The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-06-04
PULPIT LUTHERAN CES.Il
oE's DECORATION DAY SERMON
A Discourse to tho Grand Army OF tho
Republic Preached In the Brooke fa
lyn Tabernacle, ao. ,sss

on Decoration Day to the members Of the
Grand Army of the Republic. Thf
tabernacle was crowded with Northern
and Southern soldiers. The following II
tho.text:a , a M s,s Al - y,,-7
r"And the Lord commanded tho angel, and
no put up his sword again Into the sheath
thereof 4 Chronicles, rrt;, a. '-'' --
Contrast, first of all, the feelings OF sec.
tioDal bitterness in 1854 with tho feeling OF
sectional amity, in 1884. AT the first date
the South had banished the National air,
"The Star-spangled Banner" and the
North had banished tho popular air OF
sway Down South In Dixie" The North.
ern people were "niudsills" and Southern
people ,'white trash" The more Southern
people were killed in battle the better the
North liked it, For four years the head ol
Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis
would have been worth S1,000,00) IL de.
liveTed on the other side of the line. Nc
need now standing in our puipits and
platforms, of saying that the North and
South did not hate each other. The hatred
was as long and terrible as the sword thai
the angel Of war, standing mid-Heaven,
gripped pointing toward this Nation, and
then swung closer down till It gashed
grave-trench clear through the quiverine
heart of the continent. To estimate how
very dearly we loved each other count uT
the tombshells that t'were hurled, and the
carbines that were loaded, and the
cavalry horses that were mounted, NORTH
and South, facing each other, all armed II
the attempt to kill. The two sections moi
only marshaled all their earthly hostilities,
but tried to reach up and get hold OF the
sword spoken of in the text, the sword OF
Heaven, and the prayers Of Northern and
Southern pulpits gave more information Il
Heaven about the best mode Of settling
this trouble than was ever used. For foul
years both sides tried to get hold of the
Lords thundcrbolts, but could not quite
reach them. At the breaking out of the
war we had not for months heard of my
dear uncle, Samuel X. Talmage, President
of Oglethorpe University, in Georgia. He
was about the wisest man l ever knew
and as good rs good could be. The first
we heard of him was his opening prayer
in Confederate Congress in Richmond
which was reported in the Now York Her
aid, which prayer, IL answered, would, tc
say the least, have left all his Northern
relatives in very uncomfortable circum
stances. The ministry at the North prayed
one way and the ministry at the South
prayed another way. No use in hiding the
fact that the North and South cursed eact
other with withering and all.consuminp
curse.
Beside that antipathy Of 1864 place the
complete record of 1884, Meeting in New
York to raise money to build home al
Richmond for crippled Confederate sol
diers, the meeting presided over by mar
who lost an arm and q leg In lighting or
the Northern side, and the leg not lost sc
hurt that IL does not amount to much; the
cotton exhibition two years ago at Al.
lanta, attended by tens Of thousands Of
Northern people, and by General Sher.
man, who was greeted with kindness a.
though they had never seen him before:
the United States Government last week
voting II million dollars toward Now Or.
leans exhibition TO be held next December.
in which every Northern State will be rep.
resented. A thousand.fo,d kindlier feel
ing af er the war than before the war. Nc
more use OF eunpowder in this country ex
cept for Fourth Of July pyrotechnics
or shot at roebuck In the Adiron.
dacks. Brigadier-Generals In the South.
ern Confcderacy making their for
tunes as lawyers in cur Northern
,ftiny Df,org ~ f.,nvf,fa AI.l.a,,o o.a
North Carolina turning tho mills OF New
England capitalists. The old Hons OF war,
Fort Sumter, and Moultrie, ana Lafayette
and Pickens, and Hamilton, sound asleor
on their iron paws, and, instead Of oui
raising money to kc p cnemos out OF oui
harbor, raising money for the ,Barthold.
statue on Bedloe's Island, the figure oi
Liberty with uplifted torch 70 light the
way for all who want TO come ins Instead
of 1861, when you could not c-Oss the line
between the contestants without, lighting
your way with keen steel or going through
by passes carefully scrutinized at every
step by bayonets, you need only n railroad
ticket from New York to Charleston OF
New Orleans 10 so clear through and nc
use for any weapon sharper orslongcr OF
stronger than steol pen. Siuce the years
Of time began their roll has there ever been
in two decades such an overmastering an.
tithesis as between 1854 Of complete bitter.
ness and 1884 Of complete sympathy. II
Is the difference between the archangel OF
war mid.slty with sword brandisbed aud
nrchauscll Of war mid.sky with sword
scabbartled. EmN
Contrast also the domestic lifo Of 1864
with the domestic life of 1884, You were
either leaving home or far away from 1t,
communicating by uncertain letter. What
morning that was when you left home,
and father AMI mother crying, sisters cry.
ing, you smiling outside but crying inside
Everybody nervous aud excited Boys OF
the blue and gray! Whether you started
from toe banks OF the Hudson or from the
banks OF he Savannah, don't you remem.
ber the scene at the front door, az the rail.
car window or the steamboat landing? The
huzza could not drown out the suppressed
sadness. Do you remember ali those
charges to write homo often and take good
care Of yourself, be good boys, and the
goodbye kiss, which they thought and you
thought might 10 forever. Then tho home.
sickness as you paced the river bank on
starlight night on picket duty, and tho sly
tears that you wiped off when you heard
group by campfire singing the planta.
tion song about the "Old Folks at Home.n
Tho dinner of hard.tacl; ON Thanksgiving