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W.RANDOLPH 
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 MEMORIAL f ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVEUEI 
 
 R. FUNERAL OF 
 
 0ll^a|)taiii Samuel ^. f agkn; 
 
 :\'' 
 
 AT WINDSOfe LOCKS, 
 
 Friday, Jniic lt>, 1§63. 
 
 KEV. GEOUGEJifK. OVIATT, 
 
 Pastor of the Cong. Church, Soiners, and lately! Chaplain of the 25th Keg't Conn. Vols. 
 
 PUBLISUED BTfJ, JtKQU 
 
 HARTFOKD: 
 PRESS OF CASE, LOCKwjs)'(>l> AND COMPANY 
 

 MEMORIAL ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE FUNERAL OF 
 
 Captain ^anuul %. fagben, 
 
 AT WINDSOR LOCKS, 
 
 Fri<clay, June 19, 1§C:J. 
 
 BY 
 
 HEV. GEOlKiE A. OVIATT, 
 
 of the Cong. Church, Somers, and lately Chaplain of the 25th Keg't Conn. Vol* 
 
 Pastor 
 
 r U B L I f^ H E D BY REQUEST. 
 
 HARTFORD: 
 PRESS OF CASE, LOCKWOOD AND COMPANY. 
 
 1863. 
 

 ^/32./ 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRESS. 
 
 " Oil if there be on this earthly sphere, 
 
 A boon, an offering Heaven holds dear, 
 
 'Tis the last libation Liberty draws, 
 
 From the heart that bleeds and breaks in her cause." 
 
 Patriotism, pure, self-sacrificing, enduring unto tlie 
 end, is ever and by all classes, held in high esteem, 
 and is the theme that inspires the richest bursts of elo- 
 quence by which the people are swayed, and the 
 sweetest, loftiest strains of poetry that thrill and 
 enrapture the nations of every age and clime. He 
 who pours out his blood and gives up his life in the 
 cause of liberty and his country, shouting " give me 
 liberty or give me death," for myself, my family, 
 and my native land, leaves to the world a precious 
 legacy and a name of power never to be forgotten 
 till the end of time. 
 
 The true Christian ever acts according to the 
 instructions of the great apostle, as his motto, ex- 
 pressed in these words, "Whether therefore ye eat 
 
or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of 
 God." The patriotism of such a man, and his love 
 of liberty, are Christian, heaven-born, and they will 
 burn and inspire to noblest deeds, when the patriot- 
 ism and love of liberty of other men may grow faint 
 and cold, and cease to be such a mighty impelling 
 motive in the soul. 
 
 In the war of the Revolution when our nationality 
 and our liberty were gained as an independent gov- 
 ernment, how the Christian patriots of the colonies 
 rushed, deliberately and gladly to the bloody strife, 
 and spilt their blood like water in the struggle ; and 
 how the Christian patriotic women of that period 
 with tears and smiles, bade their husbands, fathers, 
 sons, speed them to the battle, meanwhile bathing 
 them with their tears, and earnestly commending 
 them to God in their prayers, and then bending their 
 slender forms to perform the tasks of men, and 
 endure the exposures of the sterner sex, that they 
 might provide for themselves, their aged fathers and 
 mothers, the sick and the little children left with 
 them at home. That was a holy war, waged by our 
 fathers for the cause of civil and religious liberty. 
 
 This war we are prosecuting to-day, not to repel 
 foreign invaders, not to lay the foundations of a new 
 government, not to alter and amend the constitution 
 under which we have lived so prosperously, and be- 
 
6 
 
 come so influential among the nations of the earth, 
 for 8o long a period, but simply to put down treason 
 and preserve our institutions of civil and religious 
 liberty, that we may transmit them unimpaired to 
 those who si jail come after us, is a holy war, and 
 must be maintained, at whatever sacrifice of life and 
 treasure, till we prevail, and law and order triumph. 
 The greatness of the interests at stake in this war 
 against treason, we do not yet measure, nor are we 
 as much inspired and earnest to put down this ini- 
 quitous rebellion within our borders, as become us 
 in the sight of God and the world. Terrible indeed 
 is the necessity that obliges us to spill the blood and 
 destroy the property, and at such an almost infinite 
 sacrifice to ourselves, of the sons of those who fought 
 side by side with our fathers in the wonderful and 
 glorious war of the Revolution. 
 
