The Newtown bee., 1890-06-27

gwen IFecly to save our pIlNIcSeS dS q nation. Can we, therefore, fail to value and to value highly our blood purchased inheritance? These memorial services should cause us to remember the great blessings God has given us through the sacrifice of our brothers, whose bones morial is to us, as Joseph's bones to Is- rael, reminder of Gods faithfulness, in the establishment of our civil govern ment.
 Again, we may remark that nothing Joseph could do or say would so serve to keep in mind the wonderful dealings of
 God with himself, his rescue from the pit and from the dungeon in Egypt. his delverance of his fathers family in the
 time of the famine. AS year after year
 passed by, they were weary and oppress- ed by their masters, yea almost discour-
 aged, but, as they look at that coffin,
 they are reminded of how, after those
 weary years in the dungeon, Joseph was
 prepared to become master of Egypt.
 As also how God, in this mysterious way,
 prepared Joseph to be the preserver of
 all his kindred; how thus deliverance
 was provided at just the proper time and
 might they not expect it to be so again:
 Again, when on their march, they wan dered back and forth in the desert and
 those who had borne the coffin on that
 night out of Egypt had died and it was
 still carried on by their descendants, they
 must be encouraged to trust. As also,
 in their sufferings and weariness, they
 looked upon that coffin, they were en- coraged to trust that their wanderings
 should ultimately cease and they should
 come to the rest ill the promised land.
 If any of the sons of Ephraim or of Ma
 nasseh should begin to murmur and say, "Brothers, we shall all perish in the will derness; it would have been better to
 have remained in Egypt, for none of us
 will ever reach the land of our father Abraham," the brother would point to
 that coffin and say, Do not be discour- aged. If our father Joseph had such
 faith and so long ago, why should his
 children doubt?'' That coffin was q si-
 lent pledge during all their wanderings
 that these should cease and that they
 should come to the land given in prom ise to their fathers Abraham, Isaac and : Jacob. It preached to them, not only ot faith in God, but also of patient endur-
 anse in the path of duty.
 So, in like manner, as we stand by
 these graves, we are reminded of the
 many dark hours in the history of ouI
 nations birth and perpetuity and of how
 God has delivered us. Naturally, the
 mind will run back over the pages of
 history and we can see how, in the dark ', ', est and almost hopeless hours, Gods
 hand was manifest in the help and deliv , erance of our fathers As when Washing
 ton and his little band of patriots were . almost within the grasp of their enemIe
 on Long Island, God sent very severe q cold spell, which at the time seemed tt : add to their suffering and misery, but i
 froze over the East river. giving them bridge to cross over and escape; for, be
 fore the English army came up, the in
 coming tide had broken up the ice ant
 they were unable to pursue the patriots 7, I think, if my memory serves me correct W. there has only been once since whel
 the ice was strong enough to have let tn 9 army pass over to New York. Agail v and again have like instances been re N corded of the mysterious and wonderful !, deliverance and help vouchsafed of Go , to those who were instrumental in build V l ,,l fol Iich hin1 n atinnal :, tenn of government. Such deliverance
 that they were compelled to recogniz
 their obligation to the over-ruling Prov if denee.
 if Therefore, as we strew the graves wit l. flowers, we should let our minds gras a the great truth that our national exist r. ence is q part in the purpose and plan Q l. God, as fully so as was that of aneien Q Israel. And as we stand face to fac d with the mortality even of those wh n were the honored instruments in God a. hands of working out His great purpos Il for ameliorating the condition of maf y kind through the influence of this Rt publican form of government, we recoe IS nize how fast our own days are passin ,- away and thus renewedly see our obligi .o tion to God and our duty to do with ou ;r might whatsoever our hands find to dt
 Again. as the bones of Joseph Woul re serve as an incentive to faith and hoI le in time of disappointment and murmu ,f ings. so it should be with us in the ser q ice of decorating the graves of our Iii E. tion's defenders. For when we see tf re sacred office of trust for the people d ct graded into partisan plumber system,h D t. which a few shall be able to greatly el d rich themselves and their friends at u in public expense, when we thus see u t. honor of the American citizenship q it graded and trailed in the mire fpartisa e. zeal, then we may begin to think, "Ala it the failure of Republican institutions si- at hand; soon there will be anarchy s- despotisnl established ill our beloyt ,g land.,' But this service of decoratir q. the graves of our soldiers will remind , IT, that. in the dark days before of polite C. corruption, God in His good and wi of providence brought the nation out of u at conflicts with the principles of liber1 be more fully established than ever befor D. So this service should strengthen 0, e. faith in God and ill the assured hope al ,t, confidence that right and justice niu in again triumph.
 er1 Again, when we note the terrible po' of CT and sway of the liquor traffic i'll u of land. when we see the hundreds of thou