The Press., 1909-06-02
The Spirit of '6l in the
 Life of To-day.
Memorial Day Address Before Winter Post G. A. R., Stafford Springs, Conn, Saturday, May 29, 1909.

NOmMsS 0atuKudyS way GCS ACWS'
 We turn today with multitudes of our fellow men from the busy walks of the living to the quiet resting place of our dead; from the fevered atmos- phere of commerce and industry, from field and from farm, to this place which we call, most appropriately, tGod's Acre. '' What mixed multi tude we are, we citizens of these United States, differing one from an- other in birth, and rank, and nation ality. and in many other respects No nation ever held on an equality of citizenship, and with so little of class distinction. so many and so varied peoples, living in harmony and enjoy ing the blessings of great republic.
 But our differences do not count on a day like this. We have left them behind us as we have entered this place in the company of the living. To day have forgotten, and ask you to forget, whatever differences there may be amongst us. and to eDl phasize with me, by entering into the spirit of this occasion, one great re- spect in which we are all alike. We are all citizens of our beloved coun try, assembled under the flag we love, to pay our common debt of gratitude and honor to those who laid down their lives on the altar of their country and ours And we are here, too, to honor that rapidly diminishing company of men, now old and feeble, who went forth in all the beauty and strength of their youth to fight. not only that our country might be pre- served from disunion, but that four millions of our fellow men might re- ceive, and in time learn to appro- priate, the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
 Who were these men, or rather these boys of sixty-one They were two and one-half million of our best and our bravest Of this number two million were under twenty one years of age, one million were under eight cen, and one hundred thousand were under fifteen. Were they not indeed our Boys in Blue ?'' Does not the realization of the fact that only one. fifth had reached or passed the age of manhood bring home to us, as nothing else can, the quality and the great ness of the sacrifice which the homes of this nation were quick and willing to make2
 Glad and justifiably proud are we that our own state, at 8 cost of more than six million dollars, sent forth in to the great conflict fifty four thousand of her sons. one-Rinth of her entire population, more than one-half of her voters, and in total nearly seven thousand more than her full quota. Glad, too, are we that the citizens of this little town poured out money like water, fifty thousand dollars, that 8 true and just cause might not fail of adequate support.
 But what sorrow shook our state, what desolate homes and broken hearts there were, when our soldiers returned, leaving twenty thousand of their comrades dead upon the field of battle, or missing from the ranks. Only those who have lived through those dark days can know their mean ing. For us that cloud wears gold en lining, and we see only glory, and feel only gratitude, where they " ere shaken with unutterable grief. As we are recalling the men who went forth from our state, let us pause to make personal mention of that boy of seventeen, Samuel Horne of Winsted, the first of our soldiers to enlist, and one who served with honor in twenty five battles.
 There were raw recruits and dandy" regiments among those soldiers of ours. There were men of different race and breeding, different tastes and habits. But they taught us one great lesson that war alw avs teaches, how to lay aside such differ ences as completely as though they had never existed, and to fight united ly, shoulder to shoulder, for loved and a worthy cause.
 And they were common men and boys; not saints or nobles. It is so easy for us, who desire to remem ber only the best, and to imagine only the highest, to fall into the error of over praising our heroes. When a man or an army proves to be noble and great in one respect. it is easy for us to forget, and distasteful for us to imag- inc, that they were not thus in all respects. Yet, if the dead were to rise from their graves to rebuke the living, none would be quicker than our soldiers to disclaim and even resent mistaken and ver-zealous tributes which would seek to place them upon too high pedestal. I mention this because it is we'll for us to know, we'll to realize, that though the destinies of nations may be shaped and directed by men of superior life. immortals like Washington and Lin coin, those destinies are always wrought out by common men-oom- mon even as you and in our gener- ation. For one am quite sure that were such a war to arise to-day (thank God it can never be }. we should find our boys and men measuring fully up to the standard of fifty years ago i; yes. and to 3 standard even higher. 1t must be so, for the world does not move backwards. aLd because, too, fifty of the most wonderful years in