 We have preserved our existence and liberties, 
 since our fathers achieved them, when assailed by 
 foreign foes; now we are testing the question in the 
 face of all the despotic powers in the world, whether 
 we can preserve them against traitors at home, mad 
 and determined to sunder the Union. 
 
 To the rescue of our country, in this time of our 
 greatest peril, with their lives in their hands, how 
 many of our noblest and best Christian patriots have 
 enlisted in the army and navy, and gone forth cheer- 
 
6 
 
 fully to give battle to the bitterest and fiercest enemy 
 ever arrayed against us, on the land and on the 
 water, leaving behind them weeping wives, parents, 
 children, brothers and sisters, saying amid their tears 
 and sobs, hasten to the terrible struggle, and for our 
 sakes and for the great cause of human rights, of 
 civil and religious freedom, and by the assistance of 
 God, do valiantly in the conflict. 
 
 How, in the war of the Revolution, was the land 
 filled with mourning for the noble dead. How was 
 almost every family in the New England colonies rep- 
 resented in the patriotic army, and represented too in 
 the brave men who fell in battle. In the very midst 
 of this war against treason and oppression, here in 
 our New England cities and towns, is there the ap- 
 pearance of peace and gladness, — as there is, in truth, 
 great prosperity in business and a great abundance 
 of the necessaries and comforts of life — as if, almost 
 there were no war, and no rumor of war, in all our 
 borders. We have sent to the war, from New Eng- 
 land, an immense army, thousands upon thousands ; 
 from the little state of Connecticut, something more 
 than twenty-five thousand men — and yet our streets 
 are thronged ; our houses of merchandise, our man- 
 ufactories, great and small, our workshops of every 
 name, our churches and places of amusement, present 
 no signs of a diminished population ; and these states, 
 
in all their interests of agriculture, manufactures and 
 trade, are growing rich. The people dress no less 
 extravagantly than they did before this war broke 
 out. We have these thousands ni the army and 
 navy ; we have taxes to })ay such as we knew noth- 
 ing of before ; we are looking forward to a heavy 
 national debt to be cancelled, and yet, a stranger 
 coming among us, would scarcely suspect that we 
 were waging such a great war, on such a vast scale, 
 at so great a cost of life and property. The news- 
 papers are read most eagerly, tidings from the 
 armies and navies are sought for with unwonted ex- 
 citement, the people in groups, larger or smaller, with 
 much enthusiasm, discuss the great questions of the 
 war and its results ; when the dead bodies of soldiers 
 are brought home to their friends, crowds follow 
 them to their burial, but still the great multitudes of 
 our people move on, from day to day, with mirth 
 and laughter, all seeking to become rich. But 
 oh ! how many of our men in the service of the 
 country, have died in the field of battle and in 
 hospitals 5 and how many in consequence of their 
 wounds and sicknesses, returned to their homes, will 
 spend the residue of their days feeble and disabled, 
 even to dependency almost absolute. 
 
 Could all the families in Connecticut from which 
 loved ones have gone forth to this war — and in this 
 
8 
 
 number, by themselves, all those who have been be- 
 reft of those they bade depart to the perilous post 
 of patriotic duty — be assembled in one community, 
 what a sight would be presented to our view to open 
 the fountains of our sympathy, and cause us all to 
 lament and weep. And how many more men we are 
 to send to the war, and how many more of our brave 
 soldiers are to perish far away from those who so 
 long to but can not minister to them in their suffer- 
 ings and soothe them in their dying hours, none of 
 us can tell. 
 
