The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1914-06-05
MEMBERS WHO HAVE DIED

gathered from farm and factory,
from forge and shop and min, from
daily toll and quiet pursuits and
the gentle domestic life of d peo
pie trained only ip the arts Of
peace.
"They boosted no line of titled
ancestry but the fires OF chivalrous
valor never burned more brightly
under the, Iron jacket and FURNISHED
panopiy OF heralded knight than Il
did under the plain blue garb of the
private Union soldier. y, -
Represented ,crandly Heroic. :
They represented all that was
grandly heroic In that mighty army
of freedom which had fought It's
way from the black forests Of Ger
many through two thousand years
OF blood and carnage. along a path
way white with the bleaching bones
OF millions, through scenes OF a
thousand defeats and victories. now
under, the iron heel Of despotism
now over the ruined thrones Of the
Caesars and the Stuarts to the es-
tablishment OF the, AngloGermanic
civilization In the new American
home. In them was concentrated all
the vital force that Liberty had
generated in Its conflict Of ages.
"1n the swelling tide Of progress
they were the legal Representatives
of Armenius. of winkelreid. OF Wall.
ace, of Hamden, OF Sidney. of LaFay.
cite, of Washington. They were the
rich ripe fruit Of twenty centuries Of
heroic warfare for the dignity of
united manhood; IN the forests of
Germany: in the lowlands of Hol-
land; in the Businesses OF the Alps;
amid the -Grampian hills OF Scot
land; In the valleys and upon the
hillsides of England; among the
wildes OF the new world. when they
struck It was with the gathered
momentum Of all the ages behind
them: when they conquered, the
mighty conflict Of the centuries was
WY 49," r6 -,
r-t Veterans kneel az Graves. D.
This day the veterans OF the
north and OF the south kneel at the
grave Of the soldiers OF the Spanish
American and Mexican wars. their
best beloved, The, estrangement Is
forgotten, the bitterness of the years
passes like an uneasy dream, they
reach their hands each TO the other
across the tomb and the benediction
Of God falls upon reunited kins-
men.
I'm commingling thus in common
brotherhood. those who followed the
fortunes OF the confederacy until
human fortitude could no longer go,
and those. who with the swords
keen point, held every cleaning
star in Old Glory's field OF Blue. are
furnishing a commendable example
ito all our country men, 10 an hu.
manity. II is an echo, nay an m
carhation OF those words OF Grant.
the grandest that ever fell from
Victorious Warriors lips: Let US
have peace. The battlefield sown
long since with kindlisr seed that
dragons teeth has biossomed Nand
horne the fruits OF 'life where death
reigned paramount. The flowers OF
our southern fields are no longer
dyed with the blood OF the cbntending
brave. but drip with heavens own
dews; the snllen battery has gone
silent on our purple hills and the
crash OF steele resounds no more
amid cur pleasant valleys. No longer
the northern child watches and
waits. for the soldier sire whose lips
have left the touch OF Gods own
hand; no.longer the southern woman
wanders with bursting heart amid
the wreck and WRATH OF the fierce
simeon. brushing the battle CRIME
from cold brows seeking among the
mangled dead for ell that lie held
dear. The curse has passed. Let US
have peace -
Let US thank God that the fierce
baptism of fire Is IN The pasf and
not yet to be; tIlat the bitter emp
ran never nc pressed4 20 ouf< chElafen's
lips; that . never again while the