Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-05-31

and memory. a little DINNER. but no'
one whit less dear, calls us today from
out the present back along the weary
road of the past.
My friends, this is the interest pay
ing day of the nation. The day when
we must pause and pay our share Oh
the interest Oil the debt we owe these
men. and the principal of that debt Is
heart and life and hope, given In sen
sacrifice that right government mlgh'
live. And the interest we are TO pay
on that debt is not measured by goiu
or silver but is tribute of memory, oi
reverence and of love. Reverence for
all who for their country dared, ana
love for all who died.
What is the magic which causes the
fire of memory to burn so steady anu
go bright about these men? is II tiial
they have displayed brute courage anu
pcrsistency in the hour of danger! NC.
Is it that war as war appeals 10 tne
hearts of men? No, it is not that. IL
cannot be that, for history Is replete
with struggles and carnage ana coh-
quest, the stony of which never quick
ems the pulse nor moves to sorrow. IL
fighters. not mere machines, but pc
cause they were artisans and farmers
and toilers. who from the walks or
peace We're suddenly transformed INTO
defenders of nation and the makers
of history.
Transformed by love Of country first
but deeper and grander than that, De
cause they fought to assert, and assert
ing to maintain principle of right, Oh
humanity, of honesty and of justice.
a principal of eternal truth which M"
come down to us through all the Gays
since that great leader on MI Siiiai
taught that love of fellowmen was next
to love of God. A principle of natural
law, basic in its conception that an
men are moulded in equality. Ihat
was the prime issue in that contest, an
issue that made for the good OF man
and for the good Of his descendants.
That is why the nation paws these men
i'm the fullest measure the best 1t mas
of love and veneratiOn. War, begot-
ten in a spirit of conquest, is tyrany'
and tyranny and democracy are repus-
nant.
Believing. as do you and l and as did
lnOSC heroes Ill DIuC, lltt s'''N o
maxim of natural law that all men are
created equal, with inallenable rights
Cf life, liberty and happiness, Is as
true IN cavalier Dixie as in Puritan
New England, and that a man is man
whether he has the de luxe binding OF
Saxon or is black or brown.
That, gentlemen, is why we bow to
YOU. because YOU were the component
part of the greatest army in history,
the moral crusaders of human rights.
And that is why the gallery of immor-
tally is yours. That is why, today,
YOU may feel the consolation of re-
menhrance and appreciation, ana
know that when the sun is sinking TIC
rest on the new-turncd sod of The last
man who wore the blue that decades
ana decades and decades will pass, and
boys like me- though not yet born, Will
speak in ringing tones OF Grant, OF
Sherman and Sheridan, and midst the
cheers of listeners tell of the citizen
solliery. the men in the ranks like you.
But you, fellow citizens, have you no
lessons to learn from men like these?
Think you the country can rest on tire
victories Of the past and forget the
present? Eternal vigilance is the price
of liberty, and that is as true today
is it ever was. There are conflicts
and contests confronting us that are
as irrepressiblc as was that which so
years ago Numbered through the land.
Liberty may be dabauched by subtlcty
as effectually as it can be assaulted by
secession. And the valiant lads who
went to the front and won their way
through a path of death and ruin to
victory have left the fruits of that vic
tory to you. and to YOU and to the citi
zenship of the present, as trustees for
the future.
Let us be true to that Stewardship.