 Captain Samuel S. Hayden was eminently a Chris- 
 tian patriot, and as such he fell gloriously on the gory 
 field. By those among whom he lived for so many 
 years, he was well known and most highly esteemed. 
 I became acquainted with him the early part of Oc- 
 tober last, when I connected myself as chaplain with 
 the 25th Regiment, which he had joined some time 
 before. We very soon were warmly and strongly at- 
 tached to each other, and our mutual love was indeed 
 like the love of brothers. I think I knew him well, 
 and the more thoroughly I knew and understood him, 
 the more I admired and loved him. He was one of 
 the most frank and outspoken men I ever saw. He 
 never affected anything, and just what he was, all, 
 who had intercourse with him, could see. He was a 
 noble specimen of a puritan of the olden time. In 
 
9 
 
 his manners and speech he was plain and unassuming. 
 All his opinions he held as his honest sentiments, and 
 he held them with firmness, whether they were pop- 
 ular or unpopular, whether, in holding them, he stood 
 alone or among the many. 
 
 He was a remarkably conscientious man. He 
 never meant to express an opinion or a feeling unless 
 he WHS convinced that it was right, and when he was 
 satisfied that his opinions and feelings were right, no 
 flatteries or frowns of his fellows could move him 
 from expressing them as he chose to express them, 
 or to turn one hair's breadth to the right or left hand 
 from the course he was constrained to believe it was 
 his duty to pursue. 
 
 No one ever had occasion to question his perfect 
 integrity, in his business, in his friendships, in his 
 patriotism, in his religion. Plain spoken as he was, 
 tenacious of his opinions as he was, he was never 
 overbearing. He possessed strong intellectual facul- 
 ties, and always displayed great common sense. He 
 was a very tender-hearted man, and was easily 
 touched to tears at the sight or ])y the rehearsal of 
 human suffering, and was ready to bear his part, 
 fully, in contributing to relieve the wants of those 
 needing assistance. 
 
 He was most ardently attached to his family and 
 friends, and cherished with great veneration the 
 2 
 
10 
 
 memory of those he loved and honored who had 
 passed away from among the living. We used to see 
 each other repeatedly every day. He often visited 
 me at my quarters, when we were in the habit of 
 conversing very freely about our families and kin- 
 dred, and when speaking of those he had left at 
 home, his eyes would soon moisten, and the tears roll 
 down his manly cheeks in streams. I well remem- 
 ber his description of his mother's burial, and his 
 statement that the last meeting of his brothers and 
 sisters living, all together, was at her grave in 
 Windsor. 
 
 He was always manly, generous, and not selfish. 
 He despised all meanness, and never stooped to do a 
 mean thing. 
 
 He was a man of great energy. He never shirked 
 from duty and responsibility. In the regiment and 
 in his company he was always in his place, and 
 always ready to bear the brunt of the hard work to 
 be done. He never complained of fatigue or sick- 
 ness unless he had just cause for complaint, and was 
 always ready to push on even when others thought 
 that he should more favor himself 
 
 Captain Hayden was truly a brave man. He was 
 not rash, but he was brave according to Bacon's defi- 
 nition of the word, and united "courage with gene- 
 rosity and dignity of mind," and as an anonymous 
 
11 
 
 writer says, " The hrave man will not deliberately do 
 an injury to his fellow-man." 
 
 His patriotism was as pure and self-sacrificing as 
 ever glowed in the bosom of any man. He enlisted 
 in the army not for gain, not for honor, not because 
 he was weary of the routine of life at home, and 
 would be an adventurer, but simply from a stern 
 sense of duty. He had a pleasant home, he was 
 surrounded by loving kindred and friends, he enjoyed 
 the confidence of the community, and he had a com- 
 petence of worldly good, with common frugality and 
 industry, to enable him to support himself and family 
 comfortably, and to contribute something as he 
 wished to the great causes of benevolence, while he 
 had passed the meridian of his years, being in the 
 fiftieth year of his age, and was just at the time of 
 life when he felt that he would more than ever find 
 his peace and enjoyment in the bosom of his home 
 and in the society of his friends. His country was 
 in peril. Treason was beating against the constitu- 
 tion and government of the country, and seeking 
 most madly to rupture the Union, and the cry to 
 arms was ringing through the valleys and over the 
 hills of New England. The cry roused all the Chris- 
 tian patriotism in him, and that he might be an 
 example to others and do what in him lay to put 
 down this rebellion, he nobly laid himself on the 
 
12 
 
 altar, and went forth to fight for his country. As he 
 was loyal as loyal could be, and was ready to fight 
 for the preservation of the constitution, so did he 
 hate the institution of slavery, and feel that it must 
 and ought to be, in due time, utterly overthrown. 
 
