The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-06-29
CONGRESS SQUARE CHURCH.
what PortIand's Monument to Her
Sons Has to Say to Us.

Rev. DIR. Blanchard preached sermon
yesterday morning on "What Portland's
monument to her sons has to say to u.s." He
took as his text part Of the seventh verse
of the fourth chapter of Joshua-"And these
stones shall be for a memorial unto the chill
dren of Israel forever" He spoke in sub
stance as follows:
Our beloved city has received its most
splendid ornament The monument which
she has erected to her sons who died for the
the Union c0nfr0nts US all. 1t will arouse
earnest thinking and noble feeling. Already
we have rejoiced in the statute of the poet
who sang of the brotherhood of man and hu-
man freedom. 1t is pleasant to think of this
as looking towards the new statue erected
to the memory of the defenders Of the I'M
lon. Let us imagine ourselves looking at
this, its stones, its bas-reliefs, its surmount-
ing statue. What does 1t say to us, in this
church. In this city?
Firstit says; "fhe secret sources of pow-
er are within-in the realm of thought and
feeling; and l am witness to this fact"
The natural tendency will be to think of
outward things. of battle. fields, of charging
squadr0ns, of advancing artillery, of moving
lines of infantry, of gallant leaders. Let us
turn first then to its lesson of the realm OF
spirit; that Is thought and feeling. 1t was
out OF this the monument really came. Far
back, some man thought of it. made others
III. a.
layed-women helping largely, generous dom
ors assisting, it stands today as the result of
thought and feeling. From the sculptor's
mind. also, the monument came. He saw it
In thought before stone arose or bronze was
cast. Looking then at this, we ask were are
those whose service 1t commentaries Thew
have left hehindi their bodies In MANY a
grave. But 1t was their thought and feeling
which took them to field Of battle. They
Mere WEI Oh the spirit world while here on earth.
We cannot 0Ouht THAR FOL
The monument says, in the second place:
Remember that am the symbol of the vic
tory OF righteous cause, not Of the defeat
OF misguided brethren"
Sumner. In the Senate, wished TO do awav
with all that would recall fraternal strife.
We may well sympathize with him at times.
Nevertheless, 1t Is proper feeling to desire
10. commemorate heroic deeds. 10
reJoice In the triumph of great truth. The
g. e
therefore. of equality and freedom.
AZ the capture Of Vicksburg the defeated
soldiers flled out from the breastwoIks,
stacked their arms In the presence of the vic
tors, returned within the lines. The soldiers
OF Grant looked on without one cheer. They
did not rejoice In the humiliation of brave
opponents, but In the triumph of their cause.
Pathetic indeed is 1t to recall the foolish
ltsh slaye.owning aristocracy. Round John
Q. Calhoun's statue in Charleston, men and
women gathered, after the ordinance of
secession had been passed by the representa-
tives of the s00,00 whites of South Carolina
to rejoice that their state "had resumed her
position among the nations of the earth"
Three years later Charleston was almost
demolished by the cannons Of the Union
army. AS we read the words of the commits
tee reporting to the Montgomery convention,
that the South did not believe in the brother
hood OF man; that it held the North to be
unwisely devoted to democratic government.
that 1t believed in inequality and slavery,
The victory gained BY the North was for the
that he always felt that the South had as
much to gain as the North by the victory of
the Union. Today our Southern brothers
see this. 1t is the cause of human brother
hood and. therefore. of equality and freedom,
to Portland's sons who died for the Union
bids men glory in today.
n, II says aSv.,, to us in the third
R thoUsbt and fssDSys opT country is your
women. young and old, could see the glory
of this dear land of ours! e'
10 DO this they must study its histo.
ry. know. its great men, trace the
course sSinS 6 OF events through the years
America and those which followed. Thew
must know of Anglo Saxon and Norman. Of
Cromwell, of Plymouth. of Massachusetts
Bay colony, of Revolution, OF the adoption Of
the constitution. Doing this, they will see the
need imperative of studying laws and insti-
tutions These must incarnate the brother
hood Of man. Complaints may be unWise.
reformers may be dreamers. but we must see
that laws help the masses and that insttu
lions OF philanthropy. education. religion,
make prosperous America.
Let us look. then, at the monument with
reverence for what it symbolizes. To see its
great meaning may well make weak bodies
noble feelings. Remembering the other
statue-the statue Of Longfellow-let us re-
Peat his words. He loved the Union. he
pleaded for the brotherhood and freedom of
man.
DIR. Blanchard closed by reciting the last
lines Of The Building of the Ship. The con-
tits of thee"