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Date unknown

Manuscript by Eli Slifer

7pages

This speech was apparently given on a holiday where fallen soldiers are honored, possibly Memorial Day. The point of Slifer’s address is to honor the men who died during the Civil War. He uses the floral offerings placed on the graves as a metaphor, comparing the lingering fragrance of the "crushed flower" to the brief but forever memorable lives of the dead. He says that we need to "treasure the lessons that the example of their self sacrificing patriotism teaches." He acknowledges that this special day is impressive, so many people visiting the graves of their loved ones, but knows that tomorrow anyone who goes to the cemetery "will find a silence even more impressing than speech." He says that "before we can rightly appreciate their sacrifice," we must "have . . . the sublime devotion to country that led them to lay their lives upon its alter," claiming that dying for one’s country is a high honor. Next to that, he cites "living for it." Even in peace, there are battles to be fought. War, "like a tornado uproots and levels the forest." Peace "cultivates sows and reaps." What the living need to do is "make the country worthy of their deaths." Slifer states that we need to silence the "Croakers" who prophesy a "dismal future," and have "unfaltering faith in the nations grand destiny." In order to make the nation stable, to make it grow, we need to develop "manhood in man"; the individual needs to be "lifted up, that he may be inspired to deeds worthy of his exaltation . . . ." He believes that God will punish those who "sink the individual," that reform begins at "the source of power, the people." He says that "the citizenship that promises most to the state is governed by enlightened reason, not by unquestioning obedience to party." He contends that if we "make the people virtuous [and] instill in them a high sense of honor," then the rulers will soon follow this same pattern. He wants to see a return to the government by the people. He believes that the two most evil things in a man are "demogogism in politics and fanaticism in religion." He concludes by emphasizing the preservation of religious freedom.