 Our departed friend was a Christian, and he car- 
 ried his religion with him into all his business and 
 pleasures. He enlisted in the army for the purpose 
 of glorifying God, as he often used to say to me with 
 emphasis. As his patriotism was thus Christian, as a 
 man of God he used to rebuke any of his men he 
 overheard expressing any treasonable sentiments. 
 He never compromised anything when speaking 
 against the rebellion and slavery. He used to say, 
 "I do hope we shall yet do something that will tell 
 in the final overthrow of these enemies of the coun- 
 try." 
 
 He was a strong temperance man. On one occa- 
 sion, when we were in camp on Long Island, we held 
 in the evening a meeting preliminary to our organ- 
 ization of a regimental temperance society ; he made 
 a most effective speech, strong, earnest, and truly 
 eloquent, and which deeply moved us all. In Baton 
 Rogue, in consequence of the bad water we had to 
 drink, and the debilitating state of the climate, as 
 well as the exposures of the men when doing picket 
 
13 
 
 duty, the surgeons advised the moderate use of whis- 
 ky. Capt. Hayden often said to me, "Chaplain, I 
 don't beUeve that I shall ever follow this advice of 
 the physicians, though I am not satisfied tiiat they 
 are wrong, for they are, all through the army, united 
 in this thing." I am persuaded that he never, when 
 in the army, drank a drop of spirituous liquors of any 
 kind. 
 
 His habits as a moral and Cliristian man were so 
 correct, that he was a noble example of a good man 
 for all to imitate. 
 
 He was always cheerful, and sought to make others 
 cheerful. I do not remember that I ever saw him in 
 a depressed state of mind. 
 
 He was a man of prayer, always at the prayer-meet- 
 ing, and we ever listened to his earnest prayers and 
 exhortations with great profit and delight. On one 
 occasion he went with me to the "quarters of the 
 contrabands," when I preached to a large congrega- 
 tion of the negroes. The audience was much moved, 
 and at the close of my discourse, 1 called on Capt. 
 Hayden to offer the concluding prayer, when he ad- 
 dressed the throne of grace with remarkable appro- 
 priateness and fervor, and seemed to be indeed 
 inspired by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 He was always present at public worship on the 
 Sabbath, unless kept away by unavoidable duties, 
 
14 
 
 and when I preached a plain, earnest sermon, I was 
 sure to have from him an approving word. He was 
 to me both an Aaron and a Hur to stay np my hands. 
 
 I have thus freely spoken of Capt. Hayden as 
 I knew him in the army, and as I became his warm, 
 earnest friend and Christian brother, confident that 
 his memory will ever be fragrant and precious to 
 me. I have spoken as I have of the departed in 
 all good faith. No man in this world is perfect. 
 Undoubtedly our friend had his failings. But I am 
 sure he was a noble man, a noble patriot, a sincere, 
 earnest Christian,— a truly good man. 
 
 I well remember the last interview I had with 
 him. He called to see me, as I was then very sick 
 and in great pain. I read to him a letter I had lately 
 received, giving an account of the peaceful and tri- 
 umphant death of a young lady among my people 
 in Somers. The letter very much moved him. He 
 then showed me pictures he had of his wife and 
 children. "Chaplain," said he, "I have a pleasant 
 family, and it is hard to be separated from them; 
 these two are all the children I have ; they are affec- 
 tionate and pleasant always. All I can ask for them 
 is that they may become Christians." Waiting a few 
 moments, he said, " well, chaplain, we know not what 
 is before us ; I am sorry that you must go home. I 
 may be shot in the battle-field, but I have no choice ; 
 
15 
 
 I leave myself with God. Should I fall in battle, I 
 believe that I am ready. I often have doubts and 
 fears as to my acceptance with God, but I am per- 
 suaded that Christ is mine. Time, a few years, are 
 of little consequence, save as we should use them in 
 doing good." Then with a smile and with tears, 
 taking me by the hand, he said, "good-bye, if we 
 never meet again here on earth, I trust we shall 
 meet to part no more in heaven. If you live to get 
 home, I hope you will go and see my dear family, 
 and my brothers and sisters." 
 
