Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 June 1886 — OUR PATRIOT DEAD. [ARTICLE]

OUR PATRIOT DEAD.

How Decoration Day was Observed in Rensselaer. Full text of Hou. E. P. Haiu.ll i niond's Memorial ‘‘r-i At no time, perhaps, since Decortition Day has been instituted, have more profuse ami enthusiastic hiemorial tributes been paid to the Nation’s departed warriors, by the people of Rensselaer and vicinity, than was done last Monday. The moije the years intervene between that ever memorable contest and the present, the more fondly and tenderly seems to be cherished the memory of those who died in defense of the right. The exercises of Monday were ■'preceded, on Sunday, by memorial services in the Opera House, attended by the members of Rensselaer post G. A. R., in a body, and by a vast congregation of people, numbering nearly five hundred. The memorial address was delivered by the Rev. David Handley, pastor of the M. E. chur'ch, of Rensselaer, and himself a member of the Post. It was a very able and interesting discourse, and listened to with marked attention throughout. On Monday afternoon, although the day was unfavorable for the country people, on account of the pressing character of the farm work noiv on hand, yet many hundreds came in from the surrounding country to witness and take a partin the solemn and patriotic services of the day. The people of the town turned out, almost. en masse. The procession formed at the usual place, fronting the public square, and at about two o’clock took up the line-of inarch to Weston cemetery. First came the cornet band, playing an appropiate funeral march; then the Grand Army Post, the Public Schools, the 03d Fellows and the Knights -of Pythias lodges, and following them citizens on foot and in carriages. At the cemetery the beautiful Appointed Funeral Service of the Grand Army was rendered, the graves decked with a profusion of flowers and floral emblems. The noble address of Judge E. P. Hammond, delivered at the cemetery, is herewith given, in full. iudge hammond’s address. Anot.lier changing year has passed and we have come again to this season ohflowers, and to this* Memorial Day. It is peculiarly fitting that such a da) should be set apart, and observed from year to year, in honor of the memory of those brave, patriotic men, our fathers, brothers, and sons, who fell in their country’s defense. We honor their names, we attest the friendship and affection in which they were held dear to us while living, and we venerate tjie cause for which they gave their lives, by .the humble, but beautilul - ceremonyef strewing, their graves with flowers. That this custom has deeply touched the hearts of the people is shown in the fact, that, by common consent, this day has been dedicated to, and is religiously observed iu. this sacred service. It is a grateful service to the memory of those who fell ,in up I.olding tiieic ecuntn's flag“iif the great conflict between loyalty and'despotism. between liberty and slavery. Thcsb-•fallen patiiots repose in every cenietjyy in the laud. The little mounds covering their mortal remains mark the marches, skirmishes and batlies 01. their regiments all over the South. Gallantly they fell in battle, or perished from the diseases of the camp. Many of them sleep in unmarked and unknown graves, where tears of loved ones may not fall, nor flowers of affection be strewn. But to the memory of all of them, individually and collectively, wherever their ashesmayrest. it. is eminently appropriate that on one day in each year, especially set apart for that purpose, the greatest public honor, should be paid, with parades and banners, music and flowers, poetry and oratory, and by the firing- -of military salutes. And in paying these affectionate tributes of respect to the memory of our departed comrades, we do ourselves great good. This, in fact, is the object of these Memorial Services. It has been well said, that after what we owe to God, there is nothing more dear or sacred tian the love which we owe to our country. And what can inspire greater patriotism than a visit upon an occasion li£e the present one to

the last resting place of the soldier who died defending his codhtry's honor? What can belter serve to intensify our love of country and to make us venerate its free institutions thah to take part in the simple but impressive qeremony of strewing the soldiers 1 graves with flowers? We feel that we stand upon holy ground. Toe dead arc here who died in the cause ot their country. Here repose the ashes of those whose patriotic devotion to duty brought them to premature graves, and in whose death our country lives and will continue to live, dispensing happiribss and preserving liberty to mankind for all time. More than one-fourth of a century has passed since the drum-beat called to arms. It is more than twenty years since the white flag at Apoomatox Court Souse signaled the return of peace and the disbanding of armies. A new generation has pushed itself into the active pursuits of life to whom the war and all its incidents of sorrow and distress, anxiety and grief, at home; of toil, hardship, suffering and death on the field; can be but matters of tradition or history. This generation is closely linked with that time and is familiar with its incidents as they were recorded by those who saw them, or have been told by those who participatedjin the great events. Still, however, this new generation can have no proper conception of ,the intense anxiety that took possession of all hearts during the struggle. Those only who then lived can know how eagerly and closely the newspapers were read, that the movements of armies containing loved ones, might be followed. With what breathless suspense were scanned the lists of killed and wounded! How often the venerable father and mother were bowed in sorrow over the news of a dear boy slain. How oken the sad inteiiigei.ee was brought to a loving wife that he upon whom she leaned for sfipport, and in whose love she had reposed the assurance of a happy life, had fallen in battle! Those were times of sorrow and distress. A vacant chair was made in almost every household! The laud was filled with new grave?! Mourning was brought to every home. And why all this suffering, sorrow and distress? Could it not have been avoided? The answer must bethat the war was a consequence of an evil,' for which the- generation whose blood atoned was not responsible. The eyil came down to us from a remote time. In August, 1619, when a Dutch man-of-war sailed up the James, and sold co Virginia planters twenty Africans, was sown the wind from which was reaped the whirlwind of our Civil War. While .thaexistence of slavery was sincerely deplored by the founders of The "Republic, their statesmanship, sagacious as it was, could not grapple with it. The question with the framers of the Constitution was not whether slavery should, or should not, be. Slavery aland, not only must its existence be recognized, but the institution had to be prelected; otherwise the Constitution would not have been adopted, nor the union of the states been made. So. in the supreme emergency which imperatively demanded the union of

