The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-03-06

The young, the middle-aged the
old were gone. Years passed by
The moss-bearded live oaks of the
Southern lagoon, the towering pines
of the mountain side, the cypress of
the swamps, and the Savanas were
stripped of their leaves and foliage
by grape and canister, their huge
trunks rent in twain by solid shot,
the vast plains of the South land,
with Its valleys of flowers and grass,
were stained with smoke and Grim
son.
The plumed bird of paradise, the
warble of the mocking bird, the cur
LEWIS restless cries. were hushed in
the death knell of thousands, for they
slept by each river and tree.
The wife waited in vain for him
who never came, for the fathers
glory was a soldiers grave. oh,
what a time was that! What a trib-
ute was that wife's-that husbands!
You, who lived not in those dark
days, learn the lesson well. Read
the written and hear the unwritten
story of that great Struggle. Impress
it upon your minds as it is written
in the faces and forms of the living
comrades of to-day Honor them as
you reverence the dead, that the fires
of patriotism shall burn your very
soul till God and country shall own
you as one.
Every lover of liberty, every be-
lever of self-government, no matter
where they lived during that war,
knew that the success of the North
ern armies meant much to them. If
you doubt it, search the passenger
lists of our great ocean liners that
have piled between this and other
countries for the past fifty years.
We see them as they step upon the
gang plank on the ship that is to
bear them away from the land of
their nativity, with sentiments in
their chart, and words upon their lips
similar to those of the Irish lad when
he sang, 20. Erin, must | lave you.
Must l ask a mothers blessing in
strange but happier land"
But they could bear their parting
well, for with their fresh ideas and
new hopes they watched the little
white hand, stretched above the
heads of the throng on the wharf,
bidding them God speed across the
waters of the rolling deep to free
America.
1t is because the mighty hosts
went down to the front and gained
the victory that every American, no
matter from what country he came,
holds high his head, proud in the
knowledge that he belongs to a coun-
try, whose glorious past is being sue
ceeded by mightier future.
Had we failed, had the blood of the |
patriot been shed for naught, other |
nations would have treated US with |
contempt and overbearing insolence. |
If the union had been dissolved, if |
the great edifice built with the blood !
our forefathers had gone down in
wreck and ruin, the result would
have been an awful calamity. The
great American republic would have
become a memory of derision. Our
country, now so great and so won
derful, would have been split into
little jangling, rival nationalities, |
each with a history both bloody and
contemplate.
There have been other wars for
individual freedom and national
greatness, but there never has been |
a war in which the issue at stake, |
stood for so much to all people of all |
climes.
We take just pride in the great
deeds of 1776, but we must remem- |
Der that the revolutionary war
would have been shorn of its re-
suits, had the tide of war for Union |
and Liberty been defeated in the |
Civil War.
(To be Continued.)
0n the next issue of The Citizen |
Captain Hubbell will tell in his
charming way of how the boys "
started for the front and give an i'm
pressive word picture of the attend !
ant excitement. He is taken captive |
and marched to Libby prison. Don't |
miss this chapter.-Ed)