Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1881-05-30
"A NATIONS eIoRY.r
The Memorial Sermon BY Rev. Philip 8
Thatcher.
south Congregational Church Crowded.
An Eloquent Diseourse,

1
sermon by Rev. Mr.. Thatcher:
THAT glory may dwell in our land. "-PsALxs
Ixxxv9.
| There are some stars that have gone out in
our sky like watch fires burnt out on eternal
hills. But in the moral heavens of our race
there are stars shining with steady. cheering
| light, which will not. must not cannot 90
out. They will continue TO shine through
all the troubled night of wears. and. like the
morning star melting away into the brighter
light Of heaven when the skv is tremuIous
with the tenderness of opening day. their
light will mingle with the glory Of all com
ing time. Liberty. Equality. Fraternity.
| these are the stars that are ever shining.
They have long been the dream and desire Of
fetfered and bleeding nations. The hope of
their realization binds the Nihiist to the
-teppes Of Russia. the Irishman to the SIS
land of sorrow,' his Saxon neiyhbor to his
weather. land and the Italian to his luxur-
ious valleys and sunny plains. 1t is the
glory Of America, that this trinity of stars
-bnrs brighter here than elsewhere Proud
Of our fertile prairies. our waving forests.
our mighty lakes. our wonderful rivers. we
| cannot imagine that they can ever be obliterat-
| ed from our sky. But let us remember that
twice in the history of our na'ion they have
heen Obscured by dark and portentous clouds
On the telds Of Lexington and at Bunker Hill,
where in fierce baptisms of blood the nation
was installed among the free and again.
when manv now present leaped to the front
| 10 defend their rights. the clouds were dis
perscd. Hither and thther drifted the dark
battle mists. but they are now cleared. and
the fields then stained and trampled. blossom
and wave with harvest hopes. Do the signs
Of the times indicate that they will never
again be eclipsedI Would we could believe
it, But when we see power preferred to
honor, when religion is thrust aside to make
way for gain. when a party is loved before
country. and self more than either. the signs
show that unless a change for the better
takes place, there is danger that dark and
stormy night will sooner or later creep over
us. and dim their brightness. Bnt you who
are the successors of the loyal Pilgrims,
ought not to allow this. You who are the
fathers. brothers and sons of those who died
at Gettysburg, Vicksburg. Richmond, An
tietam, and at the battles Of the Wilderness,
ought not to shrink from purifying politics,
or maintain a reticence when civil Service
Reform" is needed. 1t should be your am
biton, to offer your property, your influence
your PRAYERS, ay, your blood if neces-
sary to keep our national escutcheon
free from stains. To do this we
need more national character We must
be citizens of America, firmly attached to
our national government. He is not pat
| riot who does not love his own country better
Than any other There should no sacred.
mes. attached to the soil ON which our cradle,
were rocked and where we have gathered the
fruits of the tolls and struggles of our faith.
ers. 1t is right to defend it by sword and
cannon. to fight for its government, and its
| public sentiment. For life must be held
| secondary to the nphofding Of principle. Ii
this earth were paradise war would be I'M
known. But it is tenanted by many unprin-
cipled men and ambitions nations who for
the greed of gain and the love of empire are
ready.
ITO cry havoc,
And let slip the dogs OF war.
hurrying each other to a bloody death and
premature grave. If nation cannot main
tain its independence, it will soon pass away
without leaving hardly trace of its exist
ence behind Look. for example, at the mag
nifcence of some OF our Eastern nations.
whose cities were rocked-walled and million
peopled, the dumb historians of stone tell US
| of their imperial haughtiness dwindling into
a servitude to other nations. Persia, Egypt,
Greece, Rome, all PLAYED great part in our
earlier human history. but their glory has
long since departed Babylon and Ninevah
were once centres of the world. but their
reIna1ns nave ionV since neen DUTleu uhutr Tue
rough sands of the desert. The silence Of
death has closed over them But through all
the desolaticn and SCATTERING of empires the
love of Liberty. Equality and Fraternity has
come down to us gentle and beautiful as when
their lights first CLEANED on man.
TWAS said in Europe that Americans were
selfish, money getting people" but when
the cry of foul Injustice. of oppression and
wrong. of usurpation. of the helpless millions
to be set free and saved. rang through
the land. the strength of their enthu-
siasm was more than equal to the ex-
pected struggle. Honor to the men. who.
under a high mpulse did not shrink from
sacrificing liz. on the nations altar TO save
lie Government from the evils which threat
rcpd 10 crush ont its priuciples-who uncon
ditionallv relipqished the comforts and
endearments of home and with uncompromis-
inc attitude. smiled at danger. and faced the
ba,tle,s dust and blood with a beroism worthy
tho mar,yrs Of old, Think Won that in their
love of country. their devotion to its govern
mon, their ;nyincibIe courage in defending
!, tbere was not a mapnanimity as lofty as
cyar was rewarded nv Grecian Iaurels. or
49, 80