the states in a Nation, for mutual defense and protection, apd to secure the blessings of good ..government, unfortunately but hecessarily slavery had to be recognized. While, therefore, the Constitution of the United States was then the most perfect production which statesmanship had given to the world, its unavoidable but palpable imperfection As years rolled by the adherents to and the opponents of that-system became more aud more pronounced and unyielding in their convictions; until at last the moral sense of notPslaveholding states uniting with that of the civilized world, came to regard the bondage of men as a crime against humanity, without excuse or palliation. Uoon tho other hand, the owners bf slav. s came to believe, or affected to tjelieve, that slavery was a divine institution, upheld aud supported by tbe sacred Word of God; -and that it was compatible with the best and highpSt civilization Theyalsc made extraordinary contentions as to their rights pnder the Constitution. In the exciting conflict of public sentiment, often menacing tHa peace us-the country and threatening a disruption of the Republic, wise men concluded that the Union could not endure half slave and half free. It was said that it must become all the one, or all the other. The South sought to solve the problem b} the desperate experiment of destroying the Union, and building upon its ruins a Confederacy, the chief corner c tone of which was to be human bondage. War came. We know the result The enemies-of the Union and friends o A slavery met with complete overthrow. The Union was perpetuated; slavery was abolished; and four and one-half millions j?f our race, upon whom had descended the accumulated wrongs of two and a half centuries of bondage, were made free, elev&ted.to citizenship and given the ballot Looking-back over twenty 'years of peace from the

atan'A of reason, humanity «pd economy, with feelings unruffled by passion or prejudice, it may now be seen that it would have been wise upon the part of the govenrnment before the conflict began to have liberated the slaves and paid the owners their market value out of the public treasury, Great as would have been the expenditure’ of money, it would have been far less than the cost of the war. The lives of the half million who perished in the conflict, would have been saved and the government would have been spared its munificent outlays for pensions, which a patriotic people freely acitord to the maimed and invalid soldiers and to the widows and orphans ol those whose death was paused by military service. But after a crisis has passed, it is easier to see how it might have been avoided than it was to avoid il before it came. Going back in memory before the war, and viewing thq political situation from the stand-point of interest and partisan rancor with which it was then contemplated, it is manifest that the plan which now suggests itself as having then been the best, was wholly impracticable. The opponents of slavery would not have consented to the purchase of the slaves by the government; nor would the owners of slaves have been willing to thus dispose ol their so-called property. So, I repeat, the war was necessary. It had to be fought. We cannot be too thankful that the Union found enough brave defenders to carry it safely through its great peril. While, however, apparently the war was unavoidable, and while it may be oui' duty in the interest of peace and harmony to view with leniency the conduct of those whose unfortunate lot was thrown upon the side of Rebellion, we cannot forget —no patriot desires te forget—that there was a right and a wrong side to the strife; that the defenders of the Union were upon the right side and the others on the wrong; and that this distinction between the cause for which the boys in blue and that for which the boys in gray fought, must be irreversibly recognized in history. And this great fact that we were right is why we rejoice in the success Of the cause for which the soldiers in blue fought, and for which thousands of them sacrified their lives. This is why a day in each year is set apart to pay honor to the memory of our fallen comrades. Wo do not rejoice in the prowess that conquered those whom we fought, nor do we exult in their defeat, merely so far as physical force and endurance decided the contest. But we do rejoice in the preservation of the Union', and the establishment of correct 'pfTncipies of nationality. The Tjenelicial results attending the Suppression ol the Rebellion, establishing national unity, in overthrowing the pernicious heresy of state sovereignty, in making the bond-men free, and in placing all upon an equality before the law. bless all alike. Those whose misguided zea} led them to take up arms against their country, have as great cause as we for rejoicing in the success of the Union arms.

