The Opelousas courier., 1890-07-12

Waterloo Suppose before such general
agreement, Germany. should throw
away her sword, how long would
Alsace and Lorraine stay as they
are? Suppose the Gar of Russia be-
fore any such general agreement should
throw away his sword; all the eagles and
vultures and lions of European power would
gather for a piece of the Russian bear. Sup
pose the United States, without any such
general agreement of disarmament, should
throw away her sword; it would not be long
before the Narrows OF our harbor would be
ablaze with the bunting OF foreign navles
coming here to show the folly of the "Mon-
roe doctrine.'
Side by side the two movements must GO.
Complete armament until all agree to dis
armament At the same command OF Halt"
all nations halting. At the same
of Ground armst' all muskets humping.
At the same command of Break ranksW ali
armies disbanding. That may be nearer
than you think. The standing army Is the
nightmare of nations. England wants to
get rid Of it, Germany is being eaten up by
it. Russia is almost taxed to death with 1t.
Suppose that the millions of men be-
longing to the stonding armies Of the
world and in absolute idleness, for
the most part of their lives,
should become producers. instead or con-
slmers. Would not the worlds properties
improve. and TIE worlds morals be better?
Or nave you the heathenish idea that war Is
necessary to kill off the surplus populations
of the earth, and that without it the world
would be so crowded there would soon be no
reserved seats, and even the standing room
would be exhausted? Ak! | think we can
trust to the pneumonias, n the consump-
lions, and the fevers, and the Russian
grippes to kill the people fast enough.
Beside that, when the world gets too full
God will blow up the whole concern and
start another world and better one. Be-
side that, war kills the people who can least
be spared. It takes the pick OF the nations.
Those whom we could easily spare to go 10
the front are in the ~penitentiary, and their
duties detain them in that limited sphere.
No; it is the public spirited and the valorous
who 90 out to die. Mostly are they young
men. If they were aged, and had only five or
ten years at the most to live, the sacrifice
would not be SO great. But it is those
who have forty or fifty years to live
who step into the jaws OF battle:
In our war Colonel Ellsworth fell
while yet a mere lad. Renowned McPhsr-
son was only 81. Magnificent Reynolds was
only 43. Hundreds of thousands fell be.
tween twenty and thirty years Of age. l
looked into the faces of the French and Ger
man troops as they ven out to fight at Sc
dan, and they were for the most part armies
of splendid boys. So in all ages war has pre-
" ferred to sacrifice the young. Alexander the
it not only takes down that which they are,
but that which they might haye hesn.
SO we are glad at the Isaiahic prophecy.
that the time is coming when nation snail
not lift up sword against nation. Indeed
both swords shall go back into the scabbard
the sword bathed in heaven and the sword
bathed in hell. In a war in Spain a soldier
rza-& an "a cIsrpoirhinc oxpa9IfiNn and SAz
cluded in a bush, he had the opportunity OF
shooting a soldier of the other army who
had stroIled away from his tent. He o
aim and dropped him. Running up to the
fallen man he took his knapsack for spoil.
and a letter dropped out of it, and it turned
out to be a letter signed by. his "
father; in other words, he had shot mis-
brother. II the brotherhood of man be
a true doctrine, then he who shoots another
man always shoots his own brother. What q
horror is war and its c~rrelties were well IL
Illustrated when the Tartars, after sweeping
/ through Russia and Poland, displayed with
pride nine great sacks filed with the right
ears of the fallen, and when a correspondent
of the London Times, writing of the wounded
after the battle Of Sedan. said: Every
moan that the human voice can utter rose
from that heap of agony. and the cries OF
tWaterl For the love of God, waterl a
doctori A doctorp never ceased"
After war has wrought such cruelties,
how glad we will be to have the Old Monster
himself die. Let mis- dying couch be spread
in some ismantled fortress, through which
the stormy winds howl. Civ him for q pill
low a battered shield, and let his bed be hard
with the rusted bayonets of the slain. Cover
him with the coarsest blanket hat picket
ever wore, and let his only cup be the
bleached bone of one of his war chargers, and
the last taper by his bedside expire as the
midnight blast signs into his ear: The can
die of the wicked shall be put out"
Tonight against the sky of the glorious
future / see a great blaze. It is a foundry
in full blast. The workmen have stirred the
fires until the furnaces are seven times
heated. The last wagon load of the worlds
swords has been hauled into the foundry,
and they are tumhled into the furnace, and
they begin to glow and redden and melt, and
in Kissing and sparkling liquid they roll On
down through the crevice of rock until they
fall into q mold shaped like the IRON loot OF :
pillow. Then the liquid cools OF into q hard
metal, and, brought out on an anvil. it ID
beaten and pounded and fashioned, stroka
after stroke, until that which was a weapoE
TO reap harvests of men becomes a nipple
ment turning the soil for harvests of corr,
the sword having become the plowshare.
Oficers and comrades of the Thirteenth
Regiment of State Militia; After anothea
year of pleasant acquaintance I hail yo'
with q salutation all made up of goot
wishes and prayers. Honored with resi-
dence in the best city of the best LAM
under the sun, let us dedicate ourselves anev
to God and country and home! In the Eng
lish conflict called t'The War Of the Roses,
q white rose was the badge Of the hous
of York, and the red rose the badge of tn
house of Lancaster, and with these two col
ors they opposed each other in battle. Il
enlist you in the Holy War for all that 4
good against all that is wrong, 1 pin ovel
your heart two badges, the one suggestive
Of the blood shed for our redemption, and
the other symbolic of a soul made white and
clean-the Rose of Sharon aud the Lily oi
the Valley. Be these hencsforth our regi
mental symbols-Rose and Lily, Lily and
Resell .sz