 Captain Hayden died honorably in the terrible 
 battle at Irish Bend, La., April the 14th. The Sur- 
 geon, Dr. Wm. B. Woods, who well knew him, writes 
 that ho was killed by a shell, or the fragment of a 
 shell, that struck him on his head. Col. Bissell writes 
 to the same effect, and adds that when laid out side 
 by side, — Capt. Hayden and Lieut. Dewey, — their 
 countenances looked even beautiful. Some of his 
 men have written home that Capt. Hayden was not 
 well when he went into the action ; that he was 
 fatigued by the long marches they had made, and 
 that he was entreated to lie down and get a little 
 rest, to which entreaty he replied, "No, I must push 
 on." Just like him, noble man. 
 
 He died with his armor on, both as a soldier in the 
 army of his country and as a Christian warrior. He 
 
16 
 
 has gone to his reward and his rest in the presence 
 of his Saviour and his God. He died in the midst of 
 his usefulness ; he died blessed in the Lord. If he 
 does not now know, he will know, we trust, a few 
 years hence, that his earnest prayers for the conver- 
 sion of his children, he offered not in vain. 
 
 How our departed friend will be missed and 
 lamented by this church and community. One of 
 your strong men, ever on the side of right, has been 
 smitten down. The Sabbath school will miss him 
 who has served as its superintendent,- and for so many 
 years been its earnest promoter. 
 
 We have all lost a dear friend, but we may be 
 blessed in the future by our recollection of his friend- 
 ship and our very missing of it, and though dead, it 
 may be to us as if he were living. The country has 
 lost a noble patriot defender of her constitution, gov- 
 ernment, and free institutions, but his death will be 
 effective from the moment he fell, onward in all her 
 coming history of prosperity and trial, to rouse her 
 sons to a higher appreciation of their privileges and 
 a greater readiness to make sacrifices for their pres- 
 ervation for their children and their children's child- 
 ren. His blood and death speak for liberty and our 
 republican government with a most powerful utter- 
 ance, to roll on through the coming years and to stir 
 
17 
 
 " the millions yet to be," with a purer and stronger 
 Christian patriotism. 
 
 1 can but rejoice jjersonally, and congratulate the 
 kindred and more immediate friends of the deceased 
 that they have recovered his remains, and are thus 
 enabled to give them burial, solemnly and decently, 
 in the old burying ground dear to him, by the side 
 of his most honored parents and other kindred. As 
 did Martha and Mary at their brother's sepulchre, 
 so may the surviving relatives of him whose mortal 
 remains we are about to inter, often repair to liis 
 grave that they may weep and be comforted there. 
 
 To the Avidow of the deceased and her fatherless 
 children, and these other near relatives, I ask the 
 favor of saying but a few words of Christian advice 
 and consolation. 
 
 To the little family of our departed friend, the 
 world does not, and never can look as it used to. 
 The best earthly friend you have had, the kindest and 
 most faithful of husbands, the most devoted and 
 indulgent of fathers, whose counsel. Christian advice, 
 example and prayers were so invaluable, you will 
 see not again on earth. You will not have him with 
 you in the future as in the past, to thread with you 
 the winding paths of life, to cheer you with his smiles 
 and tears, and place aroimd j-ou his strong arms. 
 Be thankful that you have had such a husband and 
 3 
 
18 
 
 father, and may God be ever your portion, the 
 widow's God, and the lather of the latherless who 
 trust in him. May the only son surviving, as far as 
 he may be able, take his father's place in the family 
 and still keep the Hame ascending brightly, con- 
 stantly, and with sweet perfume on the domestic 
 altar. Though these children are not in their most 
 dependent years, they are in the very forming period 
 of life when they need the instructions of just such a 
 father as they have had. 
 
 These brothers and sisters of the deceased mourn 
 the death of a most noble and affectionate brother. 
 You remember him when in years gone by, you 
 were happy and joyous together under the old 
 paternal roof, the numerous children of most hon- 
 ored parents. In your reunions, from time to 
 time, since your fatlier's family was broken up, 
 how much was Samuel the life of your gatherings. 
 You feel that death is diminishing your numbers, 
 and that in the death of this beloved brother, God 
 is laying his hand heavily upon you. 
 
 All these kindred of the departed good man, the 
 Christian patriot soldier, feel that they are, by his 
 death, smitten with a great affliction. 
 
 My dear friends, comprising this mourning circle, 
 you may dwell, at times, on the aggravated circum- 
 stances connected with the death of him you fondly 
 
19 
 
 loved. But ho died honorably, in a glorious cause, 
 and not in vain. Though you were not witli him in 
 his last moments, if indeed he lingered a little after 
 he was struck by that terrible missile, to comfort and 
 soothe him, I am sure that Chrld was with him. He 
 used to say to me, " One can as peacefully and tri- 
 umphantly go to heaven from the hospital and the 
 battle field, unattended by friends, as from a soft 
 and downy bed at home, surrounded by loved ones 
 so kindly ministering to the departing friend in 
 his suffering." Had Captain Hayden remained at 
 home, he might have died by sickness or accident 
 just on the day and at the very moment of his expi- 
 ration on that field of carnage and blood. God 
 called him to the war. It was God's will that he 
 should seal his attachment to him and to his country 
 by the sacrifice of his life. Bow then, my afflicted 
 friends, submissively, resignedly to the will of heaven. 
 Say, the Lord's, and not our will Ije done. Cast your 
 burdens, in this day of your sorrow, on Him who 
 careth for you. Hear each of you a new voice 
 speaking to you and saying, " Prepare to meet thy 
 God." 
 
 Think of the bliss and glory of your departed 
 loved one, as he is now a glorified spirit in the world 
 of light and love. Can you not l)y fjxith, see him 
 wearing his glittering crown, and his long white gar- 
 
20 
 
 ment washed and made white in the blood of the 
 Lamb, and sweeping his golden harp ? Here, to-day, 
 consecrate yourselves anew and wholly unto God. 
 
 Think, too, of your own departure hence, of the 
 resurrection morn, and the meeting of those who so 
 loved each other on earth, on the hills of salvation, 
 and under the eye of Christ, the splendor and glory 
 of heaven, never again to part. 
 
 Of therecog:nition of Christian friends in the world 
 of glory, I have no doubt. That they will know each 
 other there, and there remember the past, and there 
 sing and worship, and serve God, in company, is in 
 my view, both philosophical and scriptural. 
 
 How many friends, friends who have been so dear 
 to you in your earthly sojourn, have you, who com- 
 prise this bereaved group in heaven. And are you 
 all thitherward bound ? Are you all in Christ, jus- 
 tified and ready for the coming event of your sum- 
 mons to go the way whence you will never return ? 
 Are you all prepared to meet your Saviour on his 
 throne above, the glorious centre of attraction in 
 heaven, and all your dear kindred who have died in 
 the Lord, and been received up into glory ? There 
 will be no sorrow there, no tears, no conflicts. 
 
 Now and onward in your stay on earth, remember 
 the uncertainty of life. Live cheerfully, but live 
 solemnly. 
 
21 
 
 Soon you will be called for to put off' your mortal 
 bodies, be ye ready for the call. 
 
 " For ever with the Lord !" 
 
 Amen ! so let it he : 
 Life from the dead is in that word ; 
 
 'Tis immortality. 
 
 Here in the body pent, 
 
 Absent from him I roam, 
 But nightly pitch my moving tent, 
 
 A days' march nearer home. 
 
 My Father's house on high, 
 
 Home of my soul ! how near, 
 At times, to faith's aspiring eye, 
 
 Thy golden gates appear ! 
 
 Forever with the Lord ! 
 
 Father, if 'tis thy will 
 The promise of thy gracious word 
 
 Ev'n here to me fulfill. 
 
 So when my latest breath 
 
 Shall rend the vail in tAvain, 
 By death I shall escape from death, 
 
 And life eternal gain. 
 
 Knowing " as I am known," 
 
 How shall I love that word. 
 And oft repeat before the throne, 
 
 "(Forever with tlie Lord!" 
 
22 
 
 Our sainted friend and brother is at this moment 
 singing -Forever with the Lord." Sing on thus 
 forever brother, and we ere long will join thee in 
 the song. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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