The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1915-06-03
G. A. r. HEROES ARE HoNoREp
Continued from Page One)


army, Of that army'c rejoicing at the
news, and of their determination to
close in on Johnson's army, then sta
toned to the west of Raleigh.
Under other headlines we read.
"Assass nation of President Lin
coin and attempt to assassin.
ate Secretary Seward" Then we
read from the same newspaper
report which these old veterans
read fifty years ago of the watch at
the Presidents bedside, of how Stan
ton when informed that the President
could not live till morning, dropped
into a chair near the dying man and
wept like a child; of how Sumner.
giant in a day of giants, sat near the
Presidents couch holding the great
mans right hand in his own, sobbing
like a woman
Then from the War Department at
Washington dated April Is, 1880 a. m,
there flashed over the wires of our
land this message: abraham Lincoln
died this mirning at twenty-five min
utes past 7 o'clock. (Signed) Edwin
VI. Stanton, Secretary of War"
| have tried often in imagination to
picture the scene and live over the
emotions of that day and hour. Only
family can | recall hearing my father
read of the assassination CT Garfield
and | was a student at college when
Mckinley was shot down at Baffalo.
Deeply as was the nation stirred in
those troublesome days, yet it seems
certain that neither Of these tragedies
began to compare in tenseness, in
terror with the emotions of a nation
in the hour when Lincoln was stricken
down. Such feelings, such horror,
only they may recall who survive the
days of the Civil War.
A few weeks ago there was OBJ
served the half century mark follow
ing the death of Lincoln and the
crumbling of the Southern Confeder-
acy. What changes have followed
those momentous events! More than
a half century has past! The smoke
of battle has risen, the fog of hate
has lifted, the clouds of Sectional
strife are (slowly but surely) passing
away.
This day we pause. We turn from
our labors. Our minds travel back to
the early COS when the Death Angel OF
War boldly knocked at the door of
our fathers, demanding the inevitable
sacrifice. AS the religious devotee
journeys afar to the shrine where
sleeps the erstwhile incarnation of his
faith, so today with uncovered heads
we approach the unfurled flag of
America, symbol of our sovereignty.
embalmed with tears and holy mem
cries.
No nation was ever founded by men
of higher purposes, men-with spirits
more brave and devout than the Pill
grim Fathers who settled New Eng
land:
Not as the conQueror M
They the true hearted came,
Not with the roll of stirring drums
Or the trumpet that speaks of fame;
But amid storms they came
And the stars heard and the sea;
And the sounding aisles of the dim
woods rang
To the anthems Of the free"
What a heritage they have left US
their sacrifices, their passion for
liberty. But great and achieving as
were the fathers the founders-who
shall say that they who struggled and
preserved what the fathers b~equeath-
ed us are less deserving of our graft
tude? Events of iron demand men of
steel. and they who answered the call
of the sainted Lincoln for the preser-
walton of this Union were unsurpassed
in bravery and worth, | care not with
what army they be compared. Nobler
and more dependable veterans never
marched under the Eagles of Rome;
better soldiers in token of their valor
never wore the Iron Cross. 1t may be
doubted indeed if their equal has been
seer aside from the veterans of Lee
and jackson; and this it was that
made the struggle so severe, so dead
ly; this it was that makes the victory
of the men who wore the Bit the
more renowned. And when we cease
to pay the founders and preservers the
homage that is due them, when we
forget them and their sacrifices in our
behalf,-in the presence of these old
veterans of the COS, the honored
guests of this occasiOn,-I avOw we
shall have little right to complain
should the Ruler of nations forget us.
More than a half century since Lee
surrendered at Appamatox; more than
a half century of international peace!
In fact, barring the comparatively
light engagement with Spain, W. have
been at peace with the rest Of the
world for almost a century. Till less
than a year ago it may be doubted If
there has been. since the Franco-Prus-
sian war, an international struggle Of
the first magnitude. A great era of
peace. Of progress in every direction
education, science, moral and material
advancement was everywhere. The
Hague Tribunal. Arbitration Treaties
all over the world philanthropy and
god will seemed to prevail. 1t seems
that the civilized world had just come
to the point of congratulating itself on
reaching at last that high plane Of
thought and action where war could
not enter.
Then one morning We all awoke.
We had dreamed. that was all. There
was scarce a warning. The gigantic
armies of the nations, the great ma
fiopc of tho Old World uoro ON tho