Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1890-07-25

Rufus ChOate, with rare but unhappy }
felicity of speech, once spoke OF the
glittering and sounding gene!ralVles
which make up the Declaration Of indie
pendence." But the world discovered
that they were something more, when the
pen of Abraham Lincoln graved them on
the dusky palms of four millions OF
slaves. The lesson of that act, and OF
every act which has a heart in it. is that
always an opportunity is waiting to make
life sWeeter by making 1t freer
The problem is, how to adjust the
clashing interests OF men, so that each
shall have an equal chance; so that sell
fshness shall see that it stands in its own
light; so that those who are in the front
shall help those who linger, and they who
are slow Of foot shall quicken their pace
to the music that is sounding for all
This Nation stands dedicated to liberty,
/ to justice, and to that impersOnaI repre-
sentative of bOth-Law. Put the Declar-
alton of independence into every statute,
and our National pOlity will glow with
something Of that brightness that shines
/ in the faces of men when the Sermon on
the Mount is revealed to their listening
| hearts.
/ Craftsmanship is said to be a practical
| art, and so indeed it is; but 1 wish that
cabinets and courts and senates would
always remember, that in this Nation
,
lance as the inviOlate observance Of the
principles which make this day all that it
/ is. Statesmen should learn, and the peO-
/ pie themselves should not forget, that
/ truth never lost any of its beauty when
/ crystaliZed into law. All that we know
! of what is called progress in this world
/ consists of getting ideals incorporated
/ into the lives of men and of nations; OF
/ clothing sentiment in the flesh and blood
/ of the actual; Of making things spiritual
manifest in things real.
| Back of the flower is the sense
! of beauty that makes its col
/ Ors pleasant to the eye; back of every
| noble utterance is the moral sentiment
! that attests its truth. If you would know
/ the value of the Declaration of indie
/ pendence, think what our lives would be
! if we had never felt its inspiring touch,
nor known what meanings are revealed
! in it's pre- gnant sentences. The men who
| signed it. and the men who fought for It,
| had us in their minds as well as them
! selves and in the truest sense they knew
/ that the stamping Of paper and the taxing
! of tea were of little consequence com
! pared with the right which you and I en-
/ Joy of being masters of ourselves, and of
! our own inheritance. Do you think they
! could have carried on a seven years war
! if they had not felt that they were fight
! ing the battles of the future? Men will
! dare more for rights than for money, or
/ property, or land; for it is and always
! must be true, that the things which are
/ most precious are those which are not
| seen, nor bought, nor sold.
! FellOw-sOldiers, it is not wrong for you
! to be proud that some day history will
link your names with the names Of those
] who saluted the dawn Of American iber-
| ty. The time will come when men will
( little heed the years that separate the age
of Washington from the age of Lincoln.
! They will rightly think that time is not
| important when a great cause is in the
| balance, and that centuries are but breath
ing-spells when liberty leads the col
umn. What does it signify Wheth-
er soldier fought at
! Salamis, or at Naseby?- Saratoga, or
! at Shiloh? All are in the ranks of the i'm
mortal. Time names her classics, and
! sets the seal of glory on every field where
! men have died for men. The soldier is
/ but a pawn upon the board. And yet
how great are the issues of war. If the
battle of Tours had gone the other way,
the sign of the camel-driver would have
! blazed all over western Europe. 4 hun
dred fields where Union soldiers fought
| would have been lost but for their endur-
| ing faith; and if lost. our cause. which
! was surely the hottest ever yet submitted
to arms, might have gone into the sad
and dreary list that history writes down
| as failures. Failure: it is hard to think
now that by any possibility it could have
come to US. And yet, how many weary
! days there were when the issue trembled
| and hopes were dim, and even faith was
Chastened with tears. We shall not for
/ get in this life, the eager and eXultant
/ prophecies of defeat waited across the
sea, from those who thought that crowns
and COrOnets could go on prospecting, but
Al
! perish. Military critics, wise in their
| generation, said victory was impossible;
| and skillful pens were busy writing down
the fate of the great republic. But they
/ forgot God. And they forgot the men,
who, standing in the ranks, had taught
their very bayOnets to believe that this
! Nation could not die.
1t is not for us to lightly speak of those
/ who followed another flag than ours.
/ Some there were, nearly all, perhaps, who
| thought they did Gods service. And yet,
they were wrong; blind, deaf deceived,
! and betrayed by those who knew the
/ light, but loved the darkness. We call
them rebels; but let US not forget that
! they were our rebels. They We're our
/ cOuntrymen; bone OF our bone, and flesh
/ of our flesh. and every soldier OF the
! Union down in his heart is murmuring
the prayer, 'sWhat God hath joined to-
/ gether let not man put asuuder.' And
we, who wore the blue, must forever, and
/ for always, stand fast by the Declaration
of Independence, and by the glory that
was in it when CORVALLIS dipped the
standard of England to the banner of
/ Washington, and when Lee lowered the
wretched stars and bars to that flag which
was Grants and yours and mine 1t is
/ the flag of the present and the future;
the one in many, the many in one; the
sign Of victory to those who fought for
1t, and Of grace, mercy and peace for
/ those who blindly fought against 1t.
A quarter of a century has flown since
we were mustered out Hate, anger, and
passion have gone from our hearts. The