The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-06-02
TALMAGEs SERMON.



suggestiVeness of that epitaph, on so
many graves at my feet. UnknOwnl
UnknOwnl 1t seems to me that the
time must come when the Government
of the United States shall take off that
epitaph. They are no more unknown.
We have found them out at last. They
are the beloved sons of the Republic.
Would 1t not be well to take the statue
of the heathen goddess off the TOP of
the Capitol at Washington (for / have
no faith in the morals of the heather
ROddess) and put one great statue In all
our National Cemeteries-a statue of
Liberty, in the form Of a Christian wO-
man, with her hand on an open Bible
and her foot on the Rock of Ages, with
the other hand pointing down to'the
graves of the unknown, saying: "These
are my sons who died that Imight live"
Take off the misnOmer-eVerbOdyk knows
them. It is of comparatively little inn
pOrtance what was the name given to
them In the baptism of water. In the
hOlier and mightier baptism of blood we
know them. And next Wednesday the
nation puts both arms around them and
hugs them to her heart, crying: mine
fOreVerP'
Again, by this national ceremony we
propose the future defense of this ma
tiOn. BY every wreath OF flowers on the
-
for their country shall not be forgot
ten" and that will give enthusiasm to
our young men in case our nation in the
future should need to defend itself in
battle. We shall never have another
war between the North and South. The
old decayed bone Of contention, AmeTi-
can slavery, has been cast out, although
here and there a depraYed politician
takes 1t up to see If he can't gnaw some
thing nff hnr
and further away from the possibility of
sectional strife. No possibility of civil
war. But about foreign invasion | am
not 80 certain. When l spoke against
war | said against self defense. An in
VentOr told me at Washington that ne
had invented a style of weapon that
could be used in self defense, but not in
aggressive warfare. L said: when
you get the nations to adopt that weap-
on you have introduced the millennium"
/ have no right to go on my neighbOr's
premises aud assault him, but if some
rufflan breaksi into my house for the assas
sinatiOn of my family, and l can borrow
a gun and load it in time, and aim it
straight enough to shoot him. There is
no room on this continent for any other
nation except Canada, and a better
neighbOr no one ever had. If you DON'T
think 80, go to Montreal and Toronto,
Other than that there Is absolutely no
room for any other nation, have been
across the continent again and again,
and know that we have not half an inch
Of ground for the gOuty foot of foreign
dtsp0tism to stand on; but am not sure
that some of the arrogant nations of
Europe may not some day challenge us.
do not know that those forts around
New York Bay are to sleep all through
hn nvf do M HWnn hot
Barnegat Lighthouse will not yet look
off upon hostile navy. / do not know
but that half a dozen nations, enviOus
of our prosperity, may want to give us a
wrestle. During our civil war there
were two or three nations that could
hardly keep ltheir hands off us. 1t is
very easy to pick national quar-
rels, and il our nation escapes
much longer it will be the OK
ceptfOn. IL foreign foes should come
we want men like those of 1912
and like those of 1862 to meet them.
We want them all up and down the coast,
Pulaski and Fort Sumter, in the same
chorus of thunder as Fort Lafayette
and Fort Hamilton. Men who will not
only know how to fight, but how to die.
When such time comes, If 1t ever does
come, the generations on the stage of
action will say: my country will care
asylums for the orphans in the civil war
and my country will honor my dust as
1t hOnOred those who proceeded me in
patriotic sacrifice, and once year, at
any rate, on Decoration Day, shall be
resurrected into the remembrance of
those for whom died. Here go for
God and nay cOuntryl Huzzap' If foreign
foe should come here old sectional ami
mOsities would have no power. Here
20 into fkn hnA al
Fifteenth New York Volunteers, Tenth
Alabama Cavalry, Fourteenth Pennsyl-
vania Rifiemen, Tenth Massachusetts,
Artillery, Seventh South Carolina Sharp
shooters. do no know but it may re-
Quire the attack of some foreign foe to
make us forget our absurd sectional
wrangling. l have no faith in the cry,
mo North, no South, no East, no West"
Let all four sections keep their peculiar
titles and their preferences, each doing
its own work and not interfering with
each other; each Of the four carrying it's
part In the great harmOny-the bass,
the alto, the tenor, the sOparno-in the
grand march Of the Union.
Once more this great national cere-
mOny means the Identification of
the tombs, whether of those who fell in
in battle or accident, or who have ex-
pired in their beds or In our arms OF on
Jul Abpos ouppOoo bnhb YOU nave uO-
tieed that many Of our families take
this season as the time for the adornment
Of their plots. This National Obsery-
ance has secured the arbOriculturaI and
horticultural OF the cemeteries,i the
Strengthening up of many slab plant
ed thirty or forty years ago, and has
swung the scythe through the long
grass and has brought the stOne-cutter
to call out the half Obliterated epitaphs.
This day is the benedictiOn of the rest
ing place of father, mother, brother,
son, daughter, sister. 1t is all that we
can do for them now, make their rest
ing-plaees attractive, not absurd with
costly outlay, but in quiet remem-
brance, you know how. If you can only
afford one flower, that will do. 1t shows
what you would do II you could. One
blossom from you may mean more than
the Duke of WellingtOn's catafalque.
Oh, we can not afford to forget them.
They were 80 lovely to usl We miss
them so muchI We will never get over
it. Blessed Lord Jesus, comfort our
broken hearts; from every bank of flow
ers breathes promises of resurrection.
In Olden times the Hebrews, returning
from their burial place, used to pluck
tho frnrrn N oil g.