Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1905-06-03

My supreme reason is that the
youth of the present age need this
explanation of Memorial Day.
The whole story of the Republic
for two hundred years empties into
this sacred urn. The Greeks loved
beauty and believed that some
where there was a fountain whose
bubbling drops contained the liquor
of eternal youth. That is the sub
lime meaning of this Memorial Day.
1t is spring where the y )ung may
quaff the nectar of inspiration, and
where the aged can renew their
strength.
How were the children of the
past trained and educated? In
Athens love of country was the
basal principle of all education.
Parents rehearsed to their children
the story of battles and victories.
The young soldier was urged to
initiate the heroic veterans of the
past. Statesmen looked up toward
the patriots and martyrs. Excur-
sions were made to the battlefield
of Marathon and the sacred tombs
of Thermopylae, where orations
were delivered; and thus old and
young were STEPPED in the ideas of
patriotism and love of country.
This is true of Judea and Rome.
And SO does modern England in
struct her youth. The crumbling
ruins of castles; the tombs and
monuments of kings and statesmen
and warriors; the sacred shrines Of
poets and philosophers are instru-
ments which develop loyalty and
keep patriotism burning in the
heart.
Although our historic spots are
few in number, yet they are as
sacred as any history. Bunker Hill
end Concord; Lexington and York
town equal Marathon or Marston
Moor. And we have our Arlington
Cemetery on the banks of the placid
Potomac. In it's sylvan temple the
services of Decoration Day are
held, and near by is the field of the
silent dead. Everywhere in village
and hamlet sleep the brave in the
grassy mounds decorated with May
lowers, { y Se ~
And we are not wanting in states
man and heroes. Patrick Henry at
Williamsburg; Wendell Phillips at
Faneuel Hall; Webster and Clay in
the Senate; Choate at the bar;
Edward Everett at College Hall and
Charles Sumner and Garrison, and
many others of equal heroism and
intellectual powers, are mighty
pillars in the Temple of Liberty. In
war what greater models than
Washington and Grant, and Perry
and Porter and Farragut? Not in
the long range of human history
has this roll been surpassed.
But the real genius of this Mem
orial Day is not to recall the great
only, but to honor the private
citizen-the volunteer soldier as
well. A standing army of Monarchi-
cal Europe is a childish display of
valor compared with the pageantry
OF the private citizen marching IN
defense Of his country.
You remember that in a novel by
Walter Scott '.'Old Mortality" is de-
scribed as solitary who frequents
the country churchyards Of Scot
land, and the graves of the Gov
enanters, and chisels anew upon
the tombstones the names that
times destructive hand had we'll
nigh Obliterated. When asked the
reason of such visitations and such
endeavor, he replied, that he wished
to see the noble men, and the
heroes of the past living in the
memory of the men Of the present.
Sublime sentiment of ''Old Mortali-
ty"! That nation which forgets
the noble past will surely suffer.
The past is like a mother with her
children playing at her feet. Her
love, her works, her longings, her
language, her life are all flowing
down from her to her loved ones.
The century plant is said to blossom
only after hundred years have
rolled their seasons over it. The
anthems Of liberty are blossoms on
the stem of a thousand years Of
sentiment about freedom. It is we'll
to look forward, but 1t is our duty
also to look back. The morrow is
only a dream. Yesterday is fact.
Hope, that grand sentiment of the
soul, looks to the future. Memory
looks to the past. Hope can convey
no inform tiOn IT ON, ~ f~,,,, q +; -,