The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1902-06-06
Nation Preservers.
COL A.. L. SOFTER.

BY COZ. a. Q. s0R7ER.
When the nation ceases to revere the
memory of its heroic dead, it shall per.
isb. But so long as our people show
proper reverence for this day and its
hallowed associations, the nation shall
live. Republics. may be ungrateful to
deserving civilians and still exist. but
to ignore the country's preseryers.
living or dead. is to seal the nations
doom.
In observing this Memorial day,
therefore we seek to keep green the
memory Of the departed and to honor
the surviving comrade. This Memorial
day had it's origin in the comradeship
which resulted from the perilous as
ISOLATION of our national defendefs
1t resulted from a desire upon the part
of the survivors to cherish the memory
of the messmate who fell in the defense
of his country. The pathos of the vet
Grams annual pilgrimage to the grave of
his comrade, has touched the tenderest
chord in the American heart.
To-day the, people with one voice say
to the Grand Army of the Republic,
'"Be not alone in your griefs for your
sorrow is u sorrow, your dead are u
dead We say to these comrades, that,
according to the immutable laws of
nature you may go hence, but this ami
versary which you have i%nstituated
must be observed after you and we and
our children and our children's chiidren
shall have passed beyond. 1t must be
observed in every part of the land so
long as the flag you defend continues to
be the emblem of national unity and
greatness. 1t will be observed as long
as there are Sons of Veterans and a
National Guard. In armeasure, a CRATE
full people have introded upon the san
city of your grief. Yet without sacri-
lege, for these for whom we mourn ate
the peoples dead They may not be
bound to us by the ties of comradeship
but they are our fathers, IL brothers,
our kindred, as well as their countries
sons and your comrades No selfishness
enters into the.solemn rights to day.
Private griefs are merged into one com
mon fraternal sorrow. Seventy mil
lion people as one bereaved family at
the grave of a brother.
Nothing is done in vain" and ter
rible as it may seem, we now believe
that the holocaust of g. ard 90 was
ordered by the great God of War"
The wholesale destruction of the
flower of American manhood was neces-
sary to the completion of our country's
history. OF the individual. it has been
said that "a christian mans life is laid
in the loom of time to-a pattern which
he does not see, but God does; and his
heart is schuttle. On one side of the
loom is sorrow and on the other is 10y;
and the shuttle struck alternately by
each, flies back and forth, carrying the
thread which is white or black as the
pattern needs; and in the end, when
God shall lift up the finished garment,
and all its changing hues shall glance
out, 1T will then appear that the deep
and dark colors were as needful to
beauty as the bright and high colors .
With the nations life as with the indi-
vidual, 1.-The deep and dark colors are as
needtul to beauty as the bright and high
colors.''
We will not question the wisdom of
the Om%nipotent being who shapes the
affairs of nations as we'll as those of
men. We will in our sorrow, try to
think, that the deep hued streams of
blood shed on many fields of battle,
were needed to blend with the pure
white of peace and the true blue of 10y
atty and give beauty TO the national
fabric.
We know that without this day our
year would be incomplete. 1t has be-
came a part of our lives, a part of our
selves. On independence Day we
gather in our might and pride; on
Memorial day with a consciousness of
human weakness and in humility; on
July 4th we boastingly proclaim that
we are the greatest nation on earth.
On May 80, in deep contrition we prove
it.
Peter, bold, aggressive, defiant, was
great; Mary. first at the tomb of her
master was greater. OF all the days in
in the American calender, this is the
best. 1t is the most fruitful of all in
its teachings of true Americanism, for
today not only do the living speak, but
from the lives OF departed heroes we
learn the lesson of national greatness
And, what is national greatness?
What will the people of future cen
turies regard as greatest in the life of
today?
Will it be the commercial spirit of
the age, or American inventive genius,
or craftsmanship, or our institutions
of learning OF our achievements in the
field of literature or the deve lopement
of the arts and science? Others will
compete with rs for a place in history
along these lines, but none can rival
with us with a citizen soldiery such as
the North and South sent fort to battle
from 81 to '65. Both armies were re
cruited with the bravest Of the brave
You did not go down there to fight al
army of towards You were Ameri
cans and your foemen though wrong
We're Americans. You had the courage
of your convictions; they fought des
perately for their delusions. 1t wa
your duty to teach them the right. Yor
did it. The task of educating the re
creant Southern brother was a long ant
arduous one and as part compensation
, you and the fallen comrades are EMIT
led to the country's eternal gratitude
The man who attempts to belittl'
chat conflict n to teach my children
that my fathers foe was a puny one