The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1903-06-04
TRIBUTE TO THE VETERANS.
Stirring Words Of Patriotism by lndiana's
Senator at Shiloh.

Since all must die, how fortunate
TO die for an undying cause and under
the approving eye of history.
So fell those who fell on this field.
For they gave their lives to save the
life of the nation; and history recites
no nobler story than the story of their
sacrifice
They thus are the subject not only
Of our pride and our love, but of our
envy. For it is not given to us so to
close the volume of our years; and
If it were, We dare not say or believe
that we would meet that opportunity
so grady as they met it.
That the ground they stood and
fought on may be forever marked and
that our children may be worthy of the
heroes sleeping here, Indiana builds
these monuments Not that she would
rear warriors-for we pray for per-
petual peace-but that she would have
her sons develop souls SO great that
the giving of their lives for a worthy
cause would be to them a welcome
thing when the supreme hour comes.
And such were the souls of our faith
ers and brothers who, on this field, on
this spot, paid that price for our ma
tons immortality.
For their blood was shed to make of
the American people single nation,
and not for any lesser purpose. All
other results of the civil war were in
cident to that. And so they died no
less fol- the people of the south than
for the people of the north-for the
American people undivided, indivisa-
bic. Their martrydom was to establish
forever the brotherhood of the flag
a relationship so lofty that it cannot
see sections within the boundaries of
the republic
That great purpose they accomplish
ed. Devotion to the nation is today
the first principle of all Americans.
In our recent war the proudest to wear
the nations uniform were the sons of
those. who on this field, met their
northern brothers mortally; the first
to die beneath the flag was a son of
Carolina. And the giving of ones life
is the highest proof of loyalty. Ex-
hausted in arms but by arms un-
conquered, the southern people have
yielded after all these years to love,
and in love. we, too, have yielded to
Them and nothing but love can con-
Quer an American. Yes, one other
thing-a great and true and righte-
Gus idea. And the southern people
have been great enough to rise to that
idea. And that idea is American ma
tionaiity. How proud we are that they
yielded only to that. For let the world
and history know that in valor all
Americans are unconquerable.
To me the thought of people,
nation, a master nation devoted to
high ideals, is so vast and fine that
even the simplest words are not strong
enough to state 1t. And that was the
thought our heroes died for. How
glorious to close ones eyes forever
beholding at the last an idea SO no
BILE that 1t is an ideal. They did that.
And that ideal fought on for them.
1t is now the idea and ideal of us all,
men and women of north and south
alike.
How little those words-southern
and northern! Let US forget them.
How much grander the single word,
American, Let us think of that and
only that. 1t is the word the spirits
of our heroes whisper to our souls to-
day 1t is the word for which they
gave up their MORTALITY. Let us who
live be worthy of our dead.
And let us who live be tolerant of
the views of those heroes of the other
side who died before the guns of our
heroes here and elsewhere. Only the
years can tell what elements of just
opinion were confused and tangled in
that cataclysmal conflict For us it is
enough-a fuflness-to know that our
central thought of nationality was true
and that our brothers of the other
side assert it now even as we our
selves assert it. But when men die for
ideas, who dare denounce them, The
Hottest quality of human character is
tolerance-the loftiest but one, and
that one, justice. Tolerance then, and
loving kindness and charitable for
giveness on both sides, and through
all the land sweet reasonableness.
Nothing but these are important, for
in these abides Truth, and Truth is
the only sovereign.
War, at best, is awful. Yet this
word can be said even for war-it re-
veals elemental and eternal things
In peace men count up profit and loss
and reckon action. plan and purpose
from the central point of selfish inter.
are conscious of thing which cannot
be measured by yardstick, nor weigh
ed in scales, nor listed in stock market
yet thing for which they go to the
grave as to bride-glad, grand, mas
terful in a savage urselfishness. That
wonderful thing which makes men vel
come death is principle. In wars
fierce light they see it. Our heroes
who sleep here saw it. God grant us
their JOY of seeing, without their agony
of slaughter and battle. Not that they
found it hard to die-they did not-bui
horrible to slay-
For the moment, at least, standing
with their graves around US. we al
may measure the height of their out
look, the breadth of their thought
And, as we measure, how little, tran
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