The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-05-30

and always shake your sword In the faces
of your Toes and defy them in the words
of our good old long-nosed friend, Cyrano
de Bergerac. "Ah, / know YOU all my
ancient enemies, Cowardice, Hypocrisy,
Prejudice and Dastardy Intolerance!
that / should come to terms with you!
Never! ri fight YOU. fight you always"
But. ladies and gentlemen, if standing
OH the threshold of the month of June
has made 1t appropriate for me to say
what 1 have to the coming graduates
and to the high school pupils In general
how much more appropriate is 1t. on this
the eve of Memorial Day to lay an humble
wreath of love and affection upon the
holy dust of our country's deathless dead.
Tomorrow from the tossing pines OF
Maine to the pumed palms of Florida !,
from where the statue of liberty throws
Its welcome light across the At
lantic pillows to where the Golden
Gate lifts It's brow from the whis-
pering waves of the Pacific. the
American people with one accord Will
thrust from them the sordid pursuit Of
wealth and place and power, will turn
their backs upon the treasures of earth
which the moth and the rust consume
to do most revercnt homage to the I'M.
mortal memory OF our country's brave
and to tell once more the story and the
glory of the fallen of the fight. Tomor-
row. from the sunny prairics and from
the shadowy forests, from the wind swept
hllsides and from the sheltered valleys,
gentle hands will gather the fairest flow
ers willing feet will bear them to the
nations churchyartls, loving hearts will
scatter them upon the heroic dust that
was once perfection and tender tears re-
fresh them as the celestial dews of the
paradise of God
Tomorrow is more than q holiday. 1t Is
holy day Let no cheap orator raise
his voice tomorrow to breathe profanc
words of hate and anger against our foes
of forty years ago. On the battlefields of
the south. where the great grey gigantic
hosts faded away before tho onslaughts
Of the boys in blue. where the handsome,
dashing southern cavalier succombed
TO the cold. ascetic northern "round-
head" where brilliant Virginia broke be-
fore stubborn Pennsylvania, there the
Grand Army of the Republic learned to
respect and admire their brilliant foes
and for any one of another generation.
with windy suspiration of forced breath,
to call forth from the tomb of Oblivion
the hatred of the past, for anyone on this
day to ncedlessly reopen old sores ny
casting into the teeth of the south the
charge of treason are guilty of an in
suit to the dead to whose memory to-
morrow Is dedicated are guilty OF an in
s"i. " 'i'cS. VI .'e h\ihs ~no ioushl
that war with steel. are guilty of the very
charge they are inveighine against-an
effort to disrupt the Union, and lastly
are guilty of II general cheapness against
which. students of the high school, |
would advise you TO beware. Tomorrow
is Memorial Day. A dav of tears and
love for the blue and tears and love for
the grey.
Late bne summer afternoon I walked
he f,,l To Of ktli,
terry and stood before that grim and pro-
safe record unoi Which tbe wn. depart-
mcnt has summarized the majesty and
beauty of that ouiet SPOT.
United States Military Cemetery,
Arlington.
lntermentS ...................... 1l,2Ii
Known ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 7.l99
Unknown. Observation-Disclosures. 4,o77
Around me AS | stood alone amidst t,c
myriad dead lay the lcngthenng shadows
of the trees ana the vanishinsr Iines or
the graves Below me rolled thc poto-
mac and far beyond loorned the city of
Washington in the gold light OF The set
ting sun. Over it ali was u hush n peace
aud a silence At nv feet left standing
against /; mighty oak was. Il simple sheet
OF bronze half hidden in the waving
AS stood there in the shadows
of the grave lost in an idle reycrie 7
thrust aside with my foot the
long grass and disclosed. so deep cut in
the bronze tablet as 20 defy all the et-
facing influences of time. the keynote of
tomorrow, in the melodous lines of rheo-
lore O'Eara's S immortal eesiae:
.>-,. ,.
'''' ",.''-' ''' '''a"se' i'oF winter
List .is.
-,,',m 1;,. ';,I'es ie,no' ss.eSS uop.ll
nv, W.. D's IA! W l.uiN 'IE'h
>-a,, ~, 7i'us 'ou' s''u''oos 'o'"p'
Nv U,,';," s,'''t, YOU G'ol! ne lo'so'
~, i's I'M .i.' 'e'plu NrerS'
,,,, 'oo' l','''i's vac 'i"hpWcu spot
'''' '"''i t'''''E S'eepS'
Surely, surely | barred nv hcod and
abandoned my every thought 10 ill.,,
dust about mo. rot in Ditv ar
n sorrow, but in awe and admiration for
The great things they had wrought and a
life like theirs.
In the language of n very great Ameri-
,an orator, let YOU and me take our
places in spirit by the sides of those men
whose memory we celebrate tomorrow.
Again we are in the great struggle for
he national life We hear the sounds of
preparation, the music OF the boistcrous
lrnms and the silvery voices of heroic |
ougles We see thousands OF assem-
llages and hear the appeals of orators.
We see the pale cheeks of women onI ,hc |
lushed faces of men ana IN those ns-
we see an the dcpd whose dust
ye will cover with flowers We lose siyht
# them no more. We are With thcm |
when they enlist In the srroat army of |
reedom We zee them part from those |
hey love. Some are walking fo,, thc las,
inc in oriat n,,co, viii +hn ,,,n,,,n.,
hoy adore. Other are henJinr over
radIcs kissing babies tbat arn .sleen |
;ome are receiving the bl.ssinse. nf nid
nen. Some arc norting fron, ,nn,borS