Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1918-05-31

alive the memory of that Invisible
. host who died that the nation might
live. 1t is eminently fitting that in
every school house we should teach
our children the true meaning of this
day and tell them rererently to scat
ter flowers on each flag marked grave,
and 20 present wreaths for the thous-
ands upon thousands who lie beneath
the sod, or the sea in unknown
graves.
And the music of this day should
be pitched in minor tones also. be-
cause
Like the dew drops on the meadow
Underneath the morning sun,
SwiFt away the boys are fading.
With their marching nearly done.
Soon their ranks OF blue will vanish
From the land for which they bled;
soon the army of the living
Will be marching with the dead.
Marching on in song and story,
Marching on in pomp and fame,
Marching in a nations glory,
Marching with a deafness name.
Therefore humbly and in silence
Let the honest tear be shed,
While the army of the living
GreetS the army of the dead
| A great war. like a great mountain,
needs perspective and distance in
order that its true proportions may
appear.
| 1t is now more than half a century
since the tempest that had been gath
ering through the years burst upon
| this nation, and the government
staggered under the shock of civil
war; of war made the more terrible
because il was between brothers
equally brave and equally deter
mined. Both were in deadly earnest
and each was willing to die for his
cause. True heroism never reached
! sublimer heights than during those
four years succeeding the attack on
Fort Sumpter. With swift zeal a
great host sprang to arms. A nation
! of civilians was suddenly changed by
the magic of patriotism into nation
of soldiers. They gathered from
near and far. The flower of Amer
| lean ma lhood mustered for battle
The earth trembled under their
tread like d floor beaten with fails"
| Some of you can yet hear the re-
verberation of their measured tramp.
tramp. tramp, and the echo Of their
! usty song still fingers in the cor
ridors of time: we are coming.
| Father Abraham three hundred
Thousand more But for every
thousand men who rallied around the
stars and Stripes five hundred other
men gathered under the banner of
= a
from every walk of life, the beardless
boy and The grey haired grandfather,
until 100000 disciplined soldiers
struggled for victory on fields that
ran red with blood, From the At
lantic coast to the Mississippi and
! from Gettysburg to the Rcd river.
the mighty conflict ragged. From the
South ana from the North a bitter
cry went up to heavens gates,
weeping and great mourning, Ra-
chel weeping for her children. and
she would not be comforted, for they
are not
And then. "rhe tumult and the
shouting CEASED" The black clouds
, lifted and the sunlight broke
through the gloom. Let us have
/! peace" said the Silent Commander
! Of the Union army: and Peace. an
, swered the princcly Lee, proud of
aspect. but with a broken heart Il
reciprocate Your desire to avoid USE
! less effu sion Of blood therefore
ask the terms YOU will offer on con
dition of the surrender of my army"
Lay down Your arms. Return 20
! your homes. Promise not to take -
| arms again against the Union. TAX
your horses. YOU will need them 20
Z, till your fields" said the hero of
! Vicksburg. Then Grant and Lee
reached across tho CEasm Of hate and
c,a8ped hands with the grip of broth
erhood, and-thc Civil War was
ended.
| Through the vista Of half century
we can sec that this was a great
epoch in the history of the Republic
, A human records show that when
! ever any nation has gone through Il
period Of tremendous stress and peril
everything that is strongest and best
| tbnDph often latent in the comm;