The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1910-06-02

unexpectedness and humiliation OF the
,hock, then nerved itself anew and
lefiantly answered back by sending
more troops to the front.
| will not repeat the story of the
weary months and years,big with fate
that followed-years OF alternate
nope and encouragement, as Victory
and defeat alternately followed each
other through all of which the cour-
lge of the north never wayered nor its
faith ever faltered in the righteous
ness of its cause, and its ultimate
triumph. Only those who walked In
their shadow can understand the poig
nancy OF those years. The north be-
came great recruiting camp. and the
south a limitless battlefield. Men
fought and women watched and waited
md prayed. On the battlefield, in
the hospital and camp, and in loath-
some southern prisons Death daily
gathered his awful harvests. In every
home in the land anxiety and dread
waited at the door, and sat at the
meals, and watched through the lone
~ vigils of the night. What words
can tell the agony of suspense thai
sollowed the Geographic news of every
battle, till the slow moving days
brought the dread list of killed and
wounded, which crushed so many
hearts with grief, and filled so many
others with prayers of gratitude thai
the names of their loved ones were
rot there.
Four long years the nation walked
in the valley of the shadow of death
Twenty seven hundred thousand men
went bravely out to battle, to meet
death, if need be, for their country
and their flag. Three hundred and
sixty thousand of these sealed theii
devotion to their country with theii
life's blood The shadow of grief lay
heavy upon the stricken homes all
over the land to which they came not
back. Fair sections OF the country
we're laid waste and desolate by the
dragon heel OF war. Not millions
but billions of treasure were swallow
ed up in this carnival OF death and
destruction.
These are some of the darker lines
of tragedy in the greatest drama OF
Ciyilization-lines that have burned
deep into the heart and conscience
o. the nation and are woven immut-
ably into the web of history. You
who we're witnesses of this great
drama, you who were actors in it,
YOU to whom it is not a tale but a
living memory. | need not tell that
men will die for countrys sake, that
women will sacrifice and suffer even
unto heartbreak and death-for you
are not only witnesses, but eXemplars
of this high courage and devotion.
But it is in the hearts OF the youth
the young men and women into whose
hands the destiny of this country is
oassing. that | would kindle the flame
of patriotism,-tha | would persuade
that love of country is not a mere
rhetorical expression, but passion
ate emotion. You see in these veter-
ans OF the Grand Army of the Repub-
lie only a handful or bronzed and griz-
lied men. They appeal to you, per-
haps, no more than any other gray
haired man whom you would meet on
the street. But do you know,-do you
realize that they have faced death in
a thousand forms for you? Do you
realize that they have stood amid the
din and carnage of battle when deadly
missiles filled the air, and comrades
dropped to death all around them
that they have watched for hours on
the lonely picket when an enemy S
bullet might, at any instant, pluck out
their lives,-that they have endured
hardship and hunger, and privation
and disease, and have suffered hor-
rors worse than death in rebel pris-
ons? If, in your hearts, you ask
what it was that moved men to give
up home and family and friends and
all that makes life dear to face the
the hardships and dangers OF war, the
eloquent answer comes in the words
that follow, from one who spoke out
of his own experience and deer
understanding of the great heart OF
the nation-"Love of Country, alone
could have inspired three hundred
thousand men to die for the Union
Nothing less sacred than this love
could have sustained one hundred and
seventy-five thousand brave men who
suffered and starved and died in rebe
prisons. Nor could anything else
have given comfort to the five hundred
thousand manned and diseased who
escaped immediate death in siege ant
In hattie, to end in torment the re
mainder of their patriotic lives These
are the words of President Mckinley
who. a boy of seventeen laid aside his
books, gave up his every cherished
plan and ambition, and consecratet
his young life to the service of his
country. This is the spirit and ex-
ample of one whose name we have
learned to cherish and revere; and il
is the spirit which animated the great
army of young men who, like him, ii
the hour of her stress and need, went
forth at their country's call. 1t is
this spirit which is the safeguard OF
our national life and natural honor
and it is the spirit with which we
should seek to Undue the hearts of the
youth of the land. have somewhere
read that, for three hundred years
after the battle OF 1hermopylae, every
child in the public schools of Greece
was required to recite from memory
the names of the three hundred mar
tyrs who fell in the defense of thai
Pass. Whether this be history, OF
whether it be tradition, ii is an inspir-
ing thought, and conveys a valuable
lesson. The spirit of Thermopylat
is the spirit which makes for great
ness in a nation. AS the greatness
of the nation inheres in the individual
no nation, can become great or per
manently remain great, If II do not in
culcate ,and foster in the minds of the
youth, the virtues OF courage and pa
ri