The necessity which compelled the effusion of fio much blood and the expenditure of so much treasure, was not only excusable but justifiable upon the ground that a nation, like an individual, has a right, when assaulted, to defend its ownexistence utmost extremity. The life of our government was attacked, not by those who, by revolution would have established a better those who, upon its ruins, would have founded a Confederacy based upon slavery. A’more sacred cause than that for which the Union soldiers fought is not mentioned in history, Names of more glorious martyrs to humanity, liberty and good government, are not recorded in prose or poetry, than those who fought under the stars and stripes, and who fell in the conflict. Their graves honor every cemetery wherever found. Tottese, patriots of all ages will come with gfateful hearts, blessing tho country which was worthy of the death of such noble men.

What a terrible scourge to mankind war has been! Its destruction of life and property has been beyond the computation of figures. It has cut down men in the prime and vigor of manhood. and filled the earth with graves, sorrow and mourning. It has created debts of immense magnitude, requiring for their payment the toil of ages. And yet, bad as war has been, it has, upon the whole, been of great benefit. Had it not been for war, mankind would largely be in mental and physical bondage. Every valuable right that we enjoy was wrenched from the unwilling hands of power at the point of the bayonet and at the mouth of the cannon. Witnout war, the United States df America, as an independent nation, had never had existence. Without war, it had gone down in Misgrace to subserve the unholy traffic in human flesh. And yet we may earnestly hope that a higher civilization, the principles of ' justice and humanity, the respect which'

........ every nation should have for tho tight of every other, will, In the future, dispense with the arbitrament of the sword, and lead to peaceful means for the adjustment of troubles in the family of nations. In a republic like ours, where the will of the majority is law, and where this will is Controllable by education and reason, there can be no shadow i.of excuse or justification for violence as a means of overthrowing established laws or customs. Tneso, if inimical to the public good, must surely disappear. The wisdom oi the people enlightened by education and experience, cau safely be relied upon for the correction of all palpable evils and oppressions in a republic. In a government like ours, only the ignorant, misled by unscrupulous demagogues, can be incited to acts of Violence against the lives or property of their fellow citizens. Thu all-powerful and corrective forces of enlightened public sentiment, with the ehforcement of the' law, will preserve the peace. It will in time remove all just causes for' discontent and do away with all turbulence and violence as a remedy for real or imagined wrongs. The example set by the United Status and England, the two most civilized and Christian nations of the world, at the close of our civil war, in submitting to arbitration the decision of complicated questions affecting our national honor, and which, but for the desire ot both countries to preserve peace, must have led to"along, destructive war, can have but good results. Public opinion, which is more potent than law, and more terrible than an army with ners, and to which no authority can turn a deaf ear, has resolutely and sternly set its face against everything that unnecessarily produces pain, sutlering or loss of life. This sentiment is averse to war. It holds that mou were created for a butter purpose than to.be drilled, disciplined and shot. The victories 'll the future, it may be hoped, are not to be upon the ensanguined battle-field, but rather iu the pursuit of peaceful industries, the extension of the domain of the arts and sciences, and, the triumphs of the principles of love and chatty among nations as well as .individuals. We live in a weuderlul age, iind in a great country . It is a •country bleswl of God and favored of heaven. The generation of American people who met in deadly conflict and vanquished the traitors who v sought to disgrace their country’s flag, discharged its whole duty. It spilled.its best tilood and expended its most precious treasure to preserve for itself and for i'utuie generations the blessings of good government. For the preservations of this government, the best that the sun ever s'hofHrnpon and the nope" of the oppressed of all lands, we are indebted to the patriotism and valor of the soldiers, Irving and dead. They left tne peaceful pursuits of civil life amt the eiijoymeiiis home, endured privations . and hardships, risked their lives, aud thousands and thousands of them perished, that our nation, founded by patriot ancestors, might live and be perpetuated. Then, over the graves of these dead, scatter ociutiful flowers' on each roturmiig anniversary of the day set apart for that purpose. Let us treasure in our minds and hearts the memory of their deeds and death; and learn from these.to love our country more and more.

A. Broken Leg. Bertha, the. old daughter of. E. M. Parcels, met with a serious accident last Tuesday evening. She went into the old school building, 'where her father has a work-shop, and in his absence, opened the door of a heavy cupboard standing in one of the rooms, and this caused it to fall forward upon the poor little child. She remained under it for some minutes, before she was found, and vvhei'. taken out it was discovered that the large bone of one of her legs was broken a little above the ankle. l)r. Washburn was called and set the broken bone, and it is now doing well; but, of bourse, the accident will confine the little girl to her bed for several weeks, and cause her much pain aud suffering.