Year: 1879


to render them fair measurement and do just
ltice to the superb merit of their achievements.


These mighty legions have melted away at
the command of the government, and we speak
of them now ~ matters Of past history. still 1T
is fact of pleasant reflection that tho men
within hearing OF the bugle calls of their
country. iii a...


Days Of waf and deeds of valor seem like
dreams gone BY, but if ever stern Justice shall
call for them there are those tented thousands
within easy reach Of that call, who can develop
and invest those dreams with all the vivid force
and vital power of grand and genuine
reality.


Whatever views we may entertain upon other
subjects, or side issues, upon one subject we
are united, and that is pride in the memory of
the army of which we were part-prlde IN the
fact that we stood in its ranks when the nation
required our services, pride in the fact that
the rebellion was suppressed, and pride cxult-
ant, unchecked. aud unreasonable pride that
the banner of glory and of beauty" to-day
floats unhindered and undisturbed over the
whole dominion of the American Union.


When the rebellion was crushed and its
legions dispersed, our dead slept within the
lines of our own army and beneath the shadowy
sheen of our own banners. Andersonville,
Salisbury and Belle Isle had been redeemed.
Our dead were at least vindicated from the
sltrs and slandets Of detraotion and pnrifed
in the eyes Of the wofld: Can the day ever
come when these dead heroes shall be dishonor-
ed and the faith Of their lives be desecrated !?
Shall itsever be said that they died ignobly and
in vain?


Never, while the American government ex-
lists in the hands and hearts of its friends, and
loyalty, and truth, and honor leaven and sancti-
fy the minds of the American people.


To-day we enwrap the memory of our dead
with our love, and reverence and place upon
their graves flowers furnished by fair and low
ing hands, and this we do in remembrance of
their services to our beloved country. To our
own hearts we enclasp the memories and
honor of our dead. In our own souls we build
their enduring crypts with blended tenderness
and triumph cntertwined-and to the painter,
the sculptor, the poet, the gratitude of re-
deemed republic; and to the glowing pages of
bur national history, ne Commit the trophied
glory of their splendid deeds.


the war of 1879, named Spragus, who said
his country in three wars, and if occasion
demanded he would even now give what
little strength he had to the cause of the
Union.


Capt. NJ. J. O'Connor, of st. Paul. then
spoke in substance as follows:


Ladies and gentlemen, being on a short visit
to your fourishing city, a few of my old COM
rades requested me to partake in the cere-
monies of the day. I feel it my duty to re-
spond, be my speech ever SO brief. 1t is we'll
to remember, my friends, that in few days or
years at most. and we too shall hear the sound
of the last tattoo. To visit this city of our
honored dead and eulogize our departed heroes,
is certainly work of love; the memory of men
who died that their country might live is en-
titled to place in the hearts of those who sur
vive them, and who reap the fruits Of the sac
rifce they made: The forai offerings are ex-
press.ve of the love we bear their memory. But
4 few short years have passed since these men
marched shoulder to shoulder with many of us
to the inspiring strains of martial music, in
answer to a call in defense of our nations
honor. The sacrifice was great and was worthy
OF an after dedication to the eternal God of
Justice and freedom. The following lines of
the poet sound as if inspired


' Oh, if there be on this earthly sphere
A boon, an off ring Heav'n holds dear
Tis the last 1ibation liberty draws
From the heart that bleeds and breaks in her


cause


life blood, the only stain on the escutcheon Of
their county. They died that their country
might be free in fact as we'll as in name.


It is meet and proper for us to hope that that
power that holds the destinies of men will
receive the patriot soldiers as good and faithful
servants, whose work was we'll done. And that
the last order of the great commander may be,
that their names and memories may be enshrined
in letters cf living light in the archives of
eternity.


The procession then reformed and
to tho cemetery, when the soldiers
in two detachments decorated the seventy
five soldiers graves. A large cross had been
erected on the lot belonging to the grand
army of the republic, and after few re-
marks by Rev. E. D. Neil, the exercises
closed with the benediction.


In the morning tho graves of the soldiers
in the Catholic and East side cemetery we're
decorated by a detachment of ex-soldiers,
under command of Capt. 3. F. Cole, and at
the conclusion of the ceremonies at Lays
mans detachment visited Lakewood cem-
etery and decorated the graves there.