The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-05-31

IL
State Senator J.,R- Frailey Of Fort
kadison was the orator at the Me.
Sorial day exercises at keokuk yes
Rrday. Mr.. Frailey delivered the ora
on att the National cemetery and
i'd:
Mr.. Chairman. Members of the
rand Army Of the Republic, the
'omels' Relief, Corps and Ladies and
entlelnen:
In my endeauor to fulfill this
bmmission that you have been so
Ind as to entrust to me, l thank
pu, from my heart thank you, for
be honor. of this ,estimable privilege,
nd being, at the same time pain
! billy aware that I dare not hope to
Sc to the exalted strain demanded
this occasion, I trust that my
bort comirtgs may. in charity, be at
ibuted toy the head and not the
cart.
' 1t is no small responsibility that
mine today. to speak in the city
Keokuk TO an audience of the
bns and daughters of Keokuk. For
be history Of Keokuk Is a part Of
be history Of the great civil war it.
BIZ 1t was here that was establish
! and maintained the, great concen-
Sation camp out of which passed
kgiment after regiment Of the boys
|ho wore the blue from Iowa; here,
10, we've brought back, to receive
be tender ministraIions OF the wom-
] Of the lnortn, the shattered wrecks
|om many "a storn-swept field; and
Ire, where we stand today, guarded
Yer by the nations reverence and
I've, they sheep in everlasting peace.
md, my friends, when / contemplate
be history that is yours as price
|st heritage. as / stand here on
bund made harlowed and holy by
sse dead and by your own Curtis
I'D Belknap and Noble and their
GLORIOUS legions as they marched
1t of the blood-red haze of war into
|e immortality of the ages, realize
too keenly that words are futile
J pay tribute to, these, our country
en.
For II human wonds are ever help
Is itsis when we, strive to measure
} height of human patriotism or to
ind the fathomless depths Of self
trifice for country
Nations Holy of HOLES.
THE nations holy OF holes is
|out the resting places of her sol
pr dead, for there, above the ark
her safety, stand with entertwin.
wings, the cherubim of loyalty
= devotion, and about them, If
bwhere on earth, shines revealed
kglory of God.
ese dead, in whose honor we
met today, need neither the
huns of our praise nor the tears
Bur remembrance. Nothing that
4 can say here, nothing that we
In do, can add to the immortality of
|eir fame, the grandeur Of their
|eds, the heroic dignity that is theirs
death. The last sad call has
,unded for them. the quavering mel
iy of taps has ceased, they have
aluted the Great Captain of the
inverse. and now may perfect peace
3 theirs.
Their country called them and
ley came. She waved them onward
nd they died. 1t matters not,
hence they came, nor what they
|ere, as men count rank and world !
worth. Their patriotism is halo
lore splendid than any earthly
|adem-their death is a poem whose
|usic can never be sung. By their
|orious deeds they crystalized the
|ftiest worth of manhood. In their |
bath they Joined themselves to the
)orious company of the worlds inn |
lortals. For love Of country they !
AIRED to die, and dying, wrote their
ames upon the honor roll of the |.
ges.
And so, these dead soldiers
herished by loving hearts. honored !
y this great nation, have passed on |
Ito the mighty pantheon Of our his
Dry. They are not ours any more,
ley belong to the nation. And |
herever they may lie. here in this
1iet city of the dead, amid the
reck of hard fought fields, or in
lose awful w1nrows where torrid |
pspitals and prison pens laid out /
|eir dead, there shall stand for
|ermore, the guardian sentinel OF a !
(tion's love.
Time Of Memory.
This is a time of memory and !
We that by the strength Of its I'M
ing faith, brushes away the bur
IN of the years and lives again in
veet and saddened scenes of yes
rday. 1t is day sacred to our
ldier dead, who deathless, 1inger In
e country of the spirit, where the
ystery and the pain and the yearn-
g of this life is infinitely salts |