The Somerset reporter., 1906-05-31

efter the day work: and even the protect
ing tone Of old Rover's bark a, nc warns
away the approaching Traveller seems musical
10 his dsconsoate heart. In memory he
letters along the meadow where the DAISIES
and the clover mingle their incense with the
purling Of the trout brook; he feels once
more the aflectionate touch OF soft hand
smoothing back the brown locks If his weary
little head as II rests in ms m5thers lap.
Tears Of inconsistencies blur his vision. when
suddenly h. sees a vessel he shades his
eyes with his hands to get clearer view Of
the flag as it floats and droops Only a mo-
ment more and Old Glory speaks to him
across the uneasy sea- and 8hen he steps ON
deck his feet touch the soil Of his country
under his own flag, AMI h. hears his own
language This man knows what patriotism
is
Today nation weeps over its fallen de-
tenders. As these memorials were instituted
to keep green the memories Of the departed
patriots, what time Of year IS So good as this,
when nature. beautiful with renewed life
reflects the smiles Of God-when the earth,
green with promise, offers its choicest flowers
to deck the last resting places Of its brave
Comrades of your silent brothers, It Is ten
derby fitting that you, survivors Of the earn
age, should conduct this pathetic service.
Doubtless, on an occasion ike this, your
memory brings back to you the scenes of
army life. They rise before YOU with emphatic
yividness. You hear once more the hurried
clatter of the dashing cavalry, the rafting
steel of bayonets, the lannon's deafenng
thunder the crash Of musketry, the scream
of the shell, the hiss of the bullet the roll Of
the drum, the weird notes Of the buglc the
means Of the dying. and the hurrahs Of the
triumphant. You see once more the gray
coats advancing as you nerve your young
! spirit for the battle; you behold some heroic
commander or brave comrade throw his arms
toward heaven as he falls backward on the
cory 6eld You sadly gaze on the long lines
Of ghasty faces as they lie pitful in the hos
pital the ante room of death; YOU watch
once more the lonely beat Of the tired SEN
tinel as he PAGES slowly in the steady neon
| light; you bend to catch the movements of
| the death stricken lips as the dying soldier
whispers his last goodby to the dear ones in
the North; you wake from your reyerie and
all is still Can forty years have fled since
| you left those scenes? You wonder that time
in its treless flow has carried you down It's
stream so far. ! almost envy YOU the distin-
noble host, pant of whom are here and a
part in heaven. You do well. gentlemen, to
select these little children to bring their floral
tributes for those peaceful mounds What
could blend more beautifully and gracefully
and touchingly than the patriotism Of the
speeches brave the tenderness of children
and the fragrance of flowers? Children,
blossoms, and the dust oil nations defen-
ders purity, delcacy, and honor
BY these ceremonies the living are bene-
fitted more than the dead are honored
Feelings Of gratitude are awakened, noble
impulses are aroused and children see that
consecration to the right and devotion to
duty are remembered by men and women
Side by side with the noble of all lands the
| American soldiers will march in majestic
| phaanx down the long aisles Of history; and
in all cllmes, as long as lovers Of freedom
come to worship in Libertys temple, they
/ will behold there inscribed. in characters OF
| immortal honor the deeds OF our Unions
| defenders.
On such an occasion as this, you remember
with renewed tenderness the HnteiUyHea
lar away in Southern fields they lie, with
their beached faces upturned TO heaven.
Nature is not forgetful of them. The grass
comes early to caress their graves, and the
wild flowers rest their perfumed cheeks on
t ers Percbance the orioles song floats
| light above them, and nature at eve dstlls
her dewey tears upon their graves, while the
low rhythm of the sad pines, singing their
pIaintiye alto, repeats the signing Of fond
hearts at home.
What man Of you can say he knows their
columns do not now wheel around you in
airy eschelon2 When the last of your names
| is added to their list and when, on remem
hrance day, the great day OF all the year, the
flag is P aced at your low green tent, whose
curtain never outward swings" there will be
an eternal and unbroken reunion, when those
we call dead will meet, and each old soldier
will give a joyful answer to his honored
name.