The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1910-05-26
Volunteer Soldiers OF the Union.

A tribute to the soldiers of the wal
of the Union delivered at the banquet
in honor of General Grant at the Pal
mer House, Chicago, in November,
1879. The speaker was Colonel Rob
| ert G.. Ingersoll.
When the savagery of the lash, the
barbarism Of the chain, and the insan
ity of secession confronted the civil
cation of our country, the question
"Will the great republic defend itself?'
trembled on the lips of every lover OF
mankind. The North filled with INTEL
igence and wealth-children liberty
marshaled her hosts and asked only
for a,lcader From civil life a man,
silent, thoughtful, poised and calm,
stepped forth and with the lip, Of vic
tory. voiced the Nations first and last
demand: Unconditional and immedi-
ate surrender" From that moment
the end was known. That utterance
wa, the first real declaration of real
war, and, in accordance with the dra-
matte unities of mighty events, the
great soldier who made it, received
the final sword of the rebellion.
The soldiers Of the republic were
not seekers after vulgar glory.
They were not animated by the hope
Of plumber or the love Of conquest
They fought to preserve the home
stead OF liberty and that their children
might have peace. They were the
defenders of humanity, the destroyera
of perjudice, the breakers OF
chains, and in the name Of the flu
turo they slew the monster Of their
time. They finished what the soldiers
of the revolution commenced. They
rc-lighted the torch that fell from
their august hands and filed the
world again with light. They blotted
from the statute books laws that had
been passed 10y hypocrites at the IN
stigation of robbers. and tore with IN
dgnant hands from the Constitution
that infamous clause that made men
the catchers of their feilowmen. They
made it possible for judges to be Just,
for statesmen to be humane, and for
politicians to be honest They roll
ed the stone from the sepulchre OF
progress, and found therein two angels
clad in shining garments Nationality
and Liberty.
The soldiers were the sayiors OF the
Nation: they were the liberators OF
men. In writing the Proclamation OF
Emancipation, Lincoln. greatest OF our
mighty dead, whose memory is as gent
le as the summer air when reaperS
sing amid the gathered ~heayes, copied
with the pen what Grant and his brave
comrades wrote with swords.
Grander than the Crock, nohIer than
the Roman, the soldiers OF the Repub-
lie, with patriotism rs shorcIeos as
the air, battlcd torthc rights OF Others
for the nobility Of labor; fought that
mothers might own their babes, that
arrogant idlcness should not scar the
back Of patient toll, and that our coun-
try should not be many-headed mon
stcr made Of warning states, but Ma
ton, sovereign, great and free
Blood was water money was leaves
and life was only common AR until
one flag iloated over a Republic with
out a master and without slave
But then was asked the question;
villa free people tax themselves TO
pay a Nations debit
The soldiers went home to their
waiting wives, to their glad children,
and to the girls they loved they went
back t. the fields, the shops and
mines. They had not been dcmoraIiz-
cd They had been ennobled, Ihey
were rs honest in peace as they had
been brave in war Mocking at pow
crty laughing at reverseS, they made
a friend OF toll They said 1--WE saw
ed the Nation, life, and what IS life
without honor?' They worked and
wrought with all labor royal sons
that every pledge the nation gave
might be redeemed. And their great
leader, having put a shining band
Of friendship a girdle OF cIasped
and happy hands around the globe,
comes home and finds that every prom
ise made in war has now the ring and
CLEAN Of gold.
There Is anothcrqucstlon still: VIII