Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1888-06-02


unanimously elected member Of the Grand
| Army of the Republic. The old decayed bone
| of contention, American slavery, has been
cast out, although here and there depraved
| politician takes it up to see il he an gnaw
something off of it. Northern n = nave
| married Southern wives, and Southern men
| have married Northern wives, ard we are
forever one. for the hardest thing on earth tc
J split is a cradle. Neither can thor ha waF
| between the East and West. By the vestibule
| train the East is West and the West Is East
| in twenty-four hours Where would the two
| sections plant their batteries If they came ID
| contest. It is all East and all West. we ars
| floating further and further OF from al
possibility of sectional strife
Neither will the prophecy Of some come
| true that foreign people coming mere VIII
+! want to overthrow our institutions and hence
| call for the national guard. The people
| who come here from under foreign despotisms
have had enough of despotism, and honor
the institutions Of free America. Even the
| children and grandchildren of Anarchists
| educated in our common schools and breath
ing the air of this good land will be loyal to
/ the American Republic and take their place
| among law abiding citizens.
Neither is conflict with other nations
| probable Would England attack us9 Mol
| France on one side and Ireland on the other
| would prohibit. Would Germany attack
usl MOI Russia would be on its TANKS in
few days. Would Russia attack usl MOL
| Three or four belligerent nations would for
bid it. No foreign nation could afford to
assail this country, for there would be toe
much in front and too much in the rear:
| But suppose foreign nations, jealous OF oui
prosperity should band together because Of
real or imaginary affronta That admit u
barely possibly During our civil war Their
were two or three nations that could hardly
keep their hands off of u.s. If foreign ma
tions should combine against us we want mel
| like those of 1872 and like those who Tough
on both sides in 1868. We want them all NJ
| and down the coast Pulaski and Fort Sum
| ter. in the same chorus of thunder as Fort La
| favette and Fort Hamilton, men who vii
not only know how to fight but how to die
When SUCH time comes, if it ever does come
| the generations on the stage OF action VII
saw; my country will care for my family a
| they did in the Soldiers Asylums for orphan
| in the Civil War. and my country Will homo
| nv dust as it honors those who preceded m
in patriotic sacrifice and once year, at am
| rate on Decoration day. shall be resurrectet
| into the remembrance of those for whom
died. Here go. for God and my country"
IF foreign foe should ever come, all sectional
animosities would be obliterated, and side by
| side would go into conflict the volunteers OF
| New York and Alabama, and Massachusetts
and Louisiana, and Michigan and Georgia,
North, South, East and West, each carrying
| its part in the great harmony, the bass, the
alto, the tenor. the soprano, in the Grand
March of the Union.
But what is the use of regiment in time
| of peace. Among other things it teaches the
| Importance of drill, and more OF that we
| want in all departments. Learning that there
is no success without it in regimental ranks,
men will learn that there is no success with
| out it in commercial ranks, in mechanical
ranks, in professional ranks, in religious
ranks. In order to accomplish anything for
God, or the betterment of the human
race, 1t must be drill, drill. drill.
Some, because they cannot be successful as
reformatory or Christian workers at once,
| are discouraged. 1t seems so easy to bar
gain, so easy to edit, SO easy to preach, 80
easy to sculpture a statue and draught
house and execute picture and medicate a
wound that they will try it; but, if they find
it is only by continual toll and practice that
they can get to be expert, or to do anything
worth the name of achievement, they sur
render It is through oft-repeated drill or
never at all, that we learn, in all our Chris
tian and worldly work, to keep rank.
Another use of regiment in time of peace
is to back up the law and help in its execu-
ton. There is a great deal of cheap wit
about citizen soldiery, but again and again in
all our cities the life of the city has been
saved by the home guards and then the
cheap wit has been turned into grateful adj
miration. Il is a very healthful thing for
the rougbs in all our cities to understand
that behind the police and the constabulary
force there are military companies drilled
and ready if need be, at short notice to de-
fend the safety of our homesteads.
Another use of a regiment in time OF
peace is its demonstration of the use Of sure
marksman What ought to be done at all
ought to be done well. What we want in
our reformatory movements and our pulpits
is to learn how to take good aim. There is
so much moral ammunition and strength
al ha aoff saaf
marksmen. We are apt to aim too high or
too low. and to hit everything but the centre.
Much of our time at doing good is a circum-
locution and hit or miss contest, a battle
with blank cartridges, pulling the trig-
ger with our eyes shut.
Another use of a regiment in time Of peace
is to teach the necessity of obedience. A
child that will not mind is on the way to ruin
and man who never learns to bow to au-
thority is an outlaw. So cheerful obedience
to superior authority is an absolute requisite
to good society. What SO impressively illus
trates this as a regiment, the private obedient
to the captain, the ceptain obedient to the
colonel, the colonel obedient TO the general,
the general obedient to the governor, the
governor obedient to the Presidents May
the President always be obedient to God
Law. whether military or civil, what a
sublime thingl There is only one thing
in the universe to which the great God ever
bows, and that is to law. Although made
by Himself, He bows to it. By that the uni
verse is drilled and the consultations are
companies, and the galaxies are regiments,
and the blazing midnight heavens are the
parade ground where the stellar armies
march and countermarch. and so complete is
the drill that in a thousand years they do not
make a mistake of a second in time or an
inch in space.
Another use Of a regiment in time Of peace ID
the impression of good citizenship; for the
welfare of city, State and nation you are en-
listed. All that many people do for their
country is to growl and have TO pay taxes.
If within you is the right spirit, every hour
you pass in military service is patriotic
offering and will have divine reward.
Another use of regiment in time Of peace
is physical recuperation Anything thai
takes a man bent over the desk Of a counting
house and makes him straight. and those who
are wearing out with the drudgery Of factory
and shop and lifts them into the exhilaratiou
of well-lighted, well-ventilated, well-gov
erned armory, is something upon which
want to pronounce and do pro
nouce apostolic benediction. The mIr
lennium Of Christian man is ia. of o.
near by in proportion as his digestion Is good
or bad. What we want in this great battle
for God and the truth is a host Of giants, an~
the armories of the national guard are doins