The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1877-06-29
SERMON.
The Soldiers Reuni0n.*
BY IRVING A. sEARLEs.
1 have fought a good fght.-II Tim. 4

BY IRVING A. sEARLEs.
have fought . good fght.-II Tim. At,
1t occurs to me that an event of SO
much Importance in our county as the
recent soldiers reunion at Four Mile
Lake ought not to be permitted to pass
without teaching certain lessons worthy
of mention from the pulpit. wish this
evening to suggest few of Che many
points of analogy between the life of
the christian and the life of the soldier.
/. About the first duty that meets
the soldier is that Of OBEDIENCE. The
every command of his superiors in rank
he is to implicitly obey. The Six
Hundred" of the Light Brigade in the
Crimeau war, rode up to the Russian
guns along valley from whose every
side the death-dealing cannon frowned.
The order was a mistake, but that mat.
tered not to them. AS Tennyson has
said, in verse that will make the six
hundred immortal,
90 Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not 70 reason why;
Theirs but TO do and die"
Among the many curiosities found in
Pompeii is a Roman sentinel standing
in his sentry box. For Roman soldier
to leave his post for any reason was one
of the highest acts Of dsobedience, and
punishable with death. That sentinel
looks off towards Mt Vesuvius and sees
the frightful torrent coming. Others
may at least try to escape, but he must
remain at his post. Faster aud faster
comes the molten rock aud smoke and
fame. For seventeen hundred. years
Pompeii remains buried from earthly
view, but at the expiration of that time
those engaged in the work Of exhuming
find this unknown soldier still in the
sentry box, a striking example of the
military obedience that obtained in the
Roman legions.
OF the christian warrior it is said
BLESSED are they that do his command
ments," and "to obey is better than sac.
rifce."
2. In the army MUSIC is necessity.
When the war began our government
thought to economize by reducing the
number of the army musicians. But
the Generals wrote or to Washington,
Don't take away our music 1t won't
do"
When some Of Scotland's soldiers, far
from home, were commanded to charge
on the enemy's works, they hesitated.-
They were homesick and discouraged
Again and again the order came, but it
was not obeyed. Just at this crisis one
of the soldiers started annie Laurie"
1t was mere love song, but each sol
dier made the heroine of the verse the
representative cf some loved one he had
left at home, and as the song rolled
forth, voice after voice adding to its
volume, the troops caught fresh inspi.
ration that carried them into the face of
death, and planted the flag Of their
country high upon the ramparts.
In the Christian warfare you cannot
overestimate the power Of song. A
Moody to preach the gospel, but with.
out a Sankey to sing it their work wo'd
be divested of half It's power.
5. The true soldier loves the flag un-
der which lie is lighting. It is dis.
grace for a regiment to lose its colors.
The enemy delights to see the fag fall,
and takes especial pains in battle to kill
the color bearer. The dying soldiers
last request is to be. buried with the
stars and stripes wrapped around him.
During one of the battles of the late
war sixteen or seventeen color bearers
had been shot down while holding the
same fag,-as fast as one fell another
would take the feg. After all these
had fallen another soldier is found ready
for the dangerous work. He takes the
flag and steps into the very front of bat.
tie. A minnie ball penetrates his body
in vital part. He falls, but in his
fall he continues to keep the flag still
uplifted, and in voice husky with
death cries to his comrades, ut has not
touched the ground yet, boys; for Gods
sake some of you take it and carry it
on |" He forgot his own sufferings in
the thought that the flag of his country
had not been trailed in the dust.
This reverence for the flag was not a
matter of superstition. That flag rep.
resented the nation it represented the
protection of home and loved ones. I'd
And as the banner was to the soldier
so is the cross of Christ to the christian.
Not that we are to worship the wood of
the crucifx, but the cross represents the
sufferings of the Son of God.
4. The true soldier must fight from
PRINCIPLE. The pan who fought merely
because Of bis monthly pay or his boun-
ty was not the ideal soldier The true
soldier fought because there was some