Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1884-06-16
Grays' Decoration Day.

monfes-many at the Cemeteries.
The annual decoration day exercises Of the
Grays took place yesterday. In the morning
the active company under Captain Arnold,
the Veteran Grays under Major Hendrick
and Company A, Twenty-seVenth G. w.
under Lieutenant Chapman attended divine
services at Calvary Baptist church. The oc-
casion was and of much interest and long
before the hour of service the church was
filled to overlooking. The Grays occupied
seats in the main body of tie house. The
floral display for the occasion was very beau
tiful and much praise for the display is
awarded Mr.. Augur and the young ladies
who devoted themselves to the task with
such success. The singing vas also a very
fine feature of the exercises. The splendid
quartette choir sang beautifully special Sc
lections for the occasion. The sermon by
the pastor, Rev Mr.. Samson, was highly
appropriate to the hour and occasion.
It was from the text, "From whence come
wars and fghtings among you ?" found in
James ", 1 An abstract of the sermon is
rs follows: Wars are justified by Christian
nations on the ground of self defence. This
is a reaso nable ground, and the spirit of the
Christian people is not opposed to war which
is strictly defensive. While this is SO, it is
the Christians duty to avoid arousing I'M
pleasant feelings It is also true that no war
can be mutually defensive One of the par
ties must be the aggressor and engaged
in aggressive war. In the second place
Wars among Christian nations are justified
on the ground that they are demanded by a
true regard for national honor. There is a
code of honor which is pretty generally
adopted which demands an eye for an eye
and q tooth 'Nhara kIuo
itations of this code which are recognized by
those who adopt it, namely, it is not honora-
BILE to inf1ict an injury upon one who has not
himself injured another, and it is not honor
able to retaliate unintentional injury. The
code, then, is simply this: Honor requires
that 1 should inflics an Intentional injury
upon one who has not injured me, and it also
requires that I should only retaliate inten-
tional injuries done me. This code of honor
will not apply to any war, even our late civil
war Wars carried on by Christian nations
are justified also on the ground that God
has sanctioned war as sometimes necessary
and proper. It is true that God has sane
toned war in other and earlier times He
commanded his servants Joshua and David to
var against the heather nations in possession
of the land of Canaan. Evepjn the days of
our Lord, when John the Baptist replied to
the soldiers who asked ''What shall we dor"
he did not command them to renounce their
DuS1U05a 6S SOAU1bESJ DuG On Inc contrary ne
gave them directions how they should act in
their character and capacity as soldiers. In
like manner our Lord himself did not require
the Roman centurion who came to him to
abandon his calling, nor did Peter make such
a demand of Cornelius. On the other hand
the apostle Paul expressly enjoins that every
man shall abide in the calling wherewith he
is called.
With reference to the teaching of the Old
Testament upon this point, 1--WE remark that
Gods sanction of war in earlier times no
more sanctions it now than did his sanction
of despotic go Vernments then sanction the
same thing now. The great and only pur-
pose of God in this world and concerning
this human race ever since the apostacy in
Eden has been to expel moral corruption
from the world. Once he could do this most
effectually by requiring his people to engage
in q war of determination. But now he re
lies upon different means for the accomplish
ment of his purposes. The New Testament
requires man to submit himself
of war, and justifes nation in defend
ing itself from a foreign foe What
war among Christian nations of modern times
has been of such an origin and of such a
character as to be justified upon the princi-
pies of the New Testament, having the sane
ton of God? Even this plea, as the others,
fails to afford a satisfactory reply to the
wars and fghtings among your" He must re-
sort to his own inspired answer to his own
question for theFsolution of the problem,
Come they not hence, even of your lusts
that war in your members?" Here we may
find in the last analysis the seat and source
of all the bitterness and strife that have ever
prevailed among men and of all the bloody
wars that have stained the pages of human
history. Originating in the depravity of our
nature the spirit of wars and fghtines
spreads and develops itself among individuals
and nations until the whole world is in
voIved. Nations are arrGyed in battle, the
worst passions OF the worst men are enlisted;
private and public property alike are de
stroyed, cities are burned, fields are wasted,
commerce ia driven from the seas, business
enterprise is paralyzed, the price of
living is increased and the resources Of living
are diminished. To this we must add the
loss of limb and life, the suffering of the
field and of the hospital, the bereavement of
families and all of the Generalization that
follows close upon the heels of grim visaged
war, from which generations 90 not recover.
After speaking of every mans duty to do all
In his power to remove the cause of war,
Mr.. Samson said; ut is hardly necessary
that I should say that these remarks have
been occasioned by the presence with as this
morning of these citizsn soldiers, who will
presently go from this house and this service
to decorate with flowers the graves of their
fallen comrades. AS the women fastened as
soon as it was light on the morning of the
first day of the week, bringing spices with
which to enbalm the body of their God, the
captain of our salvation and the prince of
peace, you are going hence in slow and SOL
emn procession on this the first day of the
week-the Lords day-to pay your tribute
of affection to the memory of thoss who died
for their country. 1t is appropriate GUS
tom which you perpetuate, and we join with
you in doing honor to tbs memory OF Mer-
win and Osborne and Chapman and others
whose fame is our common heritage and
whose names and deeds shall be remembered
when remote generations shall fl II the places
which we occupy to-day. They yielded up
their lives On the altar of sacrifice, and it is
incumbent upon us to perpetuate the fruits
of their sacrifice 8.
AFTERNOON EXERCISES.
In the afternoon the Grays headed by the
American band decorated the graves of their
deceased comrades. They assembled at the
armory at half past two and we're there
joined by the Veteran Grays under the
command of Colonel Morgan and representa-
tives of Company A, Twenty-seventh regi-
nent WhiIa in the tho bond 5i1