at Bucna Vista; with
Grant at Vicksburg: and with Lee at
Appomattox were of the stuff of which
not only soldiers, but citizens. are
made. And in our own time the young
| men who storrned the hin of San Juan,
| and have borne our flag with such
honor To the Forbidden city of Pekir
ana the iungles of LuZon. have shown
| that their progenitOrs bred true.
| The men of today are rs good Ameri-
! cans as the men of yesterday, and the
men Of tomorrow, with Gods blessing
| will be the same. The dominant char
| acteristic of every American army that
has ever stepped to the tap of drum
has been valor and humanity. They
have in the long run-carred nothing
! but good to any land they have oo
| cIIpied. AS our comrade McN inley- of
! blessed memory-Said: THE flag has
never floated over any region but in
| benediction
Ky order of the President of the
| United States. these historic grounds
| the property OF the nation. are during
| this encampment dedicated to your use
| They will receive from your presence
IN ADDED secredness ana value. In the
history Of the 10Th century. which is
opening with such brilliant promise. not
| the least luminous page will treat of
| This meeting of the Grand Army of the
| Republic-soldiers and citizens whom
| the republic delights to honor.
| When the cheers which succeeded
Nh Hays speech had subsidized Gen.
Len Torrance, commander chief of
| the Grand Army. was introduced and
| responded TO the words Of welcome.
| Referring to the fact that the ex-sol-
diers of 1861 had disappointed the pre-
| dictions of European publicists that
Idhey would be a menace to the peace
of the country, he declared that there
never had been the least danger. we
were good soldiers because we had
been good citizens he said. I'VE had
been made good citizens at our own
! iresides and there never has been the
4 least reason to apprehend harm to our
| national institutions because of our
soldery.'
Secretary Moody was next intro
duced He spoke for Secretary Root,
who was detained by official business.
Mr.. Moody expressed regret that the
| shalIowness of the Potomac had pre-
| vented the bringing of some of the
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