The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1908-05-01
MEMORIAL DAY AND ITS BLESS.
INGS

On memorial day the harp is brought
! from its place beneath the bending
willows. and is made to sing its tune
full lays Of pathos and sorrow; the bu-
gle blast is heard once more in mem
DRY as it calls armed men forth %
deeds OF valor; the snorting steed with
nostrils extended. the very picture e
defiance, is put upon imaginary can
vass as he shifts the battle afar of :;
the rattle Of musketry, the belching Of
cannon; the hand-to-hand conflict are
all wildly brought TO view and fitting
ly and feelingly described in grim an
stately prose or sweet and melting
verse.
Every memorial day enriches the
language.
No one can read these magnificent
eulogies and not be struck with the
fact that men are still left US who can
weave the language into meshes Of
beauty and grandeur as when HON n
sung or Demosthenes and Caesar de-
! claimed; men under whose magic
wand in the recounting Of those times
the language becomes as beautiful as
/ a flower garden, as rare and radiant
as a maiden, as soft and soothing as
gentle zephyrs, or as Earring as harsh
thunder, as brilliant as the fash Of
/ lightning. or as Illuminating as shoot
/ ing meteors.
Memorial day teaches Us that the
orator and the poet still abide with rs
and that they only lack the occasion to
bring them forth from their hiding
places.
Here. for example is a Floridian.
grown up between the pIow-handIes,
devoting his whole life TO barter, trade
and commerce. but in recounting these
scenes grows wildly eloquent and in
terweaving a picture Of his own life n
the story, telling in a way his own tri-
umph over difficulties and misfor-
tunes. he gives Us a sample Of eIo-
Quence that has rarely been excelled
in the realms OF literature We pro-
nounce his exordium a gem Of purest
ray serene.
Hon. Frank Adams said in his MEM
orial day speech at Monticello:
The serious lessons Of life are learn
ed not from victory but from defeat.
Our triUmphs are the results Of sue
cessive failures and the waterloos Of
mind are the cradles Of thought. An
expiring star falls in meteoric ashes |
and lights the way by its gHmmering |
embers to new discoveries in the
world of space. The coral builder dies 1
amid the fabric Of his own creation, I,
but his island castles stand forever. the |
pride and glory Of the sea. The aero |
naut falls 70 earth, but science, gath |
ering up his chart. defies the storm. |
and. reaching outward, f1aunts her
banner in the pathway OF the winds |
and flashing through the air and whis- !
pering through the sea, the electrician |
sets his signal on the shore and all the
white-winged ships of trade nesting
in the port. leave an angry storm t.
waste its fury on an empty sea.
1--WE are told that revolutions do |
more than Overturn dynasties and de-
stroy empires-they mould character
and develop nations. And as the la
bors Of the sea have created continents
and the turmoils Of the land have
brought forth mountains, so the cease
less waves of war and the volcani-
shock Of battle have peopIed mind
with oceanicas Of thought and plante
white capped Apprentices Of truth along
the shores of human progress and uv.-
velopment."
And DR.. Nunnally'S speech in OcaIa !
was dotted over with translucent gems
and a rhythm and cadence was run
ming through it that were both mag
netic and pleasing.
His apostrophe, for instance. t,l
southern womanhood:
zone Of the bards of Scotia long ago
sang this familiar couplet:
Full many a flower Is born to blush
unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert
air"
But the southern rose IN the modest
garden of the southern home-sourh-
ern womanhood-war grown and sa-
bre- pruned has filled the earth with
its fragrance and outstrips in beauty
and tone the production of palaces in
the east and mansions in the north.
That same poet said.
Full many a gem Of purest ray Sc
rene,
The dark, unfathomed caves Of ocean
bear"
But the volcanic fires Of southern
war forced those So,7+b..,r, er,,,,s -, ~r,..