The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-02-11


men of the nation promptly met the
forces that had been assembled to
destroy the Union, resolved to put
down the rebellion, and preserve the
Union, at any cost of blood and
treasure. Through four years of bat
tie, peril, and sacrifice,-in more
than two thousand engagements,
ranging from skirmishes of outposts
or scouting parties to battles that
continued for days and weeks to-
gether,-on the soil of every slave
State except Delaware, and of the
free States of Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Indiana and Kansas, of the Terri
tories of the Indian Nations, of New
Mexico, and of Arizona-you and
your comrades of the Union armies
fought for our national unity and
national life. You met the armies of
secession with heroism and firmness
never surpassed on the field of bat
tie. You not only repelled their
invasions of the North, at Antietam
and Gettysburg, but you met them
on their own ground, and drove
them from their strongest positions,
until there was not a spot left in all
their territory where they could
hoist the blood red battle flag of re-
, bellion or fire another shot against
the Stars and Stripes
You, members of Captain Ham
Post, were among those who made
up that grand army of the Union;
the grandest that ever shook the
earth with its tread. You were
among those who heard the call to
( arms; the call for volunteers to
preserve the Union. You hesitated
not; your only thought was, My
country needs me-" and with quick
steps and loyal hearts you marched
to the front. You are among those
who charged amid the smoke of bat
tie, who heard the roar of cannon,
the shrek of the shell, the whistle
of the mimic bullets, the groans of
the dying, the rebel yell and the
Union cheer. You deserve, and you
receive, the plaudits of every good
citizen, for the services you render
ed them, and rendered to their
children and their childrens chill
dren.
That vast army Of the Union
arose like the mighty waves of the
sea in a storm, sweeping everything
/ before it, And as, when the tempest
/ has ceased, the waves roll back and
/ become part of their mother ocean,
/ so that Grand Army after the close
/ of the war went back to their homes
| and remained a part of this great
/ nation that they had preserved in
| freedom and union, and an inspira-
! tion to every liberty loving individ-
ual of every land and every race.
You have been found upon the
( right side of the great moral. civil
and political questions which have
come before this country since the
/ war A grateful people have appre-
ciated your worth and services. You
( city, state and national affairs
/ From your ranks we have taken
/ judges for our courts mayors for
our cities, governors for our states
For the head of the nation you have
/ furnished a Grant, a Hayes, Gar
/ field, Harrison, and twice that
martyred patriot Mckinley.
And you will long make your in.
fluence felt in this land. Tell your
children and your grandchildren OF
those days, of those battles and OF
those things that you have seen and
heard. Teach them love of coun.
try. Patriotism will be better learn
ed from your lips than from books
See to it that the laws of this land
are observed and especially by word
and deed guard Old Glory in the fu.
ture as you have in the past and see
that she suffers no dishonor
Much must be said also for the
conquered Confederate soldier He
also, like the Union soldier, went to
/ the front believing his cause just
He went home at the close of the
war, overcome in the arbitrament OF
arms, discouraged, and with little
hope in sight He was beaten, but
not disgraced, and he bore the re-
suit like a true American. Through
his efforts the PROSTATE and desolate
/ South struggled to her knees, then
/ to her feet, and to-day she stands
/ bravely erect, willing to play her
part and to play it we'll in the sis
/ terhood of states.
What the result would have been
/ if the secession of the South had
/ been uninterrupted no one can tell,
/ 1t is certain, however, that Mason
and Dixon's line, in the east, and
/ the Ohio river in the west, would
, have marked the boundaries of two
/ hostile nations. Instead of being
/ the first nation of the world we
/ should have become in all probabil-
! ity a group of petty nations like the
South American republics, unable to
maintain any strong central govern
ment or to gain the respect and hon
or of other nations. From such a
condition your patriotism and yalor
preserved us.
Our country has grown from 81
100000 to 9O,00O,000. Cities have
1. -