Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-05-31
MEMORIAL. Sunday

= DTunmOnu IOSJ, Grdnu AIIll Vi lllt
Republic, attended service at the NJ. E
: Church last Sunday. The Post assembled
at the court house steps, and each wear
ing the G. 4. r. badge and headed by
COmrade Charles Shatz, bearing the ele
giant silk banner presented the Post by
the late DR.. Drummond, marched to the
church, where seats had been reserved fol
members in the middle block of pews di-
rectly in front of the platform.
: The services were opened by an anthem
from the chOir-~GlOry to God" The
pastor, Rev. DIR. Hollingshead, took his
text from Nehemiah, verse 2I of chapter
$50 we labOred in the work: and half
of them held the spears from the rising
of the morning till the stars appeared.
In connection with this he read the pre-
ceding verse: an what place, therefore,
We hear the sound of the trumpet, resort
We thither unto us; our God shall fight
for u.s.
Following is synopsis of the sermon:
Worn with oppression, the Hebrews
turn to the Fatherland in quest of liberty.
In their hearts they had loyal love for
Zion. The dust Oh her highways and the
stone on her streets were dear. With eyes
filled with tears they looked ON the city
that had been shaken to heaps and the
temples sitting in ashes. They were call
ed to build homes for the eXiled bands,
and city to be the fountain of govern
ment, and temple where God worship
ped and man bleSt. 1t was great work,
beset with dangers and difficulties. Enc
mics swarmed in the valleys, and fOemen
in armOr on the crest of every hill. Ne
hemiah did not fear. because God had
promised to fight with them. He put
shining lances in the hands of the work
men, so while the trowelS were ringing
the spears were ready, and with toll and
trOwels, with spirit to work or war, they
held the place of service from the rising
of the morning till the stars appeared
The temple rose, stone on stone. story on
story, till the capStOne was brought on
with the FapturouS ShoutingS of grace
! grace unto it. The words read supply
hints appropriate for Memorial Day. /
feel the honor conferred by DrummOnd
Post in the invitation TO conduct this ser
vice, which we will do in the interests of
patriotism. We will try to impart, cult
yate and intensity the feelings that should
swell in every patriots breast.
Our nation has high mission to fill
Her ministry is for all time. The Hebrews
gave religion to the world. Greece gave
letters and literature. Rome established
justice. England gave law. Our Repub-
lie to give liberty to men of all races
| This thought was ingrained in the mind
of the French sculptor whose grandeSt
work was the cOllOSal image of Columbia
on BedlOe's Island, where the ships of all
nations sail by and see the woman with
uplifted torch, Liberty enlightening the
world. This mission was fOreshadOwed
more than two hundred years ago. The
Puritan Pilgrims went out on a wintry
sea to distant and inhOSpitable shores
with this great thought. In the ship of
! 160 tons burden there was the seed of a
new and noble civilization. Within the
ribs of oak was plant that was to root
and branch and spread its bOughs over
dOWn-trOdden men. One day before the
shore was seen, in the cabin of the May
! flower the Fathers of Liberty spread a
| covenant i'll the name of God, for His
honor and the good of religion, and by
their pens bound themselves to establish
justice equality, fraternity, and liberty
The following day they stepped on Plym-
Outh Rock, and with free feet on the
shore. That rock was the cornerstone of
temple to liberty. 1t was to be grand
as the continent, great as our rivers, wide
as our plains, vast as the forests, splendid
as the lakes, sublime as the mountains
At its affairs men were to be taught to hate
Oppression-that liberty is the birthright
of man. Its walls were to be an asylum
for the oppressed, and its towers rise to
the view of the far-Off nations
At first it was day of small things.
The land was sandy by the sea and stony
among the hills. The forests were
Swampy and the air heavy with malaria.
Keen were the winters and sickly the
summers. They hewed down the trees,
and plOwed the stony soil. Wolves howl
ed around their cabins, and savages
crouched in the woods; the wild war
whoop and murderOus tomahawk were
terror to all. The earth was enriched
with fish from the cape; forests were
cleared; the soil made golden under foot;
temples of religion arose, and school
houses were planted; ships were launched,
and commerce spread her sails; the cities
began to swarm, and mountains to bios
som; cOmpacts were formed with the
other settlers, and in time thirteen pros
porous colonies appeared as gems in the
American sky.
A change came. A mad King began
to rule by avarice and govern by oppres-
sion. We could tell long story of OPP
preSsive and wicked aggressions on the
liberties of men. Love changed to hate,
and peace spread her wings, and war
yoked her red dragons.
Patriots fell on the streets of Boston:
the soft, fresh grass OfALexingtOn Green
turned red with blood; murderous fire
was opened at Concord bridge. The
sound of cannon brought out John Rut- |
lege, who walked the colonies by his fiery
eloquence. Patrick Henry put the trum
pet to his lips and reused all Virginia.
His tyrant- -defying words were like bugle
notes: "As for me, give me liberty or give |
me death" Benjamin Franklin, the king
of the lightning, in plain, Quaker garb, |
stood in Pennsylvania for the rights of
man. Jefferson, the apostle of liberty, |
wrote the immortal chart of freedom, in
which he held the truth to be self-evident |
that men are endowed by the Creator |
with certain rights, among which are life. |
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. To
this John Adams, the COLOSSUS of the rev. |
olution, said: 'Sink or swim, survive or
perish, live or die, l am for the Declara- |
ton"
Verse would fail to tell how Warren
fell about Boston harbor, of the bloody |
story OF trenton, or the scenes OF Ben
nington, Stony Point, Kings Mountain,
and Brandywine. Wepass the slaughter
at COwpens and Camden. We pass
through the darkness of Valley Forge,
till the eagles of victory perched on our
standards at Yorktown. Then a King
was shot through the heart as by can
non, nation was born in day, joy was
in the air, the old Liberty bill quivered in
its tower and rang its merrieSt DealS the |
people shouted, the guns doomed, music
swelled upon the breeze, bonfres blazed |
because the liberties of the people were
safe.
A new banner was to enrich the air. 1t |
is said Washington devised it. Thirteen
long, red stripes to tell of long and bloody
uaarc nr. Sfn.irnc for furn1ntc nn. &c cnrnnn