Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 June 1888 — A Memorial Address [ARTICLE]

A Memorial Address

Delivered at Rensselaer on Decoration Day, ISBB, by Co I. W. L. €■ Taylor, of Lafayette* Commits, Ladies and We meet “to pay tribute to the memory of the Nation’s dead. Wo come not to participate in the exultations of the jubilee, or as partisans in the bitter conflict of political strife, but as American citizens, to recall the virtues add achievements of our lamented countrymen, who by their sacrifices, their trials and their triumphs, have secured to us and our posterity, we hope for nil time to come, the inestimable blessings of civil and religious liberty. In every age and among all mankind, wherever the human heart pulsates with instinctive feelings of love of admiration and of gratitude, there, the meed attributed to worthy actions, to great deeds and sincere efforts, surrounds them and their authors with an atmosphere of sweetness and of grace, of grandUre and of sublimity.

This beautiful and impressive ceremony of annually garlanding the graves of our heroic deed with floral offerings, as we garland their memories with wreaths of fame, is not only a testimonal of our appreciation of patriotic services and sacrifices, but is significant of the vitality of the Republic’and a faithful guarantee and reliable premonition of future prosperity and increasing glory. The men to whose memory we pay this tribute of gratitude and affection were not warriers by profession, educated to arms and skilled in the arts of bloodshed and of carnage. They were men from the quiet walks of life, endeared to friends, to family and to home. They were the mechanics of the city, merchants of the counting room, youths engaged in literary pursuits aud husbandmen, peaceful cultivators . of. the soil. They -were the citizen soldiers of this Republic—your companions, friends, brothers, sons, fathers and husbands. At their country’s call they abandoned the peaceful and quiet occupations of life —the refinements and comforts, of home, for the trials, the privations and the vicissitudes of war. Those who had hitherto known only the gentle touch of affection, now stretched forth, their hands to grapple wdh The conflict in which they engaged was a struggle for national existence and the vindication of principles fraught with prodigous importance to civilization. At the first blast of the bugle the busy hum of industry ceased in the land. The farm, the machine shop, the office and the sacred desk were abandoned. From every city and hamlet, from palace and hut, sprang forth armed warriers. The old world looked on in amazement and wondered at the marvelous spectacle- of a nation .without a soldiery, marshaling its powerful battalions in line of bat-'

Re, its mountains and valleys reechoing to the din of arms and the tread of mighty armies. When -.European state* men prophets and generals, who had exultantly proclaimed the permanent dismemberment of the American Republic, recovered from their astonishment at this miraculous manifestation of patriotism, of military enthusiasm and power; they said that this was but the outburst of passion and excitement, that it would soon subside, that at the first reverse the spirit of our people would relapse, into gloomy apathy. They said that our impracticable citizens would not make efficient soldiers and would be slow} to leave their peaceful homes for the trials and uncertainties of war. But when the clouds of war gathered thick Around iis and the storm of battle burst upon us with redoubled fury, the spirit of this people became more intense and determined. Our armies, instead of becoming less efficient, became more powerful until they dotted the continent from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, stretching around •and along the sea-coast far back to the Chesapeake. Their lines could be traced by the smoke of their camp fires along the rivers, through the villages, on the hill tops, over the mountains, across the plains, around the coast, throughout a journey —of —overlive thousand miles. Our navy, atrfirsfreoinparatively small, suddenly grew into a powerful co-operating force. Six hundred vessels of war, carrying four thousand., heavy guns, hung -like, an electric cloud and flashed their signal lights " along 2,500 miles of rebel coast, and while throughout the vast circuit of the "armiesof the ITnited-States,-revsilto-and roll call greeted the morning dawns across the continent; 50,000 seamen on shipboard answered “ready for duty.”

This unprecedented spirit of war did not originate in a mercenary desire for plunder or conquest, or an unholy ambition for military prestige, but it originated in the disinterested patriotism of the people who fought alone to maintain this free government and to preserve to their posterity the blessings of liberty. To-day all again is peace. The war cloud has spent its fury. Those mighty armies have been dissolved with the same magic by which they sprang into existence. The rifle and bayonet are abandoned, the sword rusts iu its scabbard. The restless and daring soldier in w r ar has become- the quiet and dutiful citizen in peace. Industry and enterprise are resumed and the nation moves on with renewed energy in its career of greatness and power. ‘‘Thus the dark thunder cloud at nature’s summons marshals its black batallions and lowers in the horizon, but at length, its lightnings spent, its dread artillery silenced, its mission finished, disbanding its frowning ranks it melts away into the blue ether and the next morning you Will find it glittering in the dew drops among the flowers, or assisting with its kindly moisture the path of the young and tender plant. Great and happy country! where every citizen can be at once turned into a soldier and every soldier converted forthwith into a peaceful citizen.” The military strength of our nation does not depend upon standing armies but upon the energy and enterprise so strikingly and pecularly characteristic of this people, combined with a blind zeal and devotion to the principles of a government so dearly purchased. The true greatness of a nation does not consist in numbers, w r ealth or conquest. The barbarian hordes which swept away the

civilization of the past swarmed from an exhaustless hive. The deeper rivers of human life water the wilds of despotism and the wastes of ignorance. The richest treasures have been guarded by the most abject slaves and often the overflowing coffers of the state are but graphic pictures of the peoples poverty. The victor wreaths of the savage out-number the crowns of civilization, and scepters shade unmeasured domains where liberty never planted her footsteps. While we rejoice.jn our material wealth, at our unrivalled prosperty and increasing power, let us remember that our true strength and greatness is in the character of our institutions, the intelligence, virtue and patriotism of o.ur people. The tribute wlitch to-day we pay to the honored dead is not mere idle form or empty show. The lessons which this ceremony teaches are fraught with lasting consequences to those who are to occupy our place as American citizens. It is not only to appease the greatfulness of our own hearts that we thus recall the virtues of those who were near and dearlto us—not only to show to the survivors of the war in what estimation we hold their fallen comrades, that we bedeck their graves with the first beautiful ofSrings'df- spring- - but - ' more —this ceremony teaches the lesson that the cause for which these heroes fought is sacred to the American heart. It means that the defenders and preservers of the Union command .(the reverence and love and esteem of our people, that loyalty to the government is the pre-eminent virtue of a citizen. This reverence and respect which we show to the memory of those who fought in the struggle for our national existence is calculated to implant deep in the young minds of the rising generation those patriotic self-sacri-ficing principles, which will inspire them to noble emulations and prompt them to guard with zealous reverence the sacred trusts imposed to their keeping. To pay tribute in this public and appropriate manner td the memory of the noble and the brave, and to hold up their virtues as worthy of emulation, are testimonials of our gratitude and schools of patriotism to our children. It is sanctioned by every Christian people, regarded as a -duty sacred as religion itself and its full requirements have met with a heartfelt approbation from the good and great of every land. In the sacred volume which contains our firmest faith and our most precious hopes, these passions not only maintain their highest efficiency, but are sanctioned by the express injunction of the Divine Legislator to his chosen

people. Polibius, the great historian, had examined with care the institutions of the Boman republic —Ker laws,“her ehstoms,“ hes pulv“ lie jiolicy and her military' discipline,. with all the .zealous curiosi.ty. tif_a.conquer.ed. Greek., and ...the enlightened sagacity of a statesman and philosopher; —He had studied carefully the very elements of Boman character and was en-

abled to trace in them the springs and sourced of the nation’s greatness. He insists that an ancient usage of that people—the reverence paid to their illustrious .dead, v T as “an agency eminently efficacious iu forming the character of her youth, inspiring them with magnanimous and generous sentiments and fitting them for the trials and duties and glories of freern en. ” _I ’pen occasions, similar to this, the whole body of the people assembled and united in paying tribute to the memories of the departed heroes of the republic, whose ,deeds wore reviewed -and whoso virtues were extolled and thus “the ir memories kept fresh from generation to generation.” “’Ey these means, says the historian, in a remarkable passage of his history, “the praise and fame of excellent men and their

deeds are continually renewed; the names and exploits of . those who deserved well of their country are made familiar to the people and handed down to posterity, and what is by far the chief of all, the young are perpetually excited to the hope of imitating their illustrious fathers of state of earning that honorable name and grateful remembrance which the good alone can obtain. The American revolution of 1776 resulted in the establishment of a governm nt antagonistic to the prevailing systems of the work!. The recognition of individual liberty was the quickening germ of its existence. The desire for liberty prompted the revolution, the maint rinence of that liberty prompted the establishment of the American Union. The crowning glory of the revolution was the’ formation and adoption of the Constitution under which we live, its objects being, as expressed in the preamble, to form a more perfect union and to secure the blessings of liberty to us and to our posterity. By it the sovereignty of the Federal government is fully recognized,! lift States possessing the right to legislate upon matters pax taming to their own domestic affairs, such legislation however not to conflict j with the powers conferred upon' the general government. It is wise and beniticent in all its parts, carefully:and ingeniously distributing powers so as to prevent abuse without impeding their exercise, and to secure both individual and public rights. The constitution. made the colonies a nation. It is not a compact, an agreement or contract between independent sovreignties, a more ropeof sand to be broken at the will of a disaffected state. The doctrine of .state rights which severe as a pretext for the rebellion, to enable the South to perpetuate the institution of human slavery, is inconsistent with the individuality or permanency of the American Republic. It perverts the constitution into a simple treaty between foreign nations and robs the general Government of all power to vindicate the National honor or authority, and enforce obedience to the laws. Under such a construction it is not surprising that President Buchanan could find no power in the constitution to coerce a rebellious state and thus preserve the life of the nation. With the Federal government as sovereign and the states as dependent, with the constitution as the superior law of; the land, subject, however, to amendments as defects become apparent, or as the erigencies of the times or the demands of the government might require, America commenced the trial of the great experiment.

A popular government, or more properly speaking, “a government by the people and for the people,” such as was established by the statesmen who formed our constitution, was pronounced by the old world as utterly impracticable. it was characterized as a chimera and a fallacy which could have no existence except in the imaginations of visionary fanatics.,. Wise prophets predicted it 3 failure in peuce and its imbecility in war.. The great experiment proved otherwise. Our nistory from the Declaration of Independence to the present hour has demonstrated that such a government is not only practicable but when administered with wisdom and knowledge is eminently condusive to mateiial prosperity and Military strength. Amid the noise arid;din of war the infant Uepublic was ushered into being. Its first breath was theirispiratioii df liberty, its first. principles were the truths of Divine religion. It grew in strength arrd -manhood. It stretched its arms across the ness and filled its vast regions with civilization and Christianity. A boundless territory which but yesterday IvaithedEurilTrig'gixnirfds of the ludiap and the lair of wild beasts of the forest, since creation unclaimed to the use of civilized

man, to-day *is the center of an enlightened empire. Fields and gardens, the ilowers of summer and the golden harvest of autumn extend over a thousand hills' and stretch along a thousand valleys. The coasts which bounded only the dominion of the savage- are whitened with the sails of a prosperous commerce and their long, winding shores are studded with magriificient cities. The morning sun as it drinks the dewdrops from the flowers in its journey all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific is greeted with the joyous hum of early industry of farmers. These grand triumphs of civilization, priceless gems glittering in the diadem of .freedom, are the rich rewards of liberty to her votaries. For over one hundred years the American people have enjoyed the blessings of free institutions, under which the Divine rights of men to govern themselves is fully recognized. To the bravery and heroism of the loyal soldiers in the late rebellion we owe the maintainence of those great principles which are the very essence l of our national existence and the source of our future prosperity and happiness. It becomes us then, posessed as we are with all the blessings which can be lavish* ed upon a people, to bow with grat(#ul hearts before the altar whereon the good and brave have sacrificed their lives that we may enjoy the fruits of their sufferings, their heroism. Well may the living pay tribute to the memory of these noble dead. By every conflict in which they engaged they eiuse for gratitude and ad- . The struggles in which rticipated constitute the most brilliant pages in the annals of American achievements. While rendering due honor to those who fell in the earlier patties of the Republic, and accordingly due reverence to their achievments, we must acknowledge that the dead of the late war are nearer andj dearer to us. To us their struggles j ale not as the brilliant story of the historian’s pen or the poet’s song, which kindles our admira- | tion and excites our pride for the daring achievments of our countrymen, but they are a sad and stern reality. Many among us to-day were actors in the bloody drama, ! there are probaly butfew who were not either called upon to sacrifice a loved one on their country’s altar, or mingle their tears with the tears of the bereaved and disconsolate of war. The fate of our comrads has left many a vacant place around the family altar. It seems but as? yesterday when with high hopes and noble ambitions, these heroes went forth from among us to the dread uncertainties of battle. Those i moving columns of warriors fillj ed us with admiration and pride. ! But few remain to tell the story !or their struggles. Their ranks are diminished, those mighty columns are broken. Where are these comrads who marched forth with them to battle ? A continent of cold graves answers thejinquiry. The beloved remains of some have been laid to rest in tombs prepared by affection’s hands, while others sleep in unknown graves on distant battle-fields, and others were' left unburied in the swamps and marshes of the- South, or amid the deep grass of her mountains. No tablet of marble marks their resting place, but the memory of their heroism is engraved upon the tablets of many hearts. This sacred task, in which we are engaged to-day is the outgrowth of those relations which we sustain to the Nation’s dead and the feelings which prompt us to it are alike honorable to them, creditable to us and worthy of the cause for which they goffered their lives.

Soldiers, who have survived the fierce conflict of many battles, who gather to-day with mournful hearts around the graves of your dead comrades, it is your proud consolation to know that your sacrifices and sufferings in behalf of your country have not been in vain. The, peace, happiness arid prosperity which blesses the land, the present greatness, grandeur and unsullied glory of the Bepublie, are the results of your achievements. The blow which you struck in behalf of your country will be felt for all time to come. Comrads, survivors of the heroic dead —for ourselves we ask and ip their name we demand that the sectional agitation of questions = settled on the buttlo field y -hy the loyal-soldiers of this land, and the revival of animosities, which endangers the safety,of the country by weakening the bonds of union, shall cease, both in the North and m tlfe hi ~ treason’s dastard chief and his unrepentant followers be not permit- - more to Instil the poison of disloyalty into the minds of the rising generation. With a generous and forgiving spirit this na-

« - * tion spared to Jefferson Davis aud his wicked co-conspirators their hateful lives. Like the poison serpent in tho fable, when warmed upon the hearthstone, they hav(j turned to sting their benefactors. Through the demands of the loyaj. soldiers of the Union, the lenineey of thejgovernmentsolong extended to Jettyrsou,.Davis and his followers, can be turned to wrath, andlong deferred jtistice may yet be visited .upon the guilty. While the arch traitor is not in. arms against the government for jti reason that his military power is broken, yet lie is openly prepaf* iiig the way of treason for others; to travel. A practical application of a precept taught by the (jrapd, Army of the Republic should liemade and that precept is’ this: “The penalty of treason is dealt'.” We demand that this disfranchise ed outlaw, whose right to live is a simple gratuity of this nation, be compelled to stop his treasonabh* practices, or that he be arrested, tried and punished for the black crimejof which he is guilty. Clothed in garments stained with blood and drenched in the tears of wick, ows and orphans, his pa me should not be mentioned side by side with even Benedict Arnold’s,. For those who stood in ranks against us, but who now ftcknowk edge their loyalty to the government, what shall be said? May God forgive their wrong as fully as this people have: Let Lethe’s waves raise mountain high, over every fault and crime. While we devote this day and hour to the “Blue” alone, let us, while branding treason’s forehead bare, with kind and generous hearts extend an openhanded welcome to the “Gray.” , Without this lesson to the young and old, this decora* tiop is .a mocking farce and a sneering fraud—this lesson which the stars and fstripes sends forth on every breeze —this lesson which the tombs of the loyal dead resound - -the only corner I stone upon which the. bunding of I our future stands, j The bloody coufliet is over, i Day by (lay the material elej merits Of war fade from our view | and the- bitter animosities which it engendered become less numer- , ous and more yielding as passion subsides and calm reflection* prevails. May they pass away i• i - ever. May wounds occasioned by the rebellion be healed and may prosperity ahd happiuess return to gladden the hearts of the Southern people. Posterity will look back upon the accomplishment of emancipation and the vindication of the principles of liberty with pride, regarding the issue of the war, not as the history off the North, but as the fiat of God. It becomes us as a patriotic, a Christian and a chivalrous people, as we approach the hallowed ground where sleeps the nation’s dead, to cast the mantle of charily over the awful abyss of civil war, and to sow with generous hands the seeds of good will and to faster and cherish a devotion to the institutions of our common country. Those who were array l against us were our own brethe. :, co-heirs with us in all tire glui of the past and partners, m our weal of woe. The-different states of this union are bound together in one common destiny-- together they must move on" to still grander achievments and more glorious triumphs, or together they must fall and bux*y in their magnificent ruins all the fond hop.ee of humanity. By our united efforts we can more effectually develop the vast recourses of the country, restore*oiu’ lost wealth, repair the ravages of-war, and make the North and South oiled more and forever a united, prosperous